Tega Cay pipe responsibility causing concern

Tega Cay residents concerned with new water and sewer line responsibilities shouldn’t be, their mayor says.

On Oct. 19, Tega Cay City Council gave first reading to an ordinance amendment detailing responsibilities for sewer lines. The aim was to clarify what part of the line was the city’s responsibility versus the customer’s.

Linda Stevenson, a resident instrumental in pushing city leadership to purchase the troubled Tega Cay Water Service last year, said she began fielding questions on the new amendment. Now, she said, residents are responsible for their lateral pipes to their cleanouts or property lines.

“This appears to make you responsible to the public sewer main,” she said. “This could be in the road but the property owner would be given permission from the city to dig up the road at the owners’ cost.”

Stevenson said she believes most residents weren’t aware of the proposed changes. Nor would she agree with them as she reads them.

“I do not know how they can make an ordinance that would have you pay for this type of work,” she said.

On Oct. 30, Mayor George Sheppard sent an email update to residents.

“As you are aware, we technically own two separate sewer systems,” reads the message. “These systems are quite different in how they are constructed. The language in the amendment was used so that it could and would apply to all customers regardless of what system they were on.”

Tega Cay operated its own system for years, before purchasing the formerly private Tega Cay Water Service last year for $5.8 million. Tega Cay Water Service had a track record of wastewater spills and state mandates for improvement. Residents complained about service, price and water quality.

The purchase last year left Tega Cay with a newer, municipal system and the older infrastructure from Tega Cay Water Service. The city’s efforts to align the two systems have shown progress, notably in the reduction of wastewater spills in the older section of Tega Cay.

Sheppard acknowledged the city has received calls and emails on the recent issue with many residents concerned with the language in the amendment. Sheppard said new language was introduced prior to final reading Nov. 16.

“Once that language is inserted, the intent of that section will be that the customer is responsible for the service lateral up to the property line or the point of connection to the sewer main if the main happens to be on the customer’s property,” Sheppard said.

“If the sewer main is not on the customer’s property their responsibility will end at their property line. The city will still be responsible for the sewer mains and any portion of the service lateral that is not on the customer’s property.”

As for the former private system, signs of improvement are visible. In the year or more leading up to its sale, the system regularly reported wastewater spills during heavy rains. In recent heavy rains, the system fared better. Even as the rain fell recently, the city reported no problems on the scale of those before the city took ownership.

“We are seeing elevated flow rates at the treatment plants which typically means we are getting some inflow into the collection system,” said Charlie Funderburk, city manager. “Our crews are on top of it, monitoring things to make sure the treatment plants don’t get overwhelmed.”

Funderburk said crews will keep a close eye on the system.

“They will follow our standard operating procedures for this type of situation until the flow returns to normal rates,” he said.

This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Tega Cay pipe responsibility causing concern."