Spring City councilors ask staff to draft ordinance allowing delayed sewer hookups when pumps are required

At a Spring City Council work meeting, councilmembers discussed revisions to the city's sewer-connection rules to give some property owners more time to connect where a pump installation would otherwise be required.

Councilmember Marty McCain said the existing city ordinance requires properties to connect within 60 days, but earlier guidance given to some residents offered a longer timeline if a pump was necessary. "Your ordinance states they have 60 days to hook up," McCain said, noting the inconsistency between the oral guidance and the written ordinance.

The council discussed drafting a two-part amendment. One section would require new homes within the connection area to hook up immediately. The second section would allow existing properties that would need a pump to delay a hookup for up to two years, provided they begin paying the connection fee and submit an engineer's certification if they seek the pump exception. Councilmembers emphasized that the change would not require owners who can connect without a pump to keep a septic tank in place.

City staff said a public letter explaining the change had been prepared and that ordinance language would be revised to reflect the extended timeline before the letter is sent. Paul Kenrock and other councilmembers asked staff to prepare the redrafted ordinance for presentation at a future council meeting; no formal vote was taken at the work meeting.

Council members characterized the action as procedural: reconcile past informal commitments to residents with the written municipal code so the city can send a clear notice to affected property owners.

Next steps described at the meeting included preparing draft ordinance text and circulating it to councilmembers and legal counsel before any formal public hearing or adoption process. No formal action or final ordinance adoption occurred at the work meeting.