Council approves housing plan

SIDNEY -- The Sidney City Council recently approved another tool in promoting housing development.

In the June 13 Sidney City Council meeting, City Manager David Scott met with the council regarding housing in Sidney. He said the City has conducted a housing study, and noted no developer will come to the community without a housing study.

"We're been working very hard on this," Scott said. "I think we have a developer ready."

He said the challenge now is the gap between costs and what the developer are willing to pay. Scott proposed waiving the Housing Development Cost Recovery fees. According to Scott's memo to the City Council, total fees per house is almost $5,000. 

"Again, these cost recovery fees vary depending on what a customer's needs are for size of water line and electric amperage to a home; however, this is roughly the revenue the City would give up per home in order to implement this program. While the City would lose initial revenue in the associated cost recovery fees, over time the value of having more home in Sidney would outweigh the cost recovery fees," Scott said in his memo to the city council.

The resolution took effect immediately and will be in place until Dec. 31, 2025.