Sunday, August 29, 1999
Development tied to sewers
Homeowner fees to be determined
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — A $1 million project to extend the Middletown sewer district to Ohio 122 at Union Road should help spur development in that area, and clear the way for a $7.5 million extension of the system by Warren County.
That extension will provide sewers to the estimated 750 homes in the Hunter area, many of which have failing, on-site sewage disposal systems.
“This sewer is the key to opening up that whole area for development,” said Preston Combs, Middletown public works director. “It's pretty much impossible to have commercial and light industrial without sewers.”
But before work on the joint project begins, Middletown needs to establish sewer tap-in fees so that Warren County can have detailed figures to pass on to property owners, said Andy Braun, Middletown city engineer.
City commissioners will have a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 7 on tap-in fees for the county's sewer extension, proposed to start at about $1,500 per property, plus a $1.86 per 100 cubic feet monthly user fee for Warren County properties to be served by the new sewers.
Warren County will have public hearings by early October, but installation is about a year away, said Richard Renneker, county sanitary engineer.
Letters sent to the affected property owners in January said that an engineer had been hired to determine sewer costs in response to concerns of the Ohio EPA and the Warren County Combined Health District regarding on-lot sewage disposal systems in the Hunter area.
Early estimates indicate that each property will be assessed about $5,100, including Middletown's tap-in fee. That will generate about $3.5 million of the total project cost. The county expects a $1.5 million Issue II grant in July 2000, with and the other $2.5 million from county coffers, Mr. Renneker said.
Hunter, east of Middletown just past where the city's sewer extension will end, has about six subdivisions, including Knollbrook, which has its own sewage treatment plant. Sewers will replace the plant, but those residences were as sessed earlier and won't be assessed again, Mr. Renneker said.
Warren County's proposed sewers will link to Middletown's system and serve an estimated 700 acres in Hunter now — up to 2,600 acres at capacity, Mr. Braun said.
The project, being designed by Henderson and Bodwell engineers, Mason, will likely be bid in August 2000 and be finished by spring 2001. Residents will have about six to eight months to connect to the sewers. Cost to run the lines from the street to their homes will average $500 to $1,000, Mr. Renneker said.
Warren County will likely install a master meter where the county sewers connect to Middletown's. Everything upstream of that meter will be owned and maintained by Warren County. Middletown will bill the county for all flow that goes through that meter to cover treatment costs and maintenance, and the county will have individual meters on residents' homes to determine their share of usage and costs. Residents' sewer bill will be about the same as their water bill — averaging about $12 per month, Mr. Renneker said.
Numerous residents have called to ask why the sewers are not started, but the expected complaints have not materialized, Mr. Renneker said.
Work on Middletown's east end sewer extension will begin late this year, and be finished by early next year. It will extend sewers along about a one-mile stretch under Interstate 75 to the intersection of Union Road and Ohio 122, Mr. Braun said.
Middletown's proposed tap- in fee is to cover the cost of sewer line upgrades and a system buy-in.
“There is quite a bit of equity built up in that plant that has been paid for by existing sewer users,” Mr. Braun said.
At the Sept. 7 Middletown commission meeting, there will also be a public hearing on the city's sewer extension — required because about 20 properties will be assessed.
Meanwhile, commissioners are still considering a proposal to implement water and sewer tap-in fees throughout Middletown — believed to be one of the few cities in the region without such fees.
Earlier discussions about the proposals caused some developers to complain that added costs could slow development.
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