BANGOR, Maine — There are few Bangor homeowners who can say they also own their water main and waterlines, but that’s a distinction the owners of five residential properties on Winter Street would rather not have these days.
“I always knew it was a fairly exclusive club because there are very few in the city,” said Lucia Williams-Young, who has been living in one of the residences for the better part of 50 years. “I don’t think it’s ever been a topic of conversation, though.”
It’s a recurring topic of conversation now that the galvanized iron main is leaking for the first time in its 106-year life. The line started leaking sometime in November or December, and the Bangor Water District notified residents officially in January, asking them to repair it — at their own expense — by April 15.
“I don’t think there’s even 1 percent of private lines for residential users left in Bangor,” said Kathy Moriarty, the water district’s general manager. “Private mains aren’t unusual, but they are usually owned by development planners building a mall or something like that.”
The 165-foot water main was installed six feet underground on privately owned land between Fremont Street, where the closest public main is, and Winter Street in 1906. It connects to two 120-foot waterline sections supplying city water to the residents living at 24, 30, 34, 38 and 42 Winter St. There is also another private main serving four or five houses on the other side of the street.
The leak appears to be under a dirt driveway at 34 Winter St., a large, Victorian-style house that recently was converted into a multiunit apartment building. Owner Mike Tatarcyk spoke at a Bangor City Council meeting last month to ask for assistance in repairing the leak, but was told that the main is private, based on Maine Public Utilities Commission information and deed research, and that the homeowners served by the line must bear the responsibility for its repair and maintenance.
“I’ve always known that it was a private line. My parents bought the house around 1939,” said Williams-Young, a costume director for the University of Maine’s School for Performing Arts. “The whole problem that led to this being private is Winter Street has ledge coming right up onto the street almost and they couldn’t get anything in there without blasting.”
The leak area alternates with the weather between a tiny ice rink and a large puddle of water bubbling up in the driveway. The leak hasn’t affected water quality or pressure for any of the line’s users, according to Moriarty and three homeowners.
“There’s water running down from above across my driveway and creating an ice buildup,” said Dan Barteau, who owns a two-unit apartment building at 38 Winter St. “I was concerned about water in the basement, but the building hasn’t been affected. It’s still a nuisance.”
It’s an expensive nuisance, however: Repair cost estimates range from $1,000 to $150,000, depending on which of five options homeowners pick.
That’s a daunting price range for homeowners such as Mary Kenny.
“It’s pretty expensive, and at my age I don’t see getting a loan,” said Kenny, who has lived at 24 Winter St. since 1965.
The short-term solution is the most viable.
“We can dig it up, patch it, and fill it back in. That would work as a short-term fix that could be done as early as April and be good for a few years,” said Adam Williams, Lucia’s husband and a resident of 42 Winter St. for the last 30 years. “That would give us time to check into alternative sources of funding to pay for a permanent fix.”
Moriarty has provided the homeowners with a list of possible repair options (all costs are approximate):
• Repair just the leak for $1,000.
• Replace the private main with 2-inch polyethylene pipe for $29,000.
• Install individual service lines running from the main on Fremont to the Winter Street houses at about $4,800 per line (not including easement fees).
• Replace the private main with materials meeting water district specifications — which could result in the district accepting the line as a public main — for $78,000, plus $2,000 for each service line off the new main.
• Install a new water main down Winter Street for $126,000 plus $2,000 for each new service line.
The private line used to serve six houses, but former resident John Rohman, also a former Bangor Water District trustee, chose to disconnect his service at 14 Winter St. and pay to connect to the line on Fremont in 1980.
So now the homeowners are evaluating their options while waiting for the weather to warm up enough for them to dig in and find the leak.
Moriarty has suggested repair funding options such as Bangor’s Residential Rehabilitation Loan Program. Adam Williams also will check with the PUC.
And after that?
“I really don’t know. If we continue on one line, we would have to have everyone agree on a course,” said Williams-Young. “I think everyone’s in agreement we have to at least get a temporary patch done.”
Rather than react in an adversarial or hostile manner, residents have been fairly understanding and accepting.
“It doesn’t do any good to start frothing at the mouth,” said Williams, an AmeriCorps member attached to the Hope House. “Something is going to have to be done, and it is going to cost some money.”
Option #6. Drill a well at each property and tell the water district to cease supplying water to that line. It will now (after this story) be almost impossible to sell one of these houses due to the requirement for disclosure.
You’re forgetting the cost of a leach field. I’d want my house separately connected to the main on Fremont so I didn’t have to rely on my neighbors.
“Option #6. Drill a well at each property”
Don’t need a leach field for a well. (unless you are drinking sewage).
Don’t need to depend on neighbors if there’s a well at each residence.
No need for a leach field, that is for a sewer system.
Mmmmmmm… sewage!
It depends on whether these properties are served by the public sewer or have their own leachfields. If the latter then they want a 300-foot setback; you’re talking a minimum 1-acre lot size. And nothing guarantees quantity and quality when you drill a hole. A decent residential well if everything goes well is about $7000. Add some more for the transmission to the house and the bladder tank. In any of the cases it is like a leaking roof: when the roof is new you don’t think about it but really should have a plan to pay for it when you need to deal with it again. When you really need it fixed you really need it fixed.
Where did you find union well drillers? I know of two non-union well drilling companies that will do it for about 1/3 the quote you’re putting out there. And these are fully insured and bonded companies.
That’s what I was thinking.
Chumby must work for BWD.
It may not be possible to drill or pound a well. The streets in that area are all dead ends, at which there is a sharp drop down to the Kenduskeag River valley (Valley Ave.). There is a lot of ledge in the area, as the article mentions.
