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Commissioners hear developer request for pump station at Sanctuary at Southgate Phase 2; motion to deny introduced
Summary
County staff and the developer presented options to serve Sanctuary at Southgate Phase 2 with a wastewater pump station, including lifecycle costs and who would pay initial construction. A motion to deny the pump-station request under county code was made at the meeting; a final vote or outcome was not recorded in the transcript.
The Union County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 18 heard a request to approve a wastewater pump station to serve the Sanctuary at Southgate Phase 2 development in Indian Trail and received two engineering alternatives with different lifecycle costs.
County Manager Brian Matthews told the board the developer proposed installing a local pump station that would pump flows to an existing gravity line and ultimately to the Poplin Road regional pump station and the county’s 12 Mile Creek wastewater treatment plant. Matthews said the county’s lifecycle model uses a 20-year planning horizon and estimated a life-cycle cost of about $2,100,000 for the developer-built pump-station option; an alternative that routed flow farther and required upgrades to Porter Ridge and Philstone pump stations carried a lifecycle estimate of roughly $3,600,000 over the same period.
Why it matters: the county accepts and maintains utility infrastructure after developers construct it. Matthews said the developer pays the upfront construction cost; if the board accepts the facility once built, Union County becomes the owner and is responsible for maintenance and replacement costs thereafter.
Developer attorney Steven Bennett said the upfront construction cost for the pump station is $1,000,000 and that the development includes both residential and planned commercial space. Matt Sinkovitz, an engineer for the project, confirmed the majority of the allocated sewer flow for phase 2 would come from residential units. Michael Slavatiniuk, representing the property owner Walton, said the commercial component remained future development but that a commercial developer was negotiating to build the frontage along Rocky River and that construction drawings and town approvals could take roughly 12 months.
The project description Matthews showed to the board listed 75 single-family homes, 240 multifamily units (the conditional-district approval identifies this multifamily allocation as apartments), a future fire station and slightly more than 149,000 square feet of commercial or retail space. Matthews and the developer’s team agreed there is no true gravity-only solution for all of the phase 2 parcels; some form of pumping from the site is required.
Commissioner discussion and motion: a motion was made on the floor to deny the pump-station request "concerning the Sanctuary at Southgate Phase 2 development for a new wastewater pump station as such pump solution is set forth in the application associated with this request in accordance with Section 304-336 B(1) of the Union County Code," and to adopt a utility-based rationale statement for denial. The transcript records the motion and a second but does not record a roll-call or tally and does not record the board’s final disposition of the motion.
What remains unresolved: the transcript does not include a recorded vote or a subsequent action to delay or approve the request. County staff noted the attorney for the developer had requested the board consider delaying action; Matthews said that option remained available. The developer’s representatives and the county manager said more technical and timing details (including the developer’s construction schedule and whether the multifamily component would be apartments) could be provided if the board wanted to continue discussion.
Next steps: commissioners did not record a final decision in the meeting transcript. The board may choose to delay action and ask staff to return with additional technical or contractual clarifications; the developer indicated it could provide engineering and scheduling detail and has an attorney and engineer available to answer questions.
