New policy needed for out-of-town utilities

The Sundance City Council has come to the realization that it needs a solid policy on providing utilities to landowners whose property is outside of town limits.

On the one hand, the council did not consider a request from a local resident to provide water to his home in the canyon area to be unreasonable.

On the other hand, Public Works Director Mac Erickson and Karla Greaser of Trihydro, City Engineers, are concerned about the “can of worms” that granting this request might open.

Until a policy is put in place, the council felt it prudent to delay giving an answer to the landowners’ request.

Water Request

The question arose in response to an enquiry from a landowner who asked for approval from the council to tie into the city’s water system from his 35-acre property on Wild Bunch Trail. Ken Rathbun of Engineering Associates made the request on behalf of Ron Anhorn at May’s meeting and returned last week to ask for the council’s opinion.

As the home will be at an elevation, Rathbun said that the landowner would need to pump the water uphill. This, however, would be the landowner’s issue to solve.

Rathbun stated that he is aware the council cannot make a formal decision, but felt concerned that Anhorn would be spending significant dollars to go through the design and engineering process without even a “straw poll” answer as to whether the council will grant his request.

On that basis, he said, he opted to look into the technical feasibility instead and found that there would be two 1.5-inch service lines that would work as a tapping point.

Rathbun asked for the council’s opinion, conditional on Anhorn securing a permit for the pumping system from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.

Long-term Concerns

Mayor Paul Brooks stated that, personally, he is “somewhat indifferent” to the request as he can see it from both sides; he asked Erickson to explain the issue from the city’s perspective.

Erickson listed several potential future problems if the city grants the request.

His main concern, he said, is that it could open a “can of worms” in which numerous other landowners made similar requests. The city has no policy, therefore no solid basis on which to refuse if it grants individual requests, he said.

One more user might not tax the water system, but if the city grants this request, Erickson said, “There’s going to be 20 more people in here wanting to take it.” Brooks agreed that it would be difficult to turn those requests down.

Erickson spoke to a potential future in which the city ends up with service lines going in every which direction out of town. This could potentially compromise the system for the city users for whom the system was built and intended, he said.

The pre-annexation agreement that the city requires in exchange for providing water is not a great enough advantage to offset these concerns, Erickson said.

Greaser agreed, also noting that the request would set a precedent that could place a burden on the system. She also stated that the city is, “not obligated to provide water outside the city limits”.

Trihydro does not recommend providing water for single users on large parcels outside city limits as a general policy, Greaser said. However, it could perhaps be beneficial to the city in terms of encouraging economic development to provide water to new large subdivisions.

She also suggested that an application process might allow for considering requests on a case-by-case basis.

New Policy

While the mayor felt ambivalent about Anhorn’s specific request, he did note that he feels much more strongly about the need for the city to develop an overall policy.

“I do feel strongly that we need to get a finger on this thing,” said Brooks.

City Attorney Mark Hughes pointed out that the city has been looking at developing a water service agreement and said he hopes to be able to present such a document to the council soon. Included in the current version, he noted, is a policy allowing the city to curtail water to out-of-town users if it is needed within city limits, as well as other provisions that might quell the concerns outlined by Greaser and Erickson.

On this basis, Mayor Brooks told Rathbun that the council cannot really offer an answer to the request until it has developed a firm policy. He stated that some time is needed to consider and research the question.

Erickson, Greaser and Hughes will convene in the near future to do exactly that and will then bring their recommendations back to the council.