It looks like John Rohman had a lot of foresight by connecting to the city main on a neighboring street, but none of these folks is rolling in dough.
No one could have foreseen back in 1906 that residents would be dealing with recalcitrant city officials, lawyers, easements, fees and all the other crap that comes with city government.
You can’t fight city hall.
I totally agree, drill baby drill!!!!!!
The irony here is that this street lives in the shadow of the Standpipe.
The private main is leaking not the service line to the home.
We are having an issue with our sewer pipe. The main was broke off from our pipe due to a large piece of asphalt. The city refused to dig it up and once we had a blockage we had no choice. The construction company had to dig up a neighbors driveway and into the street to get to the break. There was no tie point at the side of the road, the break was directly at the main, under a city road. The city is putting it onto the construction companies that did the work on the sewer lines back in the 90’s. We are now stuck with a large bill for work on a piece of city property unless we pay for an attorney and go that route. We are very disappointed.
Wow this doesn’t sound right. Isn’t the city required to bring the service to the property?
No. From the house to the main is the homeowner’s responsibility.
to clarify…in our case, it was the public sewer main that was broken off from our lateral pipe. Our property (the lateral pipe) was not moved.
If they are paying the Water District for water each month than its the Water Districts responsibility. Otherwise drill a well and tell the city to screw.
So if you buy gasoline from the gas station each month is your car the gas station’s responsiblity?
no, but the gas stations underground lines are their responsibility
Obviously not. But with all PUBLIC SERVICES you have no choice of where you get your water from and the expense of this kind of repair is foolishly prohibitive. If a city plow truck plows your street, do you need to pay for the street repairs yourself if it gets potholed? Obviously not. By them plowing the street, the city recognizes its ownership and responsibility to maintain the street The fact that this was allowed to go on since the early 1900’s is obviously an oversight that should have been corrected by the city.
indeed…if they are charged the same rate as everyone else, they should be provided the same service as everyone else, that service includes water supply.
the city should pony up the 126K needed for a main extension and the residents should pony up the $2000 hook-up fee, as they have obviously never paid a hook-up fee like everyone else has at one point in time (sorry ’bout the inflation)
Some private citizens wanted to slow traffic down on Howard Street a few years back. Who paid for that road hazard?
people complain about a nanny state but when nanny state does not want to pay for something, boy o boy, watch anti-nanny state people become the biggest crybabies in the world
If you read the quotes from most of the home-owners, it doesn’t sound like they’re crying at all. I believe that only one of them went to the town. All of the others are simply weighing their options.
No, your making an assumption about these people As you liberals are prone to do.
As usual, there’s probably a lot more to this story than BDN wanted to research.
Clean water isn’t free. As a home owner with a well, I get to pay for well pump failure when it occurs. Last time it failed, Thanksgiving eve. 2002. Clean up from Thanksgiving meal was like camping out. What an atypical holiday. It was great.
if the home owners own the line,how come they are not charging the water dist a service fee to run water through that line?
This is an interesting idea…..does it hold any water? (no pun intended!)
PUC is going to laugh in your face. A private water main is exactly that private and the responsibility of the owner for maintenance. Sorry to hear Bangor City Council wouldnt offer assistance with say CDBG funds that they receive yearly from HUD.
Who said the City said no to use of CDBG funds? To qoute the article “Moriarty has suggested repair funding options such as Bangor’s Residential Rehabilitation Loan Program.” There are the CDBG funds. As long as more than 51% of the people this project would serve are low to moderate income, they would be eligible for assistance.
The line from the main in the street into my house is mine; just like the building sewer is mine to the point, in the street, where it connects to the City sewer. If something goes wrong with my water line or my building sewer, it’s mine to fix. Same thing here except, decades ago a land subdivider or a group of homeowners decided to share a single, long water service, also known as a private main, rather than blast ledge for separate services. Now the owners of the homes have to come together and share the costs and work of replacing what is jointly theirs- I have to believe it’s all spelled out in their deeds!!!
Is the street on the public sewer system? Seems like they would put in water mains at the same time they put in sewer mains.
Why can’t the people affected connect to Fremont? The private line used to serve six houses, but former resident John Rohman, also a former Bangor Water District trustee, chose to disconnect his service at 14 Winter St. and pay to connect to the line on Fremont in 1980.
Read the article; that is one of their options. Excerpt below. I suspect they don’t want to pay for it.
“• Install individual service lines running from the main on Fremont to the Winter Street houses at about $4,800 per line (not including easement fees).”
As a well owner, I like the self-suffiency. If it fails, I have to fix it.
BUT consider this:
Well owners, the subjects of this story, and every citizen of Maine, has to chip in toward large capital projects funded by statewide bonds for “improvements to public water supplies.” We see it on the ballot nearly every year. People with private water supplies — like the people on this private line and anyone with a well — are getting totally screwed on this, as they get zero benefit because they are not on public water supplies.
I have written to my state legislator many many times about this and not once have I gotten a response. People on public water should pay for these capital improvements and not make those of us with no access chip in. It’s just wrong.
Keep voting for dems and this will continue.
Do they pay for there water usage?
I feel their pain. We just had a $26,000 assessment on our condo to replace heating water lines. Two years to pay and 7 months of an entire wall torn out with workers coming and going. We moved out ’till it was over. Oh well, such is life….
Key word, private…
The town should pay for the water main but the homeowners pick up for thier individual lines to the main. Unless that is they are paying a reduced property tax due to the town not providing water to thier property like the rest of the town has.
This stinks but it seems these people are going to be the proud owners of spanking new waterlines. Congratulations!