Priorities set for water, sewer line replacement

By Scott Aust, Journal staff | Tuesday, August 26, 2008

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No one's been beating down the doors of city hall to sign up for Rapid City's program to assist homeowners with failed or failing private, nonconforming water and sewer lines, but if they do, the city has developed a point system designed to prioritize proposals.

In May, the city adopted an ordinance calling for the city to assume a higher share of the cost to replace water and sewer lines built privately before 1970. Instead of paying 40 percent, the city will now pay 70 percent of the cost, and homeowners would pay the other 30 percent as an assessment on their property.

Robert Ellis, public works director, said a number of inquiries were received about the program initially, but only one or two groups of property owners have petitioned to have an assessment project done.

The city has about 580 private water lines and 799 private sewer lines that are 55 to 80 years old generally clustered in four main areas: north Rapid, central Rapid, Canyon Lake and West Chicago.

In general, certain lines within the city system are considered private because they weren't built using public money, often were built without conforming to common standards and have received little or no maintenance over the years.

Details about ownership are sketchy, causing some homeowners to assume for years that the city was responsible for the lines.

Ellis said the next step will be to send a letter to all homeowners served by a private line, informing them about the policy.

"If we start receiving petitions ... we'll have a means of actually prioritizing those projects based on these criteria. The higher the points you score, the higher up you are on the priority list," Ellis said. "It allows us a way to fairly allocate the resources we have."

The public works committee approved a resolution Tuesday spelling out the criteria that will be used to prioritize projects when several are being considered.

The system awards points based on the number of property owners in support, the number benefiting, documented health and safety issues, environmental issues, nuisance issues, proximity to current or imminent city water or sewer projects, and documented negative effects to operation and maintenance of the city's existing system.

One group of property owners is already taking advantage of the program. The city on Tuesday will schedule a hearing for a project to build 408 feet of sewer main to serve eight parcels benefiting four property owners on East Boulevard between Kansas City and Quincy streets.

"I love it," said Gene Kipp, an owner of two properties being affected by the proposed project.

Kipp said about three years ago he looked into having the city fix the lines but backed off when learning the city would only pay for 40 percent of the cost. With the city now contributing 70 percent, the project is much more palatable.

"Golly, that's neat," Kipp said.

In response to a question, Ellis said the city won't go actively look for projects.

"It would be difficult for us to do that knowing property owners would be forcefully assessed the cost of the project," he said.

The city also won't use the program to build new lines to homes currently served by septic systems. Ellis said the city has about $1 million available through local and federal funds designed to address septic tank elimination efforts.

The policy change was prompted by discussion of a failing private sewer line in the Franklin Street/Mount Rushmore Road area. The council agreed to pay up to 90 percent of the replacement cost for that line before compromising on a 70 percent participation level set by ordinance.

Ellis said the city has about $100,000 available in the budget this year for the program and has included $300,000 in the 2009 budget. The program requires homeowners to submit petitions asking for city participation.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415, or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com.