No More Dodge and Delay!

You may already know this, but when I attempted to speak at the City Council meeting in Tuesday, April 19, 2016, I was silenced.  (Click here to read what happened.) Since I had spoken at two previous meetings about private sewers, I was asked to wait until the special meeting to be held on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 at 5:30 pm at City Hall.  Of course I can do that, after I untie the knots in my stomach and overcome the feelings of humiliation and oppression. 

I had remarks already prepared for the meeting and would still like to share them.  Here they are:

April 19, 2016

I stand before you once again requesting that all sewer lines in the City of Ottumwa be deemed public sewer lines and operated and maintained as such.

Please do not make those of us with homes on “private” sewer lines second class citizens subsidizing the maintenance and repair of everyone else’s sewer lines through our monthly sewer fees and property taxes.

Knowing that our homes are on private lines means that we will have to provide that information to realtors and prospective buyers should we want to sell our homes.  It is likely that our homes may be worth less or are less attractive to prospective buyers.  This is not an incentive to invest in our homes.

As of right now:

·        The MLS system that realtors use does not have a category for “private” sewer when listing a home.  Cesspool is an option, but not “private” sewer.  Some realtors are keeping the sewer section of home listings blank to avoid any issues/uncertainty/liability.

·        When banks issue mortgages, the question of sewer must be answered with the only choices of City or Septic System.  How does a bank or mortgage lender handle “private sewer” as an option?

I have been told by residents that the Department of Public Works is preparing notifications.  That is a great step.  The questions I have are:

·        Will the notification go to the resident or homeowner?  That can be different in the case of rental properties.

·        Will the notifications be sent prior to the Special Public Meeting to be held on April 26?  The notification could also act as an invitation to the meeting.

In the information provided to you is the list of names and comments from an electronic petition to make all sewer lines public lines.  There were also residents that signed in person and those signatures are also provided.  (Click here if you would like to sign the petition.)

I’ve also included a copy of our home’s Wapello County Assessor’s page which states that our home has “City Utilities” which would include sewer.  This is one of the many documents that we have along with other homeowners that are discrepant from what residents are being told by the Director of Public Works.  These discrepancies will be something this Council will have to resolve due to homes being served by private sewers.  Imagine the outrage that homeowners feel when they discover a home that they have lived in for years is served by a private sewer line—I’ve seen and felt the rage, the vulnerability, the betrayal—it is palpable.

The second request is to inform me/us now, before the meeting adjourns, the known locations of private sewers.  I have respectfully asked for updated location information at two previous meetings and also in writing, and have yet to receive this information.  How many streets, neighborhoods, subdivisions does this effect?  10?  50? 100?  No more dodge, delay, they’ll go away.  If the private sewers exist, tell me, tell us, today.

Dodge and delay?  You bet!  Let me give you two examples that happened just YESTERDAY:

Example 1:  A homeowner on Clearview had called the Department of Public Works last week to inquire about the status of the sewer and was told that she would get a call back as well as notification in the mail.  Here it was a week later and no response.  I encouraged her to call again.  When she did, she was told again that she would get a return call.  That’s when the homeowner explained that she was calling for the second time.  That’s when she heard it—“private sewer.”  She has lived in her home for 40 years and had no idea!

Example 2:  A homeowner on a public sewer line was assured after the second call to the Department of Public Works that notification of the status of the sewer line would be coming in the mail.  One week later, no notification so another call was made with the response that the mailings would be out in about a week. 

So, the City Council is holding a special public meeting about private and public sewers on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, at 5:30 pm at City Hall and homeowners may not have received notification about the status of their sewer by then? 

Please spread the word about calling to check on the status of sewer lines.  Call 641-683-0681 to confirm.  If you do not get a response or a return call, please call back.