Deal solves sewer issue — for some

Deal solves sewer issue — for some

GRASSLAND COMMUNITY — On wet weekends like this one, Hillsboro Acres resident Michael Felts and his family have to go to a store to use a public restroom or to a coin-operated laundry to wash their clothes.

That's because the Felts' septic system is failing. And so are those of many of their neighbors.

Relief may come from the City of Franklin. Williamson County commissioners recently gave final approval of an agreement that allows Franklin to provide sewer service to the Felts family and about 450 other Grassland-area households.

The neighborhoods that would be affected are Hillsboro Acres and the Meadowgreen, Brownwood and Farmington subdivisions just north of the Franklin city limits.

In 2003, engineering consultant firm of Smith Seckman Reid Inc. was hired by the county to do a study on the conditions of septic systems in the Grassland area. The results showed that the aging systems were deteriorating. Failure rates ranged between 14 and 44 percent, with the worst being in Hillsboro Acres.

"The need has been there for many years," said County Commissioner Greg Davis.

Initially, the county tried to work out an agreement with private provider Lynnwood Utility Corp., which serves Cottonwood, River Landing and Legends Ridge subdivisions in the same area and operates a treatment plant along the Harpeth River in Cottonwood. Davis said that agreement never panned out, and, at the time, the city was not interested in providing services.

This, combined with getting the necessary easements for sewer lines, delayed the project a few years, Davis said.

The county recently approached the city again about providing services, and Franklin agreed. The interlocal agreement was approved by the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen in December.

Davis said it only makes sense that the city, which already has a water and sewer department and provides water to area residents, would provide sewer service as well.

"There are a lot of benefits of being with a municipal system," he said. "The county is not in the sewer business."

Commission approves Grassland sewer project

Commission approves Grassland sewer project

MONDAY, MARCH 9

The board has adopted an interlocal agreement with Franklin that allows the city to provide sewer services to about 450 Grassland homeowners.

Many of the homeowners in the area, which is outside city limits, have aging septic systems that fail whenever it rains.

The county will reimburse the city for the project, with the homeowners reimbursing the county. Two amendments were proposed that would have authorized the county to foot a portion of the bill. But both amendments failed, leaving the residents fully responsible for the cost. The project is expected to cost up to $3.1 million and take 16 to 18 months to complete, with service being fully operational in 2011.

Rick Florian Offers Thanks to the Community

While I know this list is not exhaustive, I want to thank the Creeks, the Felts, the Triggs, the Colellas, the Jones', Feenstras, and all the other families who worked so hard in pushing this sewer effort through. While costs will potentially move higher than anticipated, it would have only gotten worse with any future delay.

Sewers are inevitable. Period. There is a 100% chance that each of our personal experiences will get worse without it. The only uncertainty is time. A repair I had a year ago may last me for another 20 years. Who knows? One thing is for certain. Each of our days of septic issues are numbered and they are coming. For many they are already here.

Many thoughtful and substantive efforts are being made to mitigate costs for ALL of us. These efforts are being made by very few for ALL of us. This includes some of our county commissioners.

I hope that many of us (including myself) will step up to the plate and help whenever possible to assist in bringing this effort to fruition.

Remember that we are a community. We can choose to work together and celebrate that relationship or we can pull inside ourselves and only consider our individual needs. In this case, I believe it would be to the detriment of our neighbors and ourselves not to look out for all our interests in both the short and long term. We are taking care of our family when consider our neighbors. I want my kids to live with that perspective.

Thanks again to all who put such substantial work into making all our future lives better. Sorry this is so wordy. I wouldn't surprise you to hear I'm known to be a talker...

- Rick Florian

21-0

A long journey has ended with the successful 21-0 vote to approve the Grassland Sewer Project.

Congratulations to all who dedicate so much time and effort over the last few years. You are appreciated!

Now the real work starts.

Resolutions, More questions, Rising Costs

Dear Neighbors -

I have found online links to the resolutions being voted on next Monday at the County Commissioners meeting (in addition to the meetings of related groups this week). You can obtain Resolution No. 3-09-4 and Resolution No. 3-09-5 at this link: http://www.williamsoncounty-tn.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=1306


Here are some highlights:
Note that the second resolution (3-09-5) explains that the additional 1.4 million dollars is being requested because during the time that lapsed /was needed to obtain right-of-way and negotiate a collection system ressolution costs have gone up, including upgrades to the City's wastewater treatment ($750,00) and related engineering fees ($61,00). It says the County will fund these costs and they will get their dollars back by collecting fees from us homeowners.

Needless to say, this is very upsetting. $1.4 million divided by 400 homeowners is about $3500 per homeowner--so now we are looking at around $7500 per homeowner (originally they told us $4000) just to have the pipelines go through our property---tying on is an entirely different set of expenses.

Also, both resolutions state that the reimbursement for the costs of the system install will be obtained from individual property owners, which does not seem to allow for the possibility of getting money from grants or other sources. In addition, resolution 3-09-04 does not require any homeowner to tie on. It just says that after 7 years, even if you haven't tied on you will start getting billed for sewer treatment anyway based on your water usage. There is no provision about the city or county making any attempt to assist homeowners with a group rate if a number of us want to tie on at the same time---it is all individual requests to the city. Homeowners will own and be responsible for our own grinder systems.

I have a number of questions, but my biggest question is, since no one is required to tie on, if my neighbor's septic system fails, and their property condemned, can that property become "uncondemned" by tying on to the sewer system---and will the owner be forced by city or county to tie on at that point, or will they just be forced out of the home and be able to leave it there in a condemned state? (not expecting any of you to answer that).

Andi Creek