Some Nobleton residents asked to chip in on sewer system

YorkRegion.com
Jan. 15, 2015
Tim Kelly

It could be shovels in the ground and a new sewer system started by the end of year for residents of Nobleview Drive, if they agree to terms of a Township motion.

After much debate at Monday night’s King Township council meeting, councillors agreed on an innovative plan that could see the 18 residents of the Nobleton street get the sewer system many have desired for decades.

Several residents passionately made the case for replacement of the septic systems they’ve been saddled with for years and said they would pay upwards of $30,000 apiece to go on a sewer system.

“Our street has been paying taxes for 43 years to the Township. We think it’s our turn now. We’re fully prepared to pay more,” said long-time Nobleview resident Dave Huxtable.

And Donato Lisozzi, another Nobleview resident, who like Huxtable has appeared before council in the past to argue on behalf of sewers for the street, said he wanted to see Nobleview “as a stand-alone project for 2015.”

It just might happen thanks to some innovative thinking from Mayor Steve Pellegrini.

The mayor said that if the 18 residents of Nobleview agree to take on the five-year debt financing carrying charges for the Township’s $600,000 cost to do the project, it might be possible to accommodate them.

Based on snap estimatesprovided by Township treasurer Allan Evelyn of 4.7 per cent per homeowner, the guess was that the costs could average about $8,100 per homeowner over fiveyears.

The motion passed narrowly, 4-3.

In a phone interview onTuesday, Pellegrini said he thought that, provided residents agree to the final proposed price, work would definitely start in 2016 but could possibly begin before the end of 2015.

He added it was important the Nobleview project not add to the Township’s tax load, thus the need for residents to cover the debt-financing carrying costs.

Not everyone was pleased with council’s decision.

McTaggert resident Susan Zucchero, whose home will be part of the large 350-home eventual Phase 2 sewer project, said she’s concerned moving ahead with Nobleview will have an impact on Phase 2 homeowners.

“This (Nobleview project) could set a precedent for Phase 2. As a taxpayer I want to pay my share and I think we should all be dealt with fairly.

“I’m worried the cost could go up for Phase 2 homeowners if Nobleview goes ahead and I don’t think you (council) should be addressing this in isolation.”

Pellegrini argued Nobleview residents had come to council last March with a petition for having sewers put and were told to go back and get more information. He said they had done that and it wouldn’t be fair on council’s part or an act of good faith to ignore all the work residents had done.

As for the larger issue of Phase 2, councillors expressed the goal to have all the preliminary studiesdone and have it “shovel-ready” so that if federal infrastructure funding is made available King Township is ready to go ahead. There is no timeline or cost estimate in place for homeowners for Phase 2 homeowners, most of whom live in the Rising Star subdivision.