R.H. Estates : Sewer District Plan Rejected

The City Council voted 4 to 1 to drop plans for a sewer district in the Harbor Sight neighborhood after the cost of the project caused support to dissipate among the 74 affected property owners.

Thirty-six residents owning more than 54% of the affected property formally protested the formation of the district, City Manager Raymond B. Taylor said.

“I haven’t heard anything to convince me that there’s an overriding health problem there,” Councilman Jerome Belsky said in making the motion to terminate plans for the district.

The council also directed Taylor to prepare an itemized list of costs the city incurred while studying the idea. As part of their original petition and subsequent vote to form the district two years ago, residents agreed to divide those costs, not to exceed $1,000 per parcel. The council will decide how to bill residents at its Jan. 27 meeting.

The project would have involved replacing the septic tanks now in use in the neighborhood with a sewage system recommended by the county Department of Health Services, which said that 19 of the properties had sewage disposal problems that could threaten public health.

The proposed assesments--expected to cost about $12,000 per home two years ago--rose to $19,500 after higher-than-expected bids and other expenses brought the project’s total cost to $1.43 million.

City officials said they will monitor the area for sewage problems.