Memorandum

City of Lawrence

TO:	City Manager Mike Wildgen
FROM:	David L. Corliss, Assistant City Manager & Director of Legal Services
CC:	Management Team
Date:	April 20, 2005
RE:	Miller – Wells Acres - Preparation of Service Delivery Plan

General Background

The Miller – Wells Acres (MWA) unincorporated residential development is generally located north of Riverridge Road and east of North Iowa. City staff recently met together to discuss possible sanitary sewer service to this area in response to a property owner inquiry concerning City sanitary sewer service. In this specific instance the property owner was concerned about the long term viability of their current septic system and inquired about the process and related costs for City sanitary sewer service.

MWA was a rural subdivision established approximately 50 years ago. In recent years the City of Lawrence has annexed properties near its boundaries and built City infrastructure serving the MWA area, including North Michigan and Riverridge Road. When Riverridge Road was built as a City/KDOT STP project, the City purchased the Rural Water District No. 1 service lines serving the MWA area because the road construction necessitated the removal of the RWD transmission line. When the road project and water service transition occurred there was a general discussion about possible City annexation with some residents in the area. The City is now responsible for water service in the MWA area and the users pay outside City water rates. It is also important to note that the waterlines serving the MWA area are not City standard size and would not provide adequate fire protection service if the area was annexed. In recent years some residents of the MWA area have requested City annexation and City sanitary sewer service which in the requested cases has been immediately adjacent to the served area.

Richard Ziesenis, Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, reports that there are about 30 septic systems in Miller Acres & about 18 septic systems in Wells Acres. There have been 5 failures within this area in the last 10 years. The last reported system failure was in 2001.

Western Hills Project

In the 1980s, the City annexed the Western Hills rural subdivision which today is bordered by Bob Billings Parkway, Monterey Way, and the area generally south of Harvard Road. At the time of annexation, the City acknowledged the likelihood of sanitary sewer facilities to serve the Western Hills area and that such facilities would not be mandated absent a public health concern. As septic systems in the area began to fail, a special assessment benefit district was established, with a maximum cap on assessments to property owners, and a substantial City at large financial participation in the benefit district. In addition to the capped special assessment amount, property owners were responsible for connecting their private lines to the benefit district installed public lines, and for system development charges and related inspection fees.

In staff discussions concerning the MWA area, the model of the Western Hills special assessment benefit district has been mentioned for possible application to the MWA area.

Riverside Business Park Sanitary Sewer Improvements

The City’s Riverside business park sanitary sewer improvements have recently been completed. The design for this project included construction of a pump station that was designed to include the planned residential capacity of the MWA area. The engineering study of this area also included a conceptual layout for providing the MWA area with sanitary sewer service.

Study Options and Recommendations for Next Steps

As staff receives periodic inquiries about sanitary sewer service it is important that a City established policy on any sewer service to service this area is reviewed and confirmed, particularly focusing on any future City financial participation. (For example, if the City were to eventually financially participate in a special assessment benefit district for sanitary sewers in the MWA area (e.g. similar to Western Hills) this would obviously impact individual property owner decisions prior to the benefit district project.)

In addition to the cost of any sanitary sewer infrastructure to serve the MWA area another concern is timing, thus the staff recommendation for the preparation of a service delivery plan which would examine the potential for all applicable City service delivery to the MWA area. It would allow for discussions with the area property owners as we compile additional information on possible costs and benefits of City services, particularly focusing on sanitary sewer service. Other than responding to recent inquiries, staff has not notified MWA area property owners about possible annexation discussions or a possible sanitary sewer benefit district. Communication with property owners will be an important aspect of the preparation of any service delivery plan.

Recommendation: Direct staff to prepare a service delivery plan for the unincorporated area generally bounded by Riverridge Road and North Iowa.