The change isn’t official yet – and won’t be this month – but Statesboro city officials appear poised to end or modify a longstanding policy that holds residential property owners responsible for the cost of lateral sewer line replacements under city streets, including the expense of having private contractors patch the pavement.
Collapses of segments of old “Orangeburg pipe” sewer service lines to homes have drawn attention to this policy from time to time over the past decade. Installed by contractors mainly on private home lots, but extending under streets to attach to city mains, Orangeburg pipe was used mainly in the 1960s and 70s. Named for a factory in Orangeburg, New York, this pipe was made from wood pulp and coal tar or petroleum pitch.
After 50 to 60 years, this pipe has been collapsing in some of Statesboro’s neighborhoods with homes from that era.
When the Statesboro Herald reported on a resident homeowner’s expenses in replacing a segment of this pipe – and a patch of pavement – on Azalea Drive a decade ago, in April 2016, the city offered no assistance to property owners in this situation.
But in 2023, Steve Hotchkiss, who was then the city’s public utilities director, realized this and worked with City Manager Charles Penny and the elected officials to do something about it. The Sewer Lateral Replacement Assistance Program was established, with City Council approval, in November 2023. However, the assistance program did not cover all of the costs. As spelled out in the ordinance, it also was available only for owner-occupied homes.
Recent example
So when Margot Bragg encountered a similar situation this year with a house she owns but does not live in at the corner of Fletcher Drive and Ladd Circle, she realized the city’s assistance program would not apply to her. But she asked that the council take a fresh look at the policy.
Reporting the situation in March, Bragg showed that the first contractor she consulted quoted a $13,015 cost estimate for replacing the approximately 12-foot-long segment with new PVC pipe, sloping to about eight feet deep under Ladd Circle, connecting it to the main and repaving. She found another contractor to do the work for an undisclosed amount, reportedly substantially less. Bragg also noted that at least three other households in the neighborhood had failing sewer laterals or evidence of similar problems.
The Herald reported on this situation and the city’s policies in mid-March, and Bragg also spoke to City Council on March 17. Then the topic was discussed during the strategic planning retreat that Statesboro’s mayor, council and key staff members held at an Augusta hotel conference center March 20-21, Penny said when council held its April 7 regular meeting.
He also related this back to discussions two years earlier and the 2023 implementation of the assistance program limited to resident homeowners.
“We provided some assistance to some property owners in the city,” Penny said to the council. “However, I would just say to you as the wastewater provider in the city of Statesboro, it is very expensive and difficult for a property owner – you know, we take care of our homes, and we take care of those things that we’re responsible for – but if we have to pay to take care of replacing the lateral out to the sewer line, which means cutting the street and all of that, that is really expensive.”
So, what he recommended to the council was that the city continue to hold property owners responsible for repairing lateral lines on their own property only to the edge of a street’s right of way.
“But the city would provide the assistance to open the street and to repair the street,” Penny said. “Then we know that the work has been done according to our standards, because the worst thing that can happen is you open up the street, you don’t get compaction right, and then somewhere down the road you’re riding and you hit this dip in the road.”
He noted that the city has the equipment and personnel to do the street repairs correctly.
Not retroactive
The change he suggested, which had yet to be developed into a draft for a city policy or ordinance amendment, would not attempt to refund Bragg or other property owners who have already paid to have street repair done along with the plumbing.
“We’re not going to go back,” Penny said. “We’re not going to recommend that we pay anything retroactive.”
But the question going forward was whether, since the city already provided assistance for resident homeowners, the mayor and council also wanted to extend it to “apartments and things of that nature.”
“They’re our customers as well, and they pay for that sewer service, and the question is are we willing to do that whether it’s a homeowner or a tenant-occupied property,” Penny said. “I would recommend we just do it.”
Mayor Jonathan McCollar agreed, saying, “Those are our citizens too.”
He asked if the staff would be bringing the proposed change to a future meeting.
No April decision
The original version of this story, published online late Thursday, April 16, reported a suggestion that the proposal might be presented during the 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21 mayor and council work session before their 5:30 p.m. regular meeting. However, Penny in an email early Friday morning informed the newspaper that the policy change would not be presented Tuesday.
“Staff has more research that needs to be done before presenting a recommendation and policy change to the Council,” Penny wrote. “I am hopeful it can be presented during the May work session.”
When the reporter replied that the time element of this story would be updated with the understanding that the change was still pending as described, the city manager replied again.
“We need to do something; however, I need the research completed to ensure we have a sound recommendation,” Penny said.