North Ridgeville resident asks council to waive sewer tap fee and investigate flow issue

Resident Eric Miller addressed the City Council to request two actions: a waiver of an assessed sewer fee tied to his recent tap-in and a city inspection and repair of a directional tee he says causes sewage flow onto his property.

Miller said the sewer line was installed in 1978 by a private party (identified in the remarks as "Mr. Timke") and argued the cost for his connection had effectively already been paid. He described fees assessed when connecting to the sewer system (administrative fee, waterline fee, lateral fee and interceptor fee) and said the mayor previously waived one fee of about $3,200 but that the interceptor fee of about $3,774 remained. Miller said he paid $6,960.81 toward an originally listed $10,127 and requested the remaining amount be waived because the original infrastructure was privately installed decades ago.

Miller also reported that where he tied in there is a directional tee with flow traveling back toward his property; he said the line showed water and that the tie-in inspection passed even though water was present. He asked the city to inspect the line and either correct the tee or move the connection a few feet and install a "Y" configuration to prevent backflow. Council granted Miller an additional three minutes to complete his remarks; no formal council action or vote on fee waiver or corrective work was recorded at the meeting.