05-18-1992 Stubbs Bay Sewer Public Hearing Agenda

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KJi-wm '■nVi-■ ■Wl'-";-'- ■ ■i#P ;■ tekM:^Sfo.;‘'. r^- ^ TO: DATE: Ron Moorse, City Administrator FROM: Michael P. Gaffron, Asst. Planninq s. Zoning Administrator May 13, 1992 80BJECT: Analysis and Proposal - Extended Period for Sewer Connection W:' 1$i » pi- tete- p':^sV-.mm m- feteiM List of Exhibits A. Section 9.02 Sub. 1 - "Sewer Connection Required" B. Section 12.30 Sub. 4 B1 - "16 Month" Requirement I. Analysis The appellants represented by Michael Knight request an indefinite extension of the deadline for connection to sewer. Current city code requires that all properties served with sewer connect to that sewer within 16 months of its availability. The appellants contend that in many cases where they have recently constructed new septic systems, they should be able to get some reasonable period of use from those systems before having to abandoned chem and connect to sewer. On the face of it, this is a reasonable request. However, if no arbritary deadline is set, the city staff will ultimately have to argue the fine points of whether a given system has reached a fai lure or non conformity level that demands sewer connection. From a purely administrative standpoint, when push comes to shove it is much easier to argue that "city policy requires you to hook up by a certain deadline and that is all there is to it" than to attempt to convince a property owner that the system is non-conforming. Mr. Knight also indicated that it might be reasonable to allow the property owner's economics to dictate whether he connects to the sewer or repaILS/replaces his system when the city determins that it is non- conforming. Assuming that the property owner is paying sewer assessments and the quarterly sewer charge, the economics likely would work in the city's favor, and in most situations connecting to the sewer would be cheaper than system repairs. One downside of not having a definite deadline is that 20 years down the road and three homeowners later, nobody w; 11 remember whether or not the sewer has been connected, when I first started with Orono in 1978, ray first task was to go through 1,500 street files to determine which properties served with sewer had not yet connected. I found more than 100, dating back as much as 15 years before that time. It took another 5 years to finally get the bulk of that list connected. We need to avoid such activity in the future. II. Proposed Sewer Connection Period Extension. Based on some of the concerns noted above, the following may be a reasonable if not somewhat complex policy for sewer connections: 1 f l: -a 5 \