Exactly how an annexation fee didn’t get paid is not entirely clear, but both parties agree a bill needs to be settled. Now they just need to sort out what is owed, a process with some complications.

Over the past 20 years, The Rosewood Corp has been developing the Cedarwood Subdivision on the west side of town, in five phases.

The first four phases were annexed into the city of Powell. As per city ordinance, the owner of an annexed subdivision must pay either 10 percent of the land value of the total land area in the proposed subdivision, or grant 6 percent of the total land area to the city for $1, to be used for city park land. The decision as to which payment to take is entirely up to the city council.

When the first four phases of the Cedarwood subdivision were annexed, Rosewood agreed to deed 6 percent of the annexed land — a total of 2.04 acres — over to the city for a park. While the city agreed to the land deal, for reasons that remain unclear, lot 95 was never actually deeded over to the city.

Then a few months ago, Rosewood began preparing to develop the fifth phase of the subdidivison; according to City Administrator Zack Thorington, Rosewood co-owner Brad Cummings came into city hall to pay the 10 percent fee for the previous four phases.

About the same time, Brad’s wife, Rosewood President Mary Lou Cummings, called city hall to ask if the corporation could get back the land it deeded for the park; Rosewood wanted to use the lot for the fifth phase of the development and she asked to pay the fee instead.

Mary Lou Cummings couldn’t confirm the conversation between her husband and Thorington over the fee was exactly as Thorington recalled. But she said it might have happened.

“We both work a lot, and the right hand doesn’t always know what the left hand is doing,” Mary Lou Cummings said.

In any event, when Thorington looked into the issue, he discovered Rosewood actually still owned the 2.04 acres in Lot 95.

The situation works out pretty well for everyone, because the city already has quite a bit of land for city parks, which it has yet to develop. So, having Mary Lou and Brad Cummings pay the cash fee would be better for both parties.

There’s just one problem: The land was purchased perhaps 20 years ago, leaving some question as to what 10 percent of its value would be today. City ordinance stipulates that the price of the land shall be established by the city and subdivision owner prior to the final plat. If the city and subdivider can’t agree on the value of the land, the ordinance says three independent appraisers shall be hired to sort it out.

That would be easy enough except the ordinance doesn’t stipulate who should pay the appraisers — and they can be a bit pricey.

Since the fee doesn’t involve a lot of money, the Powell City Council elected to proceed with a cheaper market analysis rather than an appraiser. The analysis will determine the current value of the land so city officials can see how the value has changed and decide whether a 10 percent fee based on land values from 20 years ago would be too low.

“I don’t think it would hurt to do our due diligence,” Thorington told the council.

While there are still some things to sort out, both parties are working together cordially to get it all settled.

“At this point, we’ll just get it figured out,” Mary Lou Cummings said.