By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Liability insurance providers do not want cities to be
responsible for sewer laterals.
Nephi learned that to be the case from the insurance
provider.
As a result, the Nephi City council directed the city
council attorney, Denton Hatch, to prepare ordinances that
will assign responsibility for water and sewer lateral to
the owners of structures that are connected to the water and
sewer systems.
Sewer laterals can deteriorate due to poor
installation, inferior or defective materials, and/or poor
maintenance causing them to develop fissures, cracks or
other openings. These openings are most likely to occur at
pipe joints. In time, tree roots seeking moisture will
penetrate these openings. Once in the sewer lateral, the
roots continue to grow. These roots reduce the effective
diameter of the sewer lateral and sometimes completely block
the flow of sewage.
In addition, the line may be blocked by sewage from
the home, independently of tree roots.
"Our liability insurance providers think the sewer
lateral should be owned and maintained by the property
owner," said Randy McKnight, city administrator.
This includes both the portion of the sewer lateral
that is on private property, and the portion that is within
the street or public right-of-way.
"A lateral sewer line is the smaller line that is at a
90 degree angle from the Main sewer line," said
McKnight.
He said it is the private sewer line, that travels
from the house to the public (or mainline) sewer.The sewer
lateral is the line that sends liquid waste from a residence
or business to the city sewer main.The public sewer system
provides for the conveyance of sewage from homes and
businesses to the city sewer lagoons.
At the request of the insurance provider, the city is
revisiting its existing policy.
"They suggested that the city not accept
responsibility for construction of sewer laterals," he said.
"We have the ability to clean the main lines but not the
laterals."
The owner and contractor should be responsible for
building sewer laterals according to city code. The same
holds true for a single dwelling to a subdivision.
This is a problem shared by cities across the country
and around the world. Many cities have the policy of placing
the responsibility for the construction, maintenance and
repair of sewer laterals entirely on the property owner. For
these cities, the property owner pays the full cost of sewer
lateral replacement even if the lateral is crushed or
misaligned by parkway trees.
The privilege is granted to the house owner to connect
his house with the publicly owned street sewer main line and
the duty to keep clean the privately owned sewer lateral
rests upon the owner of such house-connecting sewer, not
upon the city.
The rationale behind a property owner owning and
maintaining the sewer lateral serving his/her property is as
follows: a sewer lateral does not benefit the public as it
serves a single lot.
Because a portion of the sewer lateral is in the
public street does not mean that it is public property. The
property owner has the legal right to construct and maintain
a sewer lateral between his/her private property and the
public sewer, subject to the provisions of the municipal
code.
Cleanouts can be installed at the property line.
There is also an issue of liability if any repair or
replacement of a private sewer lateral is performed by city
crews. The city may be liable for any future problems with
that lateral. These future problems may include health
hazards or significant property damage.
Property owners would be responsible for their own
lateral to the sewer main without the possibility of
reimbursement. Additionally, this policy removes the city's
liability for sewer lateral blockages or breaks. It allows
the City to focus its attention on the public sewer mains
and sewer lagoons, which benefits all residents.
Hatch was directed, by vote of the council, to prepare
ordinances that will assign responsibility for water and
sewer laterals to the owners of structures that are
connected to the water and sewer systems.
Culinary water mains are included in the direction.
|
