NORTH WEBSTER – The Lakeland Regional Sewer District is still seeking hundreds of easements for main and lateral line installation, the district board heard Thursday. On the main line, 72 of the outstanding easements are from property owners who were never asked, the assumption having been made that the district could easily obtain county road use rights from the county. That turned out not to be the case, board attorney Andrew Boxberger noted. Another 125 outstanding easements are from property owners who have made verbal agreements but not followed up, or who need to provide more information. The board expects the biggest stumbling blocks to be the 201 property owners who have never responded to easement requests and those who have outright refused. “In my opinion we’ve got to move on. This has been dragging on way too long,” remarked board President Jim Haney, before the board agreed to contact some property owners themselves and voted to have Boxberger’s firm send final letters to others. Letters sent to those who have refused to grant easements will note that, though the district is not authorized to charge a penalty, there will be a cost to continuing to refuse. Those properties will be bypassed during line installation, requiring them to later pay for installation themselves, and in the most extreme cases the district can file a lien on the property. “The law is clear – you’re considered part of the district if you’re within 300 feet of the line,” Boxberger noted, estimating later costs to property owners of around $10,000. “If they don’t do it now, they will cost themselves time and money.” He also said letters that will be sent to property owners who were never asked for easements will note that there are already utilities in the installation area, which is often not in a useable property area along the road. “Hopefully not too contentious, it’s just a matter of them getting back to us,” he said. Also during the meeting, the board voted to approve the grinder pump committee’s recommendation of Barnes brand pumps, which board member Mike DeWald noted will be a savings of about $450,000. It was one of only two potential savings that may pan out, from a list of possibilities being considered. The other will depend on talks with Barbee Christian Church Camp, which board members noted will be costly to serve because of its location. Potential cost savings the board indicated they would shy away from include consideration of limiting the distance from sewer lines the district would pay to place grinder stations on properties, and the number of shared grinder stations. Haney said he would not feel comfortable changing the location of grinder pumps after so many property owners signed easements based on the placement he negotiated with them, and board members agreed. Haney noted he personally worked with many people to find the best spot, away from things like flower beds and even a pet cemetery. Boxberger observed that if anyone ends up needing 100 feet of line to make the connection, they could either get it for free now or end up paying for it later. Other potential cost savings that may not pan out include changing the path to the wastewater treatment plant to avoid a low-lying wet area, and negotiating a lower discharge fee with the county drainage board, which board members noted may not be a large enough savings to be worth pursuing. The board also heard that a study Tuesday at the three lift station sites found wetlands at two of them, though they are outside the construction zone and not expected to be affected. The report will be sent to the Army Corps of Engineers. And members heard that title issues will be cleared soon on one site but issues remain on the other two. All three properties are needed in order to get approval to bid from the Department of Rural Development. Boxberger suggested the board allow him to begin eminent domain proceedings if the issues aren’t cleared up by September. “I’ll call it ‘friendly’ eminent domain because they’re on the same page we are,” he said.
