Resident asks council to review sewer charges after lateral never reached his house

Joel Murray appeared at the council dais under an agenda item about his utility bill and told elected officials he has been paying a monthly sewer charge even though the sewer line was not run to his house. Murray said earlier discussions had left him with the understanding he would not be required to hook up, and that the lateral stopping short of his driveway makes the monthly sewer charge ‘‘an unfair charge’’ while he has no practical way to connect.

Council members and staff reviewed the city’s hookup rule — discussed in the meeting as requiring connection if a sewer line is within 300 feet of a property line — and noted that the applicable text is in state code and city ordinance. Council asked staff to investigate what the state code and local ordinance said at the time the sewer project was constructed, whether any ‘‘grandfather’’ treatment applies, and how the city’s current contract/appeal authority handles the situation.

A councilor told Murray staff would treat his request as advisory and report back: ‘‘We’ll take that as an advisory and get back to you, Joel,’’ a council member said during the exchange. Staff volunteered to ‘‘crunch the numbers’’ and look up historical records to confirm where line segments were placed and whether the property lines at issue fall within the statutory hookup distance.

What’s next: Staff will research the historical code and the project file for the sewer installation and return to the council with findings; the council did not make a final billing waiver or adjustment on the spot.

Representative quote: "It's an unfair charge to me to be paying it ... every month," Murray said during his appearance.

Ending: The council logged the concern for staff follow-up and left any formal relief to a future report or a contracting/appeal process once staff has investigated.