The city of Maumee has updated the agenda for a hastily called special city council meeting, but the body will still consider repealing a highly unpopular sewer inspection ordinance.
In addition to including an executive session to address “pending or threatened litigation,” the agenda for Wednesday’s 6 p.m. meeting includes two proposed ordinances.
Mayor Jim MacDonald is recommending council approve ordinance 030-2024, which would repeal the sewer inspection and remediation ordinance, number 20-2024.
Council would then consider a recommendation from Maumee Law Director Alan Lehenbauer to approve ordinance 031-2024, which would enact “an owner occupied real property conveyance sewer inspection program without a requirement for replacement or relining of sanitary sewer laterals and including a revised grant program.”
“I think public pressure worked,” said Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken. “Finally, with the collective voices of residents and business owners, elected officials got the message that this was a foolish way to deal with this specific problem.”
To Mr. Gerken, Maumee officials could’ve — and should’ve — repealed the ordinance two weeks ago. He sees Wednesday’s meeting as an attempt to restore faith with the community.
If it were up to him, Mr. Gerken would “assess, educate, plan, and implement” a solution to the sewage problem. He recommends Maumee assesses the problem block by block, inform the community about their findings, listen to the opinions of residents and business owners, and then create a specific fund that everyone contributes to in a relatively small amount to pay for necessary improvements over the next 25 years.
He also feels the city owes anyone who has already undergone mandated repairs a grant or reimbursement program, saying these costs are “unfair” if the city ends up reversing the ordinance that called for them.
So far, only two Maumee home owners have paid any money under the ordinance, City Administrator Patrick Burtch said during a public roundtable discussion Tuesday evening. One of them paid $7,700 and will get $3,000 back from a city grant that’s part of the program, he said.
About two dozen people attended the two-hour meeting at the Maumee City Council chambers, during which city homeowners asked questions about the sewer problem and made suggestions.
Mr. Burtch emphasized that unlike the residential areas of the city, commercial and industrial areas “are not a big problem.” Only about 7 percent of public sewers have been lined to prevent inflow and infiltration, or clean water entering wastewater collection systems, he said.
“The ordinance, it’s not a good one, and it’s going to bring down the value of the city,” Maumee homeowner Paul King said Tuesday before the meeting.
“One suggestion is to slow this down and not hit the homeowners for fixing the sewer system,” Mr. King said. “I think we need to have a plan. Let’s hear it and then let’s see other ways [other cities] finance it. ... [City Council has] the undivided attention of the Maumee residents, so let’s use this time wisely.”
City officials in the last few weeks have been talking about repealing the ordinance, amid extreme levels of public disapproval that have resulted in numerous city and citizen-led meetings, said Nancy Gagnet, public information officer for the city of Maumee.
“Obviously, there’s been public outcry, and I think the mayor feels that he’s heard it,” Ms. Gagnet said. “The roundtable discussions are still going to continue because regardless of the [Wednesday] meeting, the problem is not going away.”
The city had previously scheduled roundtable meetings for Maumee residents to discuss “the solutions needed to address our city's sanitary sewer problems and comply with the Clean Water Act.” The roundtables were originally scheduled to take place Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings and Aug. 6, 7, and 8 in council chambers at 400 Conant St., but Wednesday’s meeting has been canceled to allow for the special city council meeting.
Ms. Gagnet said these meetings will help citizens tease out possible options to address Maumee’s sewage problem. For the past 25 years, Maumee has been illegally dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Maumee River, primarily because of faulty sanitary sewer systems on private properties.
Maumee resident Joyce Berry spoke during Tuesday’s roundtable, saying, “My Realtor tells me every day that I can’t sell my house. Nobody wants to live in Maumee.”
“It sucks, life in Maumee,” resident George Mallory said before the meeting. “I am getting to this point in life when I want to retire and I can’t because of the finances. This [expenditure] is something you don’t prepare for. … It sucks.”
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