Please add your name to the petition to make all sewer lines in Ottumwa, Iowa, public lines that are serviced and maintained by the City. Don't assume that just because you pay a monthly sewer fee that your home is on a public line. Call 641-683-0681, Public Works Director, Larry Seals, about your sewer line. In the meantime, join the cause to make all sewer lines within the City Limits public sewer lines!
Updates
April 16, 2016
The stories coming in from people affected by failing lines are exhausting to read but they confirm exactly why this fight is necessary. I am spending my evenings documenting these cases to present to the city council because the current burden on homeowners is simply unsustainable.
April 16, 2016
Reaching this point has been an exhausting uphill climb but seeing this level of support keeps me moving forward. It is clear that I am not the only one tired of the burden these private lines place on our neighbors.
Reached 100 supporters
April 16, 2016
29 Comments
I agree, all residential sewers in Ottumwa should be considered City Sewers and serviced and maintained by the City. Since all residents pay the same taxes and the same sewer fees to do otherwise creates a group of of "second class citizens" who are forced to be responsible for their own sewer maintenance which is blatantly unfair.
I believe all sewer lines within city limits should be public. These people were never made aware that they were private, nor were several of the other entities within Ottumwa, IA. They pay for sewer services and I'm sure have since the beginning of there dwellings life, will you be back paying them for all of that if these are not made public?
Making all sewer lines city lines is the right thing to do. All homeowners should be responsible for the same thing - the line from the main to their homes. Regardless of the circumstances at the time the homes were built, we have all paid city sewer fees and taxes for many years. Let's just declare all sewers in the city limits the same and move forward. There is no other way to reasonably untangle this. It could turn into a big who would sue whom debacle that the city would eventually have to resolve anyway. Homeowners, buy the water and sewer line insurance that was recommended in your water bills, or a similar policy of your own choosing.
The sewers in OTTUMWA, Iowa have been let go for many years and now our water bills are being raised and people will be charged for any problems with their "own" sewers This is ridiculous This problem should have been addressed and sewers replaced through the years not at the very last minute and then charged to property owners This is a very low economic area with many people below the poverty level People should be able to share trash pick up also as many elderly have only one small sack Fee should not just to automatically charged to water bill = Robbery
Making all sewer lines public is the right thing to do. Most of us have documents we got when we bought our home telling us we already have public sewer lines even though the map or the city says we don't. As a tax payer, sewer fee payer, and a citizen living in the city limits of Ottumwa, what happened 60 years or so ago should be void because more recent documents disagree.
What's the sense of paying a fee for 'insurance' if the City is not going to honor it & fix the problem.
Isnt this what our taxes are also supposed to be used for?
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Please add your name to the petition to make all sewer lines in Ottumwa, Iowa, public lines that are serviced and maintained by the City. Don't assume that just because you pay a monthly sewer fee that your home is on a public line. Call 641-683-0681, Public Works Director, Larry Seals, about your sewer line. In the meantime, join the cause to make all sewer lines within the City Limits public sewer lines!
Updates
April 16, 2016
The stories coming in from people affected by failing lines are exhausting to read but they confirm exactly why this fight is necessary. I am spending my evenings documenting these cases to present to the city council because the current burden on homeowners is simply unsustainable.
April 16, 2016
Reaching this point has been an exhausting uphill climb but seeing this level of support keeps me moving forward. It is clear that I am not the only one tired of the burden these private lines place on our neighbors.
Reached 100 supporters
April 16, 2016
29 Comments
I have lived in the city limits for 30 years, but we have a septic tank, grandfathered in. We were informed that if we sell the house the septic tank will have to be updated with a leech sand field, or pay to hook up to sewer. We feel that the city should bring the line to us, not the other way around.
I agree, all residential sewers in Ottumwa should be considered City Sewers and serviced and maintained by the City. Since all residents pay the same taxes and the same sewer fees to do otherwise creates a group of of "second class citizens" who are forced to be responsible for their own sewer maintenance which is blatantly unfair.
I believe all sewer lines within city limits should be public. These people were never made aware that they were private, nor were several of the other entities within Ottumwa, IA. They pay for sewer services and I'm sure have since the beginning of there dwellings life, will you be back paying them for all of that if these are not made public?
Making all sewer lines city lines is the right thing to do. All homeowners should be responsible for the same thing - the line from the main to their homes. Regardless of the circumstances at the time the homes were built, we have all paid city sewer fees and taxes for many years. Let's just declare all sewers in the city limits the same and move forward. There is no other way to reasonably untangle this. It could turn into a big who would sue whom debacle that the city would eventually have to resolve anyway. Homeowners, buy the water and sewer line insurance that was recommended in your water bills, or a similar policy of your own choosing.
The sewers in OTTUMWA, Iowa have been let go for many years and now our water bills are being raised and people will be charged for any problems with their "own" sewers This is ridiculous This problem should have been addressed and sewers replaced through the years not at the very last minute and then charged to property owners This is a very low economic area with many people below the poverty level People should be able to share trash pick up also as many elderly have only one small sack Fee should not just to automatically charged to water bill = Robbery
Making all sewer lines public is the right thing to do. Most of us have documents we got when we bought our home telling us we already have public sewer lines even though the map or the city says we don't. As a tax payer, sewer fee payer, and a citizen living in the city limits of Ottumwa, what happened 60 years or so ago should be void because more recent documents disagree.
What's the sense of paying a fee for 'insurance' if the City is not going to honor it & fix the problem.
Isnt this what our taxes are also supposed to be used for?
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I have lived in the city limits for 30 years, but we have a septic tank, grandfathered in. We were informed that if we sell the house the septic tank will have to be updated with a leech sand field, or pay to hook up to sewer. We feel that the city should bring the line to us, not the other way around.