Bill Gregory made his feelings clear about plans to provide an Andersonville Road sewer system with a special assessment district.
‘I don’t think we’ll have a majority of people that are going to want to spend $10,000 out of pocket plus the assessment,? he said.
Gregory was among residents who attended a Tuesday, June 3 public hearing before the Independence Township Board. The hearing preceded the board’s vote to establish boundaries for the district.
The main issue appeared to be the township’s plan to assess affected property owners a total of $250,655 over 20 years. If approved, that would pay only for the main system, thus requiring property owners to pay for the connection and the needed grinder pump for the pressure sewer system.
Gregory argued for the option of a $481,655 assessment, which would include all the needed pumps and connections. He said it should be cheaper in the long run, and would make it easier by spreading the total cost over time among the 25 affected parcels.
‘There’s got to be a savings by having one contractor all along the way up front,? he said.
Township officials said they proposed the first plan to allow property owners the option of when ? or whether ? to connect to the main line.
‘If everybody in the district decided they wanted to do it at once, it would be fine,? Supervisor Dale Stuart said. ‘It’s very unlikely that out of the 25 properties, 25 people will connect the first day.?
In response to Gregory’s suggestion, however, Stuart said the board would consider a poll of property owners to determine whether all 25 owners would be willing to connect immediately.
The June 3 public hearing was only on the topic of the district boundaries. A second public hearing will be necessary before the board votes on the actual funding mechanism of the special assessment district.
Tom Biehl, representing the Hubbell, Roth and Clark engineering firm, said there are also potential liability issues if the township contacted for home connections.
Engineers gave a rough estimate of $6,000 to $10,000 for the grinder pump, $14 to $20 per foot for the connection pipe and $1,014 as the current township sewer tap-in fee.
HRC engineer Jamie Burton said petitions representing more than 50 percent of the affected property asked for the new district. The area needs a sewer system because of environmental concerns, and the topography is such that a normal gravity-fed system would not suffice.
‘Lake quality is a big concern, and could be affected due to the failing or diminished capacity of the septic system,? Burton said.
While the current plan would allow property owners to choose when to connect to the system, officials said there is an advantage to having the main line in place so property owners have the access when it is deemed necessary, perhaps by health department edict or by a desire to make a property more marketable.
There was less conversation at a public hearing on a proposed special assessment district for a new Sashabaw Road ‘drainage district.?
Not to be confused with the still-pending special assessment for road improvements, the drainage district was also requested by representatives of more than 50 percent of the property in the proposed district.
If approved, the district would assess an estimated $1.3 million for a special drain system to be offered as an alternative to requiring individual property owners to dig standard retention ponds.
Burton said the plan would enhance the ‘town center? overlay district.
‘It’s not to have nice, square detention basins, potentially-overgrown fenced-in areas pockmarked all over the area,? he said.
The only questions came from a couple property owners asking about details of the proposed district boundaries, the potential effect of drainage from other properties, and exemption of properties with existing drainage systems.
After the public hearings, trustees approved both SAD resolutions without discussion. Second public hearings for both proposed districts will be scheduled at a later date.