Sewer Program Update

We will be hearing from staff on the sewer program updates and how they wish proceed. This program involves citizens that have sewer connections that have leaks in thier pipes that come from their home to our street mains. The program requires these homeowners to partner with the city and spend 5k and up for sewer lining.

Having heard from the residents during the last election and seen costs to residents skyrocket over the past several years, asking citizens to come up with 5000.00 plus dollars each should not continue.

We had asked staff to answer the questions the residents brought before us at large public meetings that took place earlier this year. They had asked us to look at new methodologies of dealing with sewer surcharges, compare our program of private funding to other communities, and finding ways to provide direct remedies for the small amount of homeowners that have the sewage back up.

Remedies could include overhead sewers, disconnections to city systems in basements, etc. This is not my field of expertise, but if we could spend the same money as the city is spending with our cost share on private laterals to remediate individual problems we might be able to be more effective.

That being said, the biggest bang for our buck is our continued committment to our public infrastructure programs that will solve most of the issues. I do think however we should not put any more economic burden on individual private homeowners. We should only use public funds for solving the sewage problems unless we do find illegal connections.