Sewer System01

 

Waupaca County Post

June 15, 2006

 

City Reviewing Sewer Hookup Policies

By Angie Landsverk, Post Staff Writer

 

            Waupaca’ Board of Public Works is considering when city residents, who have private septic systems, should be required to hook up to the city’s sewer lines.

            When the board met last Wednesday, John Edlebeck, the city’s director of public works, told the board that city staff are currently identifying homes in the city that are not hooked up to sewer but could be.

            “We have 80 to 100 homes with no sewer available so they have septics,” he said.

            The issue is being discussed because a resident of Riverside Drive – where a serer installation is being considered to the city’s sewer use regulations that would allow septic tanks until they are in need of replacement or fail.  At that time, the resident would be required to hook up to the city’s sewer.

            The proposal has had a first reading before the Common Council and was sent back to the Board of Public Works for further consideration.

            Last week, Jim and Joyce Boyer, who also live on Riverside Drive and who last year paid to hook up to the city sewer, attended the board meeting to express their concerns about the proposed amendment.

            They also wrote a letter to Mayor Brian Smith and the Common Council in which they stated that in May 2002, an informational meeting was held to explain both the scope and assessment cost of the Riverside Drive sewer installation project.

            Each resident was told the cost of their assessment and was also told to get estimates for how much it would cost to install laterals to their homes.

            The Boyers state in their letter that when the project was completed in 2004, the assessment costs were actually less than what the project estimate had been.

            Property owners were originally told they had to hook up to city sewer by Dec. 31, 2004.

            However, in early 2005, a party was interested in buying each of the properties on the south side of Riverside Drive, and so hookup was delayed.

            When the sale fell through, the Boyers complied with the ordinance.

            Boyer told the Board of Public Works last Wednesday that of the seven property owners on Riverside Drive, four have hooked up to city sewer thus far.

            He said that if the proposed amendment is approved, those who obeyed the city’s ordinance would be penalized, while those who have disobeyed it would be rewarded.

            “If you pass this, my wife and I will be requesting a refund for what it cost to bring it to our house,” Boyer said.  “IT was a good project, and it should be retroactive – not in the middle of project when all agreed to it and most have done it.”

            Edlebeck told the board that fairness is a key issue in this situation.

            “We are seeing a change mid-stream,” he said. “I don’t think it is an easy situation.  The Board has been asked to re-evaluate this.”

            Edlebeck said it is a policy issue that the Board and Common Council must decide.

            “We are in the process of identifying homes that aren’t hooked up so we have a better feel, but this was a specific project,” he said.

            The Board of Public Works tabled action on the matter until its July meeting, allowing Edlebeck to gather more information.