NORTH WEBSTER – Up to 90 additional property owners will be able to tap into the Lakeland Regional sewer system under an ordinance passed Thursday. The sewer district board voted to set an inclusion procedure for property owners left out of collection system designs, either because they refused at the time or only recently bought property in the district. The board knows of about 75 such property owners, who have until Feb. 15 to respond to letters sent to them explaining the procedure, but gave the option to include up to 90 in the ordinance. The procedure allows the excluded property owners to pay a total of $530 for engineering firm DLZ to draft plans for sewer hookup, including installation of lines, a grinder pump and electrical connection, which will allow them to then get a contractor’s estimate for the work. Of the $530 engineering cost, $328 is due initially, though board members noted the district itself doesn’t receive any money from the inclusion process. The district drew up the ordinance because members said at recent meetings they want to let property owners take advantage of contractors being on-site now. The U.S. Department of Agriculture didn’t include those property owners in project funding but did encourage the district to find a way to include them. Also Thursday, the board: • Approved pay applications of $101,716 for part A of the collection system, $608,363 for part B, $182,381 for the wastewater treatment plant and $94,000 to DLZ. • Approved change orders for treatment plant construction totaling a net deduction of $27,433.They also approved pending change orders totaling a $12,500 increase.
