Tap on fees coming for some Shiloh residents

The Village of Shiloh staff has been trying to secure the necessary easements to install the proposed sanitary sewer on Orphan Place in Shiloh — eight are still needed before work can start.

Etling said he sent his first introduction letter to residents on Orphan Place on May 26, 2009 informing the property owners of the project and that easements will be needed in order to install the sanitary sewer.

“Numerous attempts were made, but at the time only one property owner was on board,” Former Engineer Norm Etling said last week.

Nothing more was done at the time. Last week, Etling said staff cuts and economic market conditions were to blame.

Fast foward about eight years, and now the project has been reactivated.

“We were trying to get some more private sewer systems on with the municipal system.” he said.

The first letter of spring 2016 was sent out April 1.

“Since 2009 a few of the properties have changed hands and revised documents were prepared and sent to them,” Etling said last week.

On April 20, Etling said he visited each home, leaving a business card in the doors with notes to contact the village engineer.

“For a while now, every now and again, we get calls about the maintenance or foul smell in that area, and so we want to get them on the village sanitary sewer for good,” Etling said last week.

Last week, Etling said only a few owners have come forward at this point, with the village still needing to obtain eight. There were a total of 11 needed, Etling said.

“I plan to resend a notification letter to the property owners requesting them to contact us to discuss the project on June 7,” Etling advised. “Some of them said yes and we had them platted before, so that’s why there’s less to get now.”

All existing fences and sheds will be temporarily relocated during the project and then reinstalled following completion, Etling said.

Under the current plumbing code each unit needs to have a sanitary sewer, and some are duplexes, which will end up costing property owners who own the whole duplex an upwards of $4,000.

“(The village) has not waived tap on fees in the past. Fees have lowered them for folks who extended and upsized the lines at their expense,” Etling said. “(The village) will see if they decide to do it or not.”

The current tap on fee is $2,000 for every household unit, and a $30 unit inspection fee.

Previously, Etling said the village has not included private system abandonment fees in the past.

According to Etling, an estimate of $2,500 each was obtained to pump and demo the tank and connect them to the proposed sewer which would add approximately $15-$20,000 to the project.

“I (previously) gave the board the option of changing the current ordinance of $2,000 per unit to $2,500 for property owners who own two parts of a duplex, but they never gave an answer, hopefully they will when they do the final vote next week,” Etling said.

Last week Etling was unsure of when the project would begin or end, let alone what exactly the project will entail, as the board still must decide the cost of fees and whether to collapse each sanitary sewer air filter or add a lift station to the end of the sewer line.

Orphan Place sanitary sewer lines are tributary to the lift station on Tribe Court, Etling advised.

“This will be a big project and those always take a lot more time in the pre-planning, decision making stage,” Etling forecasted.

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Tap on fees coming for some Shiloh residents."