Lorain advisory board sets standards for sewer extensions outside city limits: engineer review, inspections, fees, ownership

The Lorain SWAB board unanimously approved a package of recommendations that would govern sewer extensions outside the city’s corporate limits if the city agrees to allow such ties into its sanitary system.

The board’s recommendations, approved as separate report items, include: a requirement that the city engineer evaluate the hydraulic and structural effects of any proposed extension; enforcement of the same pipe, construction, and testing standards that the city requires inside the city; city-conducted inspections and acceptance testing (with the developer paying inspection costs); and a recommendation that the construction cost be borne by the developer and/or adjoining community rather than the City of Lorain utilities. The board also recommended the city retain legal ownership of sewers that tie to the city system and set…