INDIANAPOLIS – A Marion County rule some people may not be aware of could cost homeowners thousands of dollars.
If a new sanitary sewer line is placed within 100 feet of a home’s property line in Marion County, owners are required to connect. One homeowner near W. 71st Street and Lafayette Road said she doesn’t want to pay for a service she doesn’t need.
"Personally, I am looking at between $30,000 and $50,000 of my own cost,” said Lori Daugherty.
The Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County code states that when the sewer system becomes available, homeowners must abandon their current disposal system and connect within six months.
"Our driveway is very, very long,” said Daugherty. “We have a lot of trees, the distance we're going to have to run the line is very long.”
Daugherty’s neighborhood currently operates on a septic system, but some neighbors have petitioned for sewers, which require the connection.
"We receive a permit application, we look at it through the lens of our standards, and assuming that we receive all the documentation, and the project meets our standards, then we would proceed with the permit issuance,” said Jessica Castellanos, of Citizens Energy.
Homeowners are required to hire their own contractors for their properties and pay a connection fee priced at about $2,700. Each household needing to connect must split up and cover the total cost of construction for the new main.
Citizens Energy has not issued a permit for the new sewer system, as a spokeswoman said they are waiting for additional documents from the applicant.
Once the permit is issued, the applicant and their private contractor will determine the timing of construction, which could happen as soon as September.
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