About 20 residents from the Chelsea Fairways subdivision attended the Chelsea City Council meeting Tuesday night for a public hearing regarding a proposed special assessment to finish the subdivision’s streets.

Matt Jordan, a member of the homeowners association, said there was a long history involved in the need for the road improvements, including a developer “who sort of left us and the city is helping us pick up the pieces.”

The original developer is no longer involved with the unfinished subdivision at the corner of Freer Road and Old US-12, and residents have asked the city for help to improve the infrastructure so the streets can be dedicated as public streets, which will be plowed by the city.

In total, about $447,260 in work is needed to have its storm sewers certified and its roads, sidewalks and curbs fixed so they can be turned over to the city. Chelsea has agreed to pick up the tab for half the total while the residents will be responsible for the rest.

There are about 70 homes and about 34 vacant lots in the subdivision.

The special assessment costs are based on the linear footage each property has fronting the road and assessments will range from about $950 per year to $3,200.

"The majority of the homeowners will pay between $1,500-$1,700,” city officials said.

It’s expected that the assessment will be spread out over 10 years making the yearly cost between $95 and $320 per year depending on the homeowner’s frontage.

On Aug. 23, there will be another public hearing to set the proposed tax roll for residents in the subdivision, and it’s expected that the work will begin later this month.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Chelsea stories, visit our Chelsea page.