City has final word on Eastwood Hills sewer system

A deal is a deal. Or is it? Residents of the Eastwood Hills subdivision would beg to differ.

In its Sept. 23 meeting, Springfield City Council repealed a 1996 ordinance that granted Eastwood Hills the right to retain its septic system independent of city sewer.

For the Eastwood Hills homeowners, the price of change is $5,800 the maximum the city can charge residents for converting their homes from septic tanks to city-operated sanitary sewers.

However, while the 135 homes in Eastwood Hills will pay out $783,000, the actual cost of installing the sewer main will be $1.15 million, according to Springfield Public Works.

Changing the terms

The repeal was an expected decision and one that righted a six-year-old wrong, according to Councilwoman Shelia Wright. The 1996 ordinance, which prohibited the city from installing sewers in Eastwood Hills, was a mistake, she said.

"It was known back then that there would come a time when it needed to be repealed," Wright added.

Wright, who sponsored the repeal, and council member Teri Hacker are the only remaining members from the 1996 council.

Under the 1996 ordinance, only a request by the majority of residents or proof that septic tanks were failing gave the city authority to convert the system. But a change in the city charter more than a year ago, approved by public vote, was reason enough to repeal the ordinance, Wright said.

"The 1996 ordinance was in violation of current city charter, which says if your neighborhood is a candidate for sewers you have to let us put them in," she said.

The city's plan is to connect all properties within city limits to the city sewer system. According to Bob Schaefer, assistant director of Public Works, 3,000 properties (4 percent of the city) remain to be converted. The goal is to convert those properties in the next seven years.

Customer service

But it has been the city's communication methods, or lack thereof, that have rubbed residents the wrong way.

"We've certainly not been treated with the same professional courtesy that we run our businesses with," said Brad Bammon, an Eastwood Hills resident and director of operations at Midwest Ecosteam. "It is disappointing, to say the least, to think the City Council would conduct our city's business on our behalf in such a way."

Bammon was one of about 25 subdivision residents opposing the repeal at the Aug. 26 public hearing. Bammon and other residents claim that the city made no effort to notify residents that the repeal was under consideration.

Now that the dispute is settled, Bammon wonders what City Council cannot touch.

"We aren't going to win with City Council," he said. "We think we've ... fallen on a deaf ear."

But the city is listening to a final request from the neighborhood. The Public Works Department will address the subdivision's stormwater run off problems with the construction of a small storm sewer, Schaefer said.

The bottom line

At the heart of resident's concerns was the expense of replacing their septic tanks. Although the city has capped those charges at $5,800, additional fees lie in connecting lines from homes to the sewer main.

According to Parrish Witt, owner of Witt Plumbing Co., those charges range from about $1,500 to $3,000.

Schaefer said the project will go to bid next spring and should be operational by the end of the year.

Only one resident publicly approached council in favor of city sewers, but Wright said she has heard from many.

"We didn't just pick them out of a hat. There were people who needed a sanitary sewer who came to the city," Wright said. "It's important that we have a clean environment. ... If you are going to live in town, you need to be on sanitary sewer."

Eastwood Hills resident Patrick Roberts told council, "It's time for City Council to bring Eastwood Hills kicking and screaming into the 20th century."

The next question for council is who's next.

Wright said the city does not have a strategic plan outlined, but is converting areas from septic to sewer as the opportunity arises.

The area surrounding Partnership Industrial Center West in northwest Springfield is a good example of opportunity. Many homes and businesses nearby have changed to sanitary sewers since the city installed sewer lines for the industrial park.

"Those of us in leadership positions across the state know, as go the sanitary sewers so goes the development," Wright said.

City officials are eyeing neighborhoods in southwest Springfield next, she said.