Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Sweet Home City Council has agreed last week to help John Mahler pay costs associated with moving a water line to allow the construction of a house at the south end of Fourth Avenue.
As of Monday, the city and Mahler had reached an agreement but had yet to sign documents.
The water line was constructed at some point outside of a mapped easement but was never recorded on official maps, and when Mahler was planning the home, he was unaware of the obstacle. The line would physically run under the corner of the foundation.
Mahler, represented by attorney John Wittwer, asked the city to abandon the water line, claiming that it is the city’s responsibility since official maps don’t show the actual location of the water line, which disrupts his plans for the property.
“The city’s got a water line without a record of access,” affecting Mahler’s ability to build, Wittwer told the council during its regular meeting on April 22.
With the line abandoned, “”it wouldn’t matter what John did on his property,” Wittwer said. It’s a city water main crossing his property without an easement.
Mahler bought the property in good faith under the understanding that the water line was not there, Wittwer said.
The city obtained a couple of quotes for resolving the situation, Public Works Director Mike Adams said. R.J. Armstrong, used frequently by the city, placed the cost at $5,900 to abandon the line and up to $17,000 to move it, depending on how much movement is necessary.
Mahler’s contractor agreed to moev the line for $6,400 later last week, Mahler said. The city would pay approximately $4,400 of the cost.
Following the council meeting last week, Mahler and Wittwer met with city officials several times to hammer out a deal.
“It’s resolved a whole lot better than it had been,” Mahler said. He was satisfied with the resolution.
“I don’t have a clear answer what would be done on this before a judge somewhere,” Wittwer told the council during its April 22 meeting. The point isn’t to get there. “I ask you, where would you fall if you were standing here instead of there?”
City Attorney Robert Snyder said it would be cheaper to fix the problem than go to court.
“There’s no clear answer, and a lot of factors if you go to court,” Snyder told the council. It will cost each side at least $10,000 to go to court, and each side will end up with more money into it than one of the other remedies.
One of the problems with the cheaper solution is that it eliminates “looping” in the water system, Adams said. The flow would go up to the end of Fourth, but it would dead end, decreasing pressure to services off that line. Adams was unable to say how much it would affect pressure.
No matter what happens, “my preference and recommendation at this point would be to keep it looped,” Adams told the council. The goal is to take the line away from the footings of the house.
Moving the house itself isn’t a feasible solution, Mahler said. As it is, he had to get a variance to setback rules to site the home on the hillside lot in the first place.
Mahler became aware of the problem, he said, when his contractor was up on the lot one day and noticed stakes in the ground indicating the location of the water line. He told Mahler he had better find out about it.
“I would love to build a house,” Mahler said. “That’s all I want to do. We need to get going as quickly as we possibly can, so we need to get it resolved.”
Last week, the project was shut down, Mahler was paying his contractor penalties, Mahler said. He has paid permit fees, but he could not build.
Councilor Rich Rowley said he favored sharing the cost. He said he was concerned about the cost falling back on water customers in the city. In fairness, he suggested helping while minimizing the impact to the citizens.
“The most equitable thing to me is for people to share the cost and resolve it,” Rowley said.
Councilor Jim Gourley said he believed the city needs to be responsible, “to make sure our lines are where we say they are.”
But City Manager Craig Martin said part of the blame rests on the developer of the lots on the south end of 4th Avenue.
“I couldn’t come to the conclusion the city was completely responsible when there’s a developer in between,” City Manager Martin said of the creation of the lot and development of the infrastructure.
The council passed a motion to share costs on moving the water line, but it did not support abandoning the line. Voting for the motion were Rowley, Gourley, Mayor Craig Fentiman, Jim Bean, Scott McKee Jr. and Eric Markell. Councilor Greg Mahler excused himself and did not vote because John Mahler is his father.
In other business, the council:
– Authorized the expenditure of up to $33,000 for electrical work at the new city maintenance yard off 24th Avenue.
– Held a public hearing and the first reading of an ordinance to rezone 3243 Highway 20, Wise Auto, from low-density residential to highway commercial. The lot was split between the two zones but is designated as highway commercial in the city’s Comprehensive Plan.