Sewer Assessments

Let me please state, right up front, that I am one that believes and wants my district (district 5) to have sewers. However, I will not vote for a $50,000 sewer assessment nor do I believe the whole of District 5 will receive it with open arms.

With that stated, I’d like to share some of my observations about what has transpired with the city about sewers. If anyone remembers the March 5 council meeting, there was an outrage from the public during the comment session about the sewer assessment.

From that time until the May 5 council meeting there has been, to my knowledge, no mention of sewers at any city council meeting.

The Public Works Director, Mr. Castellanos, has said many things about the sewers for District 5 but from his statements, I have been unable to pull any concrete information out of his remarks. We know that low diameter/low pressure line system is the only EPA approved alternative to septic systems or the gravity systems proposed by the city. We know neither Mr. Castellanos, or anyone acting for the city had contacted any of the firms that made presentations. If Mr. Castellanos has contacted anyone connected with alternative systems prior to May 5, I believe that he should tell us who and when. Otherwise, it is fair to conclude the city has not begun to address the issue.

I would hope the city will “HIRE” an engineering firm that knows about alternative sewer systems, PRONTO. Let’s be blunt, those that attended the meeting on May 5 know more about alternative sewers than anyone with the city, except Steve Del Guercio. That includes Wildan, who called one of the firms, Air Vac, the week after the meeting and asked for a presentation. How proactive is that!

Hopefully, the public meeting that was organized and held by homeowners got the city’s attention. If so, let me say again, the city needs to hire an engineering firm that is known in their industry to be a leader in the area of alternative wastewater systems. I’m pretty sure that does not include Wildan.

Kathleen Kulper

District 5 homeowner