Council supports connection cost appeal

The Cathlamet town council supported a Cathlamet couple's appeal of the cost of connecting town water to their new house.

The town billed Tim and Jennifer Hanigan $1,462.37 for a connection to the town water system in May. The Hanigans appealed, saying they could have done some of the work and lowered the cost considerably.

Public Works Superintendent David Vik said he felt the bill represented the actual cost of connecting the Hanigan's new house on South Third Street to the water system. He said the history of development on the lot complicated the situation. In the 1960's, the parcel was a four-lot garden belonging to Dr. H.D. Fritz. In the 1980's, Emit Boyd bought the parcel and built a house on the South Second Street side. The water connection, however, came from a meter on the South Third Street side of the parcel and crossed the parcel to the house. Subsequently, Jeff Tobin bought the property and split it, selling a two lot parcel fronting South Third to the Hanigans.

Vik said that to avoid tearing up the asphalt on South Third, the town crew dug a line to an unused meter in the middle of the block and connected that to the Tobin residence. The crew then connected Hanigan's to the meter that had served Tobin.

The project avoided digging into the street and thus saved substantial paving costs, Vik said.

The Hanigans disagreed. They said they had offered to dig a trench and install a line to the meter and thus would have had a significant savings. The town's action in moving the Tobin connection was for the town's convenience, and thus the town should bear that cost.

Mayor Richard Swart presented a cost analysis suggesting the bill be lowered to $990.70.

Councilmember David Goodroe suggested lowering the bill to $556.13, which he based on the time and expense for the Hanigan portion of the project. His motion to set the bill at that amount passed, with Goodroe, Steven McNicholas, Wally Wright and Bob Rendler voting in favor and Bill Talbott opposing.

Wright suggested the council and town attorney should work on an ordinance or policy to address similar situations in the future and perhaps prohibiting water connections that run under property that could be split off a parcel and sold.