Council ponders sewer questions

Several Sisters residents, churches and outlying commercial sites remain unconnected to the municipal sewer system.

The Sisters City Council will meet in a workshop on Thursday, March 4, at 8 a.m. to discuss how to respond to property owners who have not connected to the sewer system.

The property owners include several private residents, as well as Barclay Contractors, Sisters Mobile Home Park, Trinity Christian Center and Sisters Community Church.

Some property owners, such as Trinity Christian Church, say the connection would cause a significant financial burden, according to a city memorandum. Other property owners have vacated sites, want to defer payment, or do not require immediate connection.

One property owner, Karl Nulton, is being asked to pay $15,000 to $20,000 to connect his private residence to a 600-foot sewer line, Nulton said. According to a city memorandum, he only uses his property about 10 times per year and intends to put the property on the market.

Nulton told the councilors in a city workshop Thursday, February 26, that he is willing to pay the city's hook-up fee, but said it does not make sense to hook up his property when he intends to sell it in a couple of years.

Councilor John Rahm sympathized.

"I don't think it is a burden for a church to spend $20,000 to hook up, but I do think that is a lot for a resident," he said.

The other councilors and Rahm agreed, however, that it is important to be consistent.

"We've already had people with 1,000 feet (of sewer line) have to hook up and they're going to come back and say, 'You made us do it and you don't make him,'" councilor Judy Trego said.

The council did not make any decisions in the February 26 meeting, but members did favor the option of allowing property owners in special circumstances to defer connection for a set time period, preferably two years.

The council will discuss the details of the option at the Thursday morning workshop.

The council made a similar compromise with Buck Run III residents when it voted recently to allow six Tyler Avenue residents to wait seven years to connect to the sewer system.

The agreement states the residents can continue to use their septic systems during that time under the condition that their septic permit is not revoked.