Harrison council approves ordinance to make city responsible for qualifying sanitary sewer laterals

Harrison City Council on May 19 approved an ordinance amending section 935.02 of the city code to allow the city to assume responsibility for sanitary sewer laterals from the curb line or street edge to the sanitary sewer main in cases of qualifying natural wear and tear.

Council members said the change is intended to align sewer lateral responsibility with how the city handles water mains, while protecting the city from undue liability. Under the ordinance, homeowners will generally bear upfront costs for investigation — including a licensed-plumber camera inspection and recorded evidence — until a public-works determination is made that the failure qualifies as a city responsibility.

The ordinance gives discretion to the public works director, identified in the meeting as Andy Cider, to determine whether a lateral meets the ordinance’s criteria. Council members urged the administration to produce a standardized checklist or decision matrix to ensure consistent evaluations across cases.

Council moved and seconded the ordinance; the roll-call vote recorded seven yays and no nays. The ordinance becomes effective 30 days after passage unless the council votes to extend the effective date.

Why it matters: The change shifts potential repair costs and liability for some lateral failures from homeowners to the city for qualifying failures, while keeping homeowner responsibility for blockages or defects caused by household misuse and requiring documentation before the city will act.

What to watch for: Council members said the administration will return a standardized eligibility checklist for the public works director to use when applying the ordinance’s criteria. The council also noted that not every lateral that lies in the public-lateral area will automatically be a city responsibility.