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| In stark contrast to previous meetings held at the City Council Chambers concerning the Chapel Area sewer project, hardly any residents showed up at the April 14 council meeting. |
Sedona Council
mulls increasing sewer rates, creating non-user fees
By Tommy Acosta, Associate Editor
SEDONA, AZ - April 17, 2009 - In its
continuing effort to find a way to accommodate
Chapel Area homeowners facing hefty connection costs
to the new sewer system being built, the Sedona City
Council voted 6-0 at its April 14 meeting to direct
staff to develop the implementation of non-user fees
for those not wishing to connect.
Mayor Rob Adams, councilors Cliff Hamilton, John
Bradshaw, Dan Surber, Pud Colquitt and Nancy
Scagnelli also gave direction to conduct a rate
study on the non-user fees, and sewer fee rates,
which have not been raised in more than 12 years and
now stand at $32.52 a month.
The council has been discussing ways of lessening
the impact on some homeowners who could face massive
costs to connect, depending on the difficulty level
of the connection itself.
In the Chapel area, where the inclines are steep and
the ground is rocky, a complicated connection
requiring trenching, grinding, laying lateral pipes,
pumping, decommissioning the old septic system and
replacing landscaping, can exceed $20,000.
At its Feb. 11 meeting, the council discussed the
possibility of granting exemptions to such
homeowners and directed staff to determine the
difference between an average connection costs and
one deemed excessive.
Scenarios were considered where such homeowners
applying for deferrals would receive a ten-year
extension to hook up; would plead their case in
front of a hearing officer; and where connection
costs exceed the capacity fee, now at $5,335, by
twice the amount, a deferral would be granted.
Staff did not come back to the table April 14 with
any specific recommendation along those lines.
An alternate plan to simply charge those who do not
wish to hook up a non-user fee suggested by staff
gained traction at the last meeting.
Counselors wanted assurance that those not wishing
to hook up have and maintain adequate septic systems
that do not endanger the environment.
“Can we put language into the Wastewater Code to
have septic systems checked every year?” asked
Councilman Surber.
Assistant City Manager Allison Zelms said no current
requirement for such inspections are outlined in the
Wastewater Code.
“If the city has concerns we might call a neighbor
or someone with concerns could call us,” she said.
“We don’t have a requirement in our code for septic
tank inspections.
Sedona City Attorney Mike Goimarac said language
calling for regular septic tank inspections could be
added to the code.
Concerns were raised over homeowners who sell their
homes in the Chapel Area not notifying the buyer of
the requirement to hook up to the new sewer system.
“When they sell the house, then what happens?” asked
Councilwoman Scagnelli.
Ms. Zelms said the buyer gets a notice that they
have to connect within 180 days.
Councilwoman Scagnelli asked what happens when a
current homeowner who has not been paying
environmental fees or sewer fees sells his property
to someone else.
“Sometimes sewer fees, capacity fees and
environmental fees are not paid for a year,” Ms.
Zelms replied. “It would be a typical disclosure
issue. When we see a property come up for sale we
remind the title company.’
Councilwoman Scagnelli wanted assurance the city
collects the owed fees.
“Do we get the money at closing?” she asked.
Ms. Zelms said the city does so, on a case-by-case
basis.
“We do impose liens on unpaid sewer fees and
collect,” replied Sedona City Attorney Mike Goimarac.
Councilman Hamilton expressed the need for the
council to take action and come to a final decision
on how to handle those not wishing to connect.
“One of the things I am hearing from people in the
Chapel Area is that they are waiting for the council
to make up its mind,” he said. ‘People need to start
planning now. They need us to decide.”
Councilwoman Scagnelli defended the council.
“I think it is human nature for people to put things
off until they really have to do it,” she said.
In stark contrast to previous council meetings held
on the Chapel Area sewer fee issue where dozens of
concerned citizens from the area attended and voiced
concerns, there was hardly any at the April 14
meeting.
On July 16, 2008, at the Sedona Methodist Church,
more than 120- Chapel Area residents assembled to
hear City of Sedona staff and representatives from
Tiffany Construction Inc. lay out plans for the
installation of a sewer and storm-drain system in
the Chapel area.
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| Chapel Area resident was not happy with the council's actions at the April 14 city council meeting on the Chapel Area sewer project. |
Chapel Area resident Linn Ennis left the April 14
meeting disappointed.
