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Show Cemterville Okays $500 Fee For Some Water Needs By GARY R. BLODGETT Clipper News Editor CENTERVILLE - Residents of Pitford Acres felt that the Centerville City Council was "rubbing salt into the wound" by imposing a $500 connection fee to some residents for hooking onto a newly installed sub-surface drainage system. A LOT of controversy has arisen from the council's proposal that "property owners who can not contain excess water on their property must pay a hookup fee within 30 days or pay an additional ($750) connection fee." The council's 4-0 decision to impose the fee ' through a city resolution is, they say, a step in the direction of imposing a city wide ordinance requiring all property owners who are unable to contain water on their property to pay a connection con-nection fee and hook up to an existing city sub-surface drainage system. PITFORD ACRES' controversy stems from "four or five residences" whereby property owners are discharging (drainage) water into a public street. "We can't allow this to happen and we shouldn't force all residents to pay for benefits of a few," said Mayor Neil Blackburn, who ,-made the original proposal early last month. "THOSE WHO benefit from the service (sub-drain system) should pay for the benefits although the hookup and maintenance fees would be only a minimal amount of the total cost of the system." He explained that the sub-drain system installed in-stalled by the city cost about $65,000 "but was essential to the area." "Whatever is received from those who benefit from the system would be only a small fraction of the total cost of the project," the mayor explained. HE EMPHASIZED that water being discharged dis-charged from those few property owners onto the street is causing not only health and environmental en-vironmental problems but is also causing damage dam-age to the street. The council gave property owners 30 days to connect onto the city's sub-drain system or be assessed an additional $250 a total of $750 -for the connection fee. "WE'RE GOING TO pave that street about Sept. 1 and we can't allow water to be pumped into the street," said Mayor Blackburn. The council emphasized that only property owners who can not contain sub-drain or storm runoff water on their property must connect to the system. There are 36 lots in Pitford Acres Subdivision and only about four or five are in violation of the city resolution, it was explained. ex-plained. BUT THERE'S been bitter opposition to the proposal at two public hearings. Three long time residents of Pitford Acres spoke out against the connection fee proposal although they admitted they are not obligated to connect to the system. The three women protesting the fee indicated indi-cated the council was "rubbing salt into the wound" because of the many problems residents resi-dents of Pitford Acres have suffered during the five or six years. KAE JESPERSEN, one of the first to move into the subdivision, reminded the council that Pitford Acres has been plagued with many problems -- some of them alleged to be city-caused city-caused including unpaved streets, unfinished curbs and gutters, no sidewalks, and unsanitary unsanit-ary puddling of wtorm drain water. "There were months at a time that I couldn't drive to my home or have mail delivered but I still paid full property taxes," said Ms. Jes-persen. Jes-persen. "And some of the problems were a direct result of mismanagement and inefficient operation of prior city officials." SHE SAID she could understand city officials offi-cials imposing a new ordinance to eliminate sub-drainage problems citywide, but residents of Pitford Acres should not be singled out. Councilman Lee Duncan said he did not feel that the resolution is discriminatory because a " similar citywide ordinance would pertain to all residents who would benefit from a sub-drain system. "It's the fairest method of having those who benefit from the system help to pay the costs," he said. JOLYNNE COLLARD Kate Nelson agreed that the recently installed sub-drain system had benefited many of the homes within the subdivision, subdi-vision, especially by alleviating standing water in backyards and gardens. But they emphasized that they would not favor paying a $500 connection fee as some property owners will be required to pay. "WE ALL purchased our lots and built homes with the understanding that the lots were developed lots and there were not storm drain problems," said Ms. Nelson. Opponents of the proposal agreed that it would have been different had the residents of Pitford Acres known there would be a service , (connection) fee to hookup to the subdrain system. MAYOR BLACKBURN admitted that he did not advise the residents of a possible connection connec-tion and maintenance fee "because it was not thought of at the time the system was installed by the city." The council did not set a monthly maintenance mainte-nance fee, as suggested earlier, but estimated it would be between $1 and $3 per month. THE COUNCIL vote was 4-0 with Councilman Council-man Kim Leishman absent. |
