It is time we had a very open, factual discussion of the Wells County Regional Sewer District. Over the past few years, the district and its board has spent or obligated several millions of taxpayer dollars with what appears to be little to no regard for residents of the county. This was shown when they told a retired veteran that when the line was run by his place he would shut up and let them connect his home to the system.
Briefly, I retired as a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. My last assignment in my 21-plus year career was in the environmental labs at Fort Polk, La., where we constructed sewer and septic systems on three continents and in several states.
First, as far as I can find out no one was ever asked if they wanted to be included in the project. Secondly, they, nor the state, have released to the public the documentation showing the need for such an extensive project. The board has made reference to some areas of concern but have not produced documentation to show where they have investigated the cause which might have led to a less expensive solution. Also, they admitted that they did not include the cost of easements and electricity to the grinders in the project cost when they went to the state for financing.
The state nor the county has addressed the life of the typical septic system. The numbers range from 25 to 100 years depending on the type and the maintenance. Taking the average cost of maintenance, the typical system costs the homeowner approximately $35 per year. The district wants to charge almost $100 per month plus having the land owner give them an easement for their grinders and homeowners also pay for the power for the grinders.
The requirement of grinder stations for each property is, in my opinion, an over-kill. A much simpler and less costly option was available but since the board had already paid an engineering firm to develop this one, they had no interest in doing a full and proper exam to determine if this is the best use of the money.
Homeowners also have to start paying for the service as soon as the financing comes through and have to continue paying until the loan that they have no say in is paid off.
This means that a home owner could be paying for the service for many months prior to it being available to them. This is not counting the cost to the homeowner in decommissioning their current system and connecting to the grinder.
So, we have a board that no one voted for binding debt on the homeowners of the county with threats of legal actions to take land and to place liens against their properties if they do not comply with the district’s demands. All the while taking our property, forcing people to hook up to their system and demanding that the property owner then pay for the electricity to run the district’s equipment.
And this is America?
Roger D Cash
rural Ossian
