FRANKLIN—A public hearing has been set for Dec. 5 by the city planning commissioners to hear comments about implementing an agreement in which the city would provide reimbursement for developers providing utilities for new developments.

One developer, for instance, working with Franklin-Southampton development group, who is also building Riverwood subdivision, is constructing a pump station on North High Street to serve all of the development in that corridor.

Each subsequent developer would pay the city to tap into the station, with the city, in turn, reimbursing the first developer.

&uot;This is similar to what the City of Chesapeake has had in place since the 1980s,&uot; City planner Amanda Crocker told commissioners.

While policies and procedures would be established by the commission, the proposed agreement would need to be adopted by the city council.

&uot;We’ll review the costs of the first developer,&uot; said Crocker. She also added that everything will be done &uot;up front&uot; so that the other developers will already know going into their project, how much they will be paying the city, and already be tapped into it.

Crocker had previously said, &uot;If the second developer hooks 100 homes to that station, he pays 100 shares.&uot;

She noted the benefits of having one regional station as opposed to building separate ones for each development.

&uot;The city has to maintain all of these stations,&uot; she said, also noting that the cost being put on the developer rather than the city is &uot;better on the taxpayers.&uot;

Crocker explained that other subdivisions, not just in the North High Street area, would benefit from this type of agreement, such as Southerly, a subdivision to be built on South Street. The subdivision will be adjacent to another new subdivision called Southview.

Secretary of the commission Donald Goodwin said, &uot;It’s a win-win situation. The first builder takes the risk, but it’s worth his rewards when others develop.&uot;

The issue was discussed at the last session with the decision to set the hearing within the next couple of meetings.

The commission voted to set the public hearing at the next meeting on Dec. 5, which begins at 6 p.m. The meeting will take the place of the November and December meetings.