ROCKLAND, Maine — The city council will revisit in December a proposed municipal law that would require a camera inspection of sewer lines for anyone wishing to add on to their homes or sell their properties.
The wastewater plant superintendent said that the ordinance is both fair and necessary. Councilors, however, voted at their Oct. 15 meeting to postpone a vote until December out of concern about the impact on homeowners.
The requirements are part of a proposed overall new city sewer ordinance that Superintendent Terry Pinto said is the result of an effort to improve the overall city sewer lines. The city is in negotiations with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection over terms of a consent agreement resulting from numerous and long-term violations of pollution standards for discharges into Rockland Harbor.
The ordinance would require that homeowners have a camera inspection done of their private lines, which run from the foundation to the sewer main under the public street, if they add another bathroom, expand more than 25 percent of their home or expand for a value of $50,000 or more. In addition, the inspections would be done before a home could be sold.
Pinto said this requirement is fair. He said people have building inspectors check electrical and other systems in a home before a sale but do not generally check the sewer line. He said it would be unfair to have the responsibility of fixing a broken line passed on to a new, unsuspecting homeowner.
The city charges $140 to conduct an inspection in which it uses a remote-controlled camera on wheels to inspect a line. He said the city generally can arrange for an inspection within a couple days. He said a private company also does the work for $120.
“This is for the protection of the new homeowner,” he said.
If problems are found, the homeowner is required to repair or replace the sewer line before they can get an occupancy permit to use the addition to the home, use the new bathroom or sell the home.
At the Oct. 15 council meeting, council candidate Valli Geiger voiced concern that this would be another cost imposed upon homeowners, adding that anyone wanting to build a home in Rockland already must pay $2,400 in fees. She said these costs will make Rockland a less attractive place to build. She also questioned why homeowners would be responsible for anything beyond their property and into the city road.
Code Officer John Root said he was concerned about being barred from issuing an occupancy permit until the line was repaired or replaced. Root said normally he would issue occupancy permits but give homeowners 120 days to get something completed.
Councilor Eric Hebert proposed postponing the vote to allow the city staff to look at alternatives. He acknowledged that repairing or replacing a sewer line could cost several thousand dollars. The council voted 4-0 to hold off on a decision until the December meeting.
During the past summer, the city conducted tests across the city to determine if there were leaks in sewer lines. The tests involved putting smoke into the lines and seeing if any smoke could be seen coming up out of the ground. Pinto said there were about 50 to 60 instances when smoke was detected. He said in one case, smoke was coming out from where a fence had been built, indicating that the posts had poked through a sewer line.
“I expected it to be much worse,” Pinto said of the number of instances when smoke was coming out of places that it shouldn’t.
He said more provisions will be proposed to meet DEP requirements. One proposal to be introduced soon, Pinto said, involves regulating the discharge of grease and oil into the sewer system from commercial establishments.