Residents who connect to New London’s utilities will pay more
By Scott Bellile
Residents on Starlight Drive who connect to city of New London utilities will pay more in special assessments than they were previously told.
The New London City Council on Feb. 12 approved amending the assessment cost for sanitary laterals from $35 per linear foot to $53.43.
In 2017, New London annexed Starlight Drive and its public right-of-way from the town of Mukwa in order to install water and sanitary sewer service underground and reconstruct the street.
Prior to New London annexing the street, several private properties had annexed into the city over the years but lacked access to city sanitary sewer and water service. So during the 2017 project, the city laid the infrastructural groundwork allowing those homeowners as well as Mukwa homeowners to opt in to city utility service at any time.
In a memo to the New London Board of Public Works, Public Services Director Chad Hoerth explained he recommended the $18.43-per-linear foot increase because former Public Works Director Jeff Bodoh underestimated the Starlight Drive project cost.
Bodoh set the $35-per-linear foot assessment rate in early 2017, before resigning that summer. Hoerth assumed Bodoh’s public works duties, and in the end the Starlight Drive construction costs came in higher than Bodoh had anticipated due to change orders.
The New London Board of Public Works held a public hearing on Feb. 4 regarding the proposed assessments hike. No Starlight Drive residents spoke on the matter.
Hoerth stated in a memo that seven of the 12 properties that received stubs for possible sanitary lateral hook-up on Starlight Drive are located in the town of Mukwa.
Mukwa residents, who use private wells and septic tanks, can switch to New London water and sanitary sewer service by first annexing into the city and then paying the special assessment through a hook-up fee.
The Mukwa residents will not be assessed unless they undergo this process.
Of the five city of New London properties that are eligible for the utility service, only one has hooked up so far, Hoerth stated.
“The [New London property owner] that hooked up, we’re assessing now,” Hoerth told the board of public works on Feb. 4. “The ones that are in the city and did not hook up, they either will pay when they hook up, or they pay when they sell their house.”
Asked by First District Alderman Robert Besaw if any Mukwa residents have requested to annex into the city and connect to its utility services, Hoerth said no.
“As long as their septic tank and their wells are running, they probably won’t,” City Administrator Kent Hager added.
At the $53.41-per-linear foot assessment rate, the city would potentially recover $23,397 in construction project costs if all Starlight Drive residents eventually connected to city utilities, according to Hoerth.
That is $8,067 more than what the city would have recovered at the previous $35-per-linear foot assessment rate.
However, Hoerth acknowledged in a memo that some Mukwa residents might never request city utilities.
Starlight Drive is located north of New London High School’s east driveway off Klatt Road.