Bayside Residents Might Have to Swallow $670K Water Bill

Bayside residents looking to make the switch from maintaining private wells to the lesser responsibility of having city water may each face up to a $13,000 bill for constructing the mains over the next two decades. 

About 70 percent of Bayside residents currently have well water, whether individual, private or shared. Those wells are coupled with continually increasing costs for maintenance and Howard Feiges, trustee for Northway Water co-op No. 1, is making the push to get residents to switch to city water with Mequon Water Utilty.

Feiges contends a homeowner on a private well can expect to pay $10,000 on repair costs during a 10-year period and a switch to municipal water would mean Mequon is responsible for the repairs.

Currently, Feiges has assessed each household within the trust $3,000 in special assessments and increased quarterly dues by 500 percent in order to keep up with the $39,000 in repairs.  If the same was done to Northway No. 2, dues for homeowners there would jump to $625 per quarter.

“We want to get the record straight,” Feiges said during a presentation Wednesday night to more than 50 residents at Bayside Middle School. 

Breaking down the bill

The estimated total cost of installing the Glencoe line is $654,720, while the Santa Monica line is estimated at $645,120, even though it would be longer than the Glencoe line.

The cost breaks down to roughly $13,000 per home to pay for the project, but the total cost is divided by the number of homes involved - so the more people who sign up, the cheaper the bill per household.  Water bills would cost $150 per quarter for the municipal hookup. 

By adding city water to their homes, supporters say it would increase the value of their homes and provide convenience to residents who will no longer have to cover their own repairs or add salt to their water softeners.

The municipal water would also provide environmental benefits to the village, Mike Rau, manager of the Mequon Water Utility said, because it wouldn’t take ground water and place it in Lake Michigan, and the salt from water softeners currently used for well water is placed into the lake.

The addition of municipal water would also allow for fire hydrants to be installed, which was a large concern raised by residents during the fire that consumed a home on Rexleigh Drive in April.

Local government's role

Village Manager Andy Pederson said the size of the project would allow for the village to be a conduit to finance the project similar to a special assessment. This would keep the cost obligation on the homes involved and it wouldn’t be a general obligation bond held by all taxpayers in the village.

The cost would appear on tax bills and work on a sliding scale as the financing is paid off. If a current homeowner decides to move before the project is paid off, they must pay off the rest of their owed amount at the time of sale.

Rau said any mains put in with the project would be placed in right-of-ways but not underneath roadways in order to allow for easier hookups for future customers.

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone everyday with our free newsletter. Fast signup here.

The cost of running a lateral line from the mains onto the private properties would run between $2,000 and $2,500 and the Mequon water utility would pay a revenue credit to the homes to offset the cost. However, there was confusion with the credit and if there would be an upfront cost to people who hookup to the line, which Feiges said they're currently working to fix. 

“We’re looking at a 20-year financial term rather than 10,” Feiges said. “It makes these costs truly affordable for everyone.”

But the village isn’t forcing homeowners within the trusts to switch to municipal water, but anyone who wanted to get municipal water after the initial set up could pay $4,000 for their lateral hookup. 

Low interest rates fuel a timely switch

Rau said the low construction costs, low interest rates help make the project better for residents to undertake at this time. He said the voluntary hookup agreement between the city and village is the only of its type in the state and the revenue credit is designed to encourage people to connect when a line is built.

“Will it be there forever? I don’t know,” he said. “It’s there today and it’s probably the maximum to what it would be, so that’s in your favor.”

However, some residents said they were concerned about the use of the revenue credit for the later line installation. 

Resident Kelly Herda, who has been working with Feiges for those on private well, stressed concern about the use of the credit because it offset the costs for residents, which makes it more feasible for potential customers.

“I think we make sure this is as feasible as possible,” she said.

Possible customers have until Oct. 9 to join the association and pay $300, which will be refunded if they can’t hookup to the water lines.

Feiges said further engineering needs to take place before snow covers the ground and residents are looking to move forward by summer 2013.