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Council approves first reading of East Army Post–Indianola trunk sewer district after residents raise notice and hookup concerns
Summary
City council gave first reading to a trunk sanitary sewer district for East Army Post Road and Indianola Avenue but agreed to return for final readings after staff meets with affected homeowners who raised questions about assessments, hookups and project details.
The Des Moines City Council gave first reading Feb. 10, 2025, to the proposed connection of a trunk sanitary sewer system benefiting an area along East Army Post Road and Indianola Avenue, but councilmembers agreed to delay final readings until city staff meet with directly affected property owners to answer specific hookup and assessment questions.
Scott Peterson, an Army Post Road homeowner, told the council he received notice late in the process and had been unable to get consistent answers from the engineering staff about how the project would connect his property and the size of assessments. “I would ask you to all to put this on hold for a period of time so that I can get some answers as a directly affected homeowner,” Peterson said.
Council members and staff responded by offering to arrange a meeting with the city engineer, identified in the hearing as Steve Nabor, to walk through plans and confirm who will be connected and how assessments will be calculated. The council member presiding over the hearing said, “I will get you in contact with Steve Nabor, and he will sit down with you,” and indicated willingness to appear at that meeting if needed.
Another resident, Michael Atkin of East Leland, raised questions about whether street paving and storm sewer work would accompany the sanitary sewer installation and whether development or private developers would be required to pave adjacent local streets. Staff and the council explained that developer-driven projects typically require associated street and storm improvements when developers propose new construction but that existing streets will see improvements as part of development activity, not automatically with every sewer installation.
The council voted to approve the first reading and explicitly delayed second and third readings to allow staff to meet with the homeowners and return with answers at the next council meeting. The motion carried on the record with the stated plan that the city engineer would follow up directly with affected residents and staff would provide clarifications on assessments and hook-up procedures before final approval.