“They didn’t really change much,” she said.
“Anything logical that needed to be changed wasn’t.
But the process is not finished.”
Though the council did not speak on time extensions
for those asking, Ms. Ennis hoped the issue wasn’t
finished
“I wasn’t clear which two pages were left out of the
doc that was passed,” she said. “That would be the
salient part. In other words, are they still
considering a decent time extension?”
Mayor Adams came out of the meeting hopeful for
solutions.
“I felt positive,” he said afterwards. “We didn’t
get bogged down. We are looking for alternatives.”
The mayor said the city in the future must develop a
way to maintain and operate the sewer plant without
having to dip into sales taxes or other sources.
Ultimately, we are going to need money to make
adjustments to our sewer system,” he said. “We are
going to have to look at our sewer fees and make
adjustments.”
Mayor Adams said options for homeowners not wishing
to connect have existed all along but have not been
publicized.
“Most people don’t know, those who do not want to
hook up, that they do have options,” he said.
“People can skip paying the capacity fee and sewer
fees and simply pay $140 a month instead that
includes a capacity penalty and environmental fee.
It’s already in the books. The city hasn’t
advertised that. We prefer people pay the capacity
fee and sewer fees.”
Homeowners who do not hook up but have paid capacity
fees presently pay an environmental fee of twice the
regular sewer fee, which comes to $65.08 a month.
No date was given for staff to return to the council
with recommendations on new sewer rates and non-hook
up fees.
The Chapel Area sewer project is expected to be
completed in August 2010.
Readers' comments
#1 Only a government would charge people for something they do not use, want or need. Imagine if an airline sent you a bill for not flying. The Sedona City Council is preposterous and all councilors need to be voted out. Even though the areas mandated by the state were sewered long ago, Sedona City Council will not stop sewering.
#2 The reason many Chapel Area residents did not
attend the meeting is that they have little
faith in the Sedona City Council and its ability
to do what's best for Sedona and its residents.
We have received quotes in excess of $15,000 and
wonder how we will pay for this unnecessary
work. So now our only 'alternative' is to pay
$140/month not to connect? Where's the relief
for financially strapped residents?
#3 It is very sad that the Chapel area is being sewered when it was not required and when it costs so much that the Council is not looking for ways to add to the financial burdens of its citizens. A few people who had signed on for sewering and who likely did not appreciate the true costs of sewering got the Council to vote this unnecessary major project into existence. Now, what are people to do? Why should Sedona citizens have to pay for the mistakes of the City Council. Paying $140 per month not to hook up to an unnecessary system is very much like paying protection money to the mob so your store won't catch fire. The Council voted for the unneeded project, they should find the money for it. And they should stop sewering now.
#4 As I 35 year resident of Sedona I felt
compelled to respond to all you whiners in the
chapel area.
1973 is the year I settled in Sedona. 1977 I
bought my home. 1988 voters decided Sedona
should become a city, I am one who voted against
incorporation.
1993 I recieved my sewer connection notice. I,
too, thought it should not apply to me as in the
16 years I had been in my home not once did I
have my septic tank pumped. When the tank was
pumped for my sewer conncetion there was so
little in it the contractor asked if I had
recently cleaned it. No, I had not.
I was then, and to this day, remain single with
one income of less than 20K per year. My
connection fee was huge for me, yet I was told I
had to pay and connect. I did so by taking out a
loan.
My monthly sewer fee began at $12.00, and is now
over $30.00 and I still feel like I'm paying for
something that I did not need. But it's not
about just me ... it's about all of us as a
community on the whole.
Safety and health issues of clean drinking water
being at risk from septic systems leaching into
our water table should be your primary concern.
Shut up and pay your fare share just like the
rest of us.
#5 Commenter #4 has made several mistakes in
logic. His length of time here (or anywhere) is
irrelevant. People who say how long they've been
somewhere, or how old they are, are attempting
to pull rank. It is a power trip with no bearing
on the issue.
He tells us how he has suffered and because he
has suffered everyone else is supposed to "shut
up" and suffer also. Forgetaboutit!
Additionally, commenter #4 tells us how well his
septic system worked, then tells us how for
health and safety reasons people should hook up
to the sewer. Huh? Which is it?
If septic systems were in fact leaching into
ground water then the state would have mandated
more areas in Sedona for sewering than they did.
Yet the state mandate was met ages ago.
Additional sewering is not needed.
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