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Senior Citizen Deferral Owners of homestead property who are 65 years or older may apply for a deferment of the special assessment if they meet the criteria set forth in City Council Resolution#2864. Sewer Connection The information below is a summary of information that was provided in a letter several weeks ago. The new sewer system is now available for connection by property owners. The property owner is responsible for the sewer connection between the service stub,at the property line,and the house. The sewer connection must be completed by a licensed plumber, and the plumber must obtain a City sewer connection permit before beginning work on the sewer connection. The connection permit fee is $35.00. The City does not make recommendations on specific plumbers to use for sewer connections. It may be prudent to obtain quotes from several contractors for this work and to also verify contractor references and previous experience. The Sewer Availability Charge (SAC) must be paid to the City before the plumber can be issued a sewer connection permit. This SAC fee is submitted by the City to the MCES(Metropolitan Council Environmental Services) and helps finance the cost of the reserve capacity built into the MCES sewer interceptor system for new connections. The 2000 SAC fee is $1,100 and this fee has been increasing by $50 each year. The SAC fee must be paid in the same year that the sewer connection is completed. The City policy for the time frame for connection to sewer was recently changed.The previous policy required sewer connection within 16 months after sewer became available. The new policy is that sewer connection has to be completed at the same date that a nonconforming septic system would need to be replaced. This policy change was made so as to not force residents, in neighborhoods with newly installed sewer systems, to discontinue use of a nonconforming septic system any sooner than property owners without sewer. The time frame for replacement of nonconforming septic systems has also been changed to December 31,2010 on a city wide basis. In summary,the deadline for connection to sewer for properties with nonconforming septic systems is December 31, 2010. These recent policy changes do not apply to failing septic systems with surface discharge of effluent. Failing septic systems must be replaced or connection to sewer completed within 90 days. The septic systems in Webber Hills will still be inspected by the City and sewer connection will be required within 90 days for any systems with surface discharge of effluent. The existing policy of not allowing the expansion of nonconforming septic systems was not changed. Any building permits for house additions that would require enlargement of a nonconforming septic system will require connection to the sewer before completion of the building project. Properties with conforming septic systems do not have to connect to sewer as long as the systems remains conforming.Minor maintenance such as pump replacement can be completed,but if the system requires major repairs, or enlargement connection to sewer will be required at that time.