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$11.8 million Chapel sewer project moves ahead

by Cyndy Hardy

SEDONA, AZ – July 23, 2008 – Emotional pleas from Chapel-area residents drew some compassionate words from the Sedona City Council, but not enough to flush away plans to sewer the subdivision, located on the east side of Hwy. 179.

A $10,131,143 contract with Tiffany Construction Inc. passed with a 4-2 vote Tuesday.

The contract includes stormwater improvements; and a $200,000 cushion for unforeseen cost increases. The contract does not include costs outside of Tiffany’s responsibilities, such as easement acquisition. The total project budget is about $11,826,000, according to a city staff report.

The bonds approved in late 2007 were issued and if the city doesn’t use the money by about 2010 it could have to refund it, according to City Manager Eric Levitt.

Mayor Rob Adams and Councilman Cliff Hamilton opposed the contract. Councilman Dan Surber’s absence was excused.

“I’ve been against this since the beginning,” Mr. Adams said.

But the beginning predates Mr. Adams’ Sedona residency, and possibly some of the Chapel neighbors.

The history goes back to shortly after the city’s 1988 incorporation when the city bonded $25 million to build the wastewater treatment plant and to connect some – but not all – Sedona homes to an effluent disposal system.

A lot of people mistakenly thought the bond would cover every Sedona home.

In about 1995, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issued a moratorium on future sewer hookups until the city increased its capacity to handle the effluent flow, which was completed in 1999.

The following year, the city began allowing developers and homebuyers to prepay capacity fees in anticipation that the sewer would eventually reach their properties. Buyers got a smoking deal of $2,100 – compared to the new $4,900 fee if they didn’t act quickly.

The move led people to believe the whole city would be sewered. Most of the prepaid sites are in the Chapel area, according to Councilman John Bradshaw.

Even though the city never actually promised to sewer every home, the City Council said Tuesday that it should keep the perceived promise made to those buyers years ago.

“Bureaucracies are prone to inaction,” Councilman Ramon Gomez said. “We must move this forward. The ball was set in motion before [the current council] got here.”

But some Chapel-area residents have private septic tanks and do not want public sewer. Many will now be forced to hook into the city sewer system at their own cost, which will vary according to circumstances on individual lots, but could be as high as $25,000.

ADEQ isn’t requiring the city to sewer the neighborhood; and the city has no proof the existing septic tanks are inadequate, Director of Public Works Charles Mosley said.

However, the city currently requires that homes that meet certain criteria, such as being within a certain proximity of the sewer, must connect, Mr. Levitt said.

The city further justified its plans with a 2007 survey of Chapel residents. About 30 percent of the surveys were returned with approximately 55 percent in favor of the city sewer, according to minutes from an October 23, 2007 City Council meeting.

“The questions were ambiguous. People didn’t know how to respond,” resident Linn Ennis said of the survey.

And just because Chapel residents historically wanted sewer doesn’t mean they still do; or that every resident should be subject to a promise that wasn’t really a promise, according to some.

Resident Mark Dewulf said he has not seen the results of the survey, but that 100 percent of 18 neighbors he spoke to oppose the sewer. “Many people can’t afford it,” Mr. Dewulf said, adding that some might rather sell their homes but probably can’t in the current real estate market.

In response, the City Council added a caveat for a management plan to address hardship cases. City staff will prepare the plan for council approval.

It was little consolation for Ms. Ennis, who said that forcing people to destroy working septic systems didn’t fit the city’s “green” image. “It seems like, so long as there’s money, we’re just going to go ahead,” she said.

Mr. Adams agreed, saying he didn’t think the city had done “adequate discovery” to find out whether residents wanted the sewer.

© 2008 Cyndy Hardy. This article may not be reproduced, republished or distributed without written permission from the author. Contact the author at cyndyhardy@msn.com.

Related article:

Chapel sewer project galvanizes community

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