Sewer Water Connection Memo_Gaffron

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Dunn & McCuskey S&W Charges Analysis April 15,2008/April 7,2009 Page 3 a connection fee is largely an issue of fairness and equity. No property should be afforded the privilege of connecting to the sewer system without paying its reasonable share of the costs to build and maintain that system. In the typical case where the cost of a `retrofit" sewer project is assessed equally to all benefiting properties, a nearby property not originally assessed should pay its share of those original costs at the time it does connect; it should not be allowed to connect at no cost to a system that others have paid for. In the case of a new development, where the developer builds a sewer system to serve new homes, the developer surely adds a portion of the cost of that sewer construction to the price of each lot. Should those lot buyers be subsidizing the sewer for properties not part of that subdivision? Probably not - outside properties connecting to that system should be charged a fair and equitable connection fee. However, the City as recipient of that fee has historically not redistributed it among the original subdivision lot owners. Possible Dunn Expectations. There is potentially an eapectation by Dunn that no City of Orono connection fee will be due for her connections. Remember that Lazniarz had to purchase an easement from Dunn for access to the Creekside Development over a portion of Dunn's property (Tract G, RLS 352). In correspondence between MPG and Dunn's attorney Jeremy Steiner in 2004, Steiner asked that the Developers Agreement include language stating that 1) two sewer and water stubs will be installed along Dunn's lot line and that 2) Dunn will not be assessed for City water and sewer. My response was: 1. The preliminary plat approval resolution acknowledges WDD's (Henry Lazniarz's) intent to provide sewer and water service to the Dunn property, but does not require that WDD provide such service. Assuming that WDD agrees to `the installation of two water and two sewer service stubs to serve the Dunn property' becoming a requirement, the City will not object to this being added as a condition of the Developer's Agreement. 2. In terms of assessment for the installation, the Cit�� of Orono will require that WDD bears the entire cost of construction of all improvements including sewer, water, road and utilities. WDD will upon acceptance by the Cit3�, turn over the sewer and water facilities to the City of Orono, and they will become part of the Orono utility system, to be operated by Orono. However, we are assuming that the City of Long Lake will charge WDD (or will charge Orono) some form of `per unit connection charge' for the privilege of connecting into the Long Lake sewer and water systems. Our expectation, pending completion of a formal agreement between the two cities, is that WDD will pa,y Long Lake directly for the connection charges for his seven units, but I have no knowledge of whether he will pay the connection charge(s) for Dunn. I don't l�now when Dunn will make use of the two units. I don't know whether Long Lake will expect up-front payment of a connection charge for all potential units (we think that there might be as many as ll total units over the long term,induding WDD's seven, Dunn's two,and one each for the properties at 130 and 140 Brown Road),or whether Long Lake will only collect now for the 7 initial units and collect for future units as they are connected. And I don't know whether Long Lake would bill those in the future to the individual users or would expect that Orono pay whatever connection charge is due (in which case Orono would bill or assess this to the individual proPerty being connected at that time).