By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
SUAMICO – The village board spent more than a half hour Monday, July 15, discussing whether owners of 9.657 acres of property along Velp Avenue and at the north end of Knightriders Lane should be required to connect to municipal sewer and water service.
Board members ended up referring the matter to Suamico’s legal counsel, Corey Kimps, to review the related village code language requiring a connection.
Suamico’s Public Works and Utility Committee recommended to the board on a 6-0 vote to require the property to be hooked up to those public utilities upon constructing a new home as called for in the village code.
The board heard from attorney Frank Kowalkowski, who appeared with Troy Knaus regarding the land Knaus and his wife purchased at 12136 Velp Ave. to build a house.
Kowalkowski characterized the connection requirement as the combination of a legal and a political issue.
“This is a unique parcel in that the services would come off of Knightriders Lane, which is a dead-end road,” he said.
Kowalkowski said the sewer and water lines stop 12-14 feet short of touching the Knaus property, and a hookup would have to be made about 20 feet away to avoid hydrants and shut-off valves, etc.
“The ordinance indicates that hookups for both sewer and water – and they both have very similar language – that there’s a requirement to hook up if the property is adjacent to existing services,” he said. “So this brings up the issue of what exactly is adjacent.”
Kowalkowski said the estimated cost to get sewer and water to the lot line would be around $20,000.
“That is making it difficult for the Knauses on a tight budget,” he said. “Either they’ve got to dramatically reduce the size or cost of their home, or they’ve got to put the lot back up for sale, because that wasn’t anticipated.”
Kowalkowski said sales material for the property indicated sewer and water to the property and laterals had been in place.
“That’s not obviously the village’s fault,” he said. “The material from the seller, upon which the Knauses decided to buy the property, had made a specific representation that sewer and water was at the property, and even said ‘laterals are in place.’ And so, the extra $20,000 or so is kind of a shock.”
Kowalkowski argued the property owners shouldn’t be required to connect to sewer and water based on state case law and Suamico’s municipal code related to the definition of adjacent.
“We’re fairly confident this property is not adjacent as your ordinances are drafted, as other subsections of your ordinances define it, as Wisconsin case law defines it,” he said.
Kowalkowski said the property owners should not be compelled to connect to municipal sewer and water, which would cost approximately $20,000 to get the service to the property, plus around another $7,000 in impact fees.
Rather than having a private well and septic system for the property, Kowalkowski asked the village for some financial assistance to decrease the cost of providing the property with municipal sewer and water service.
However, board members indicated they didn’t favor providing assistance to the property owners at the expense of other properties.
They also stated the dispute is really a matter between the buyer and seller of the land.
Trustee Mike Schneider suggested the current property owners get money from the seller because of how the land was portrayed as having sewer and water service.
“My first action is going back to whomever I bought it from and say, ‘This isn’t the same as what you said,’” Schneider said.
Kowalkowski said a first step was made to contact the seller, a step that has “not been completely jettisoned,” but a way is being sought to resolve the matter short of “full-blown litigation.”
“It sounds like you’re just kind of throwing a lot of stuff out there and seeing what sticks,” Schneider said to Kowalkowski.
Kowalkowski responded by saying the village is also involved in the matter by requiring a sewer and water connection for a house to be built on the property.
“I don’t believe legally the village can say that because of that (ruling in) four or five cases and your own use of the word adjacent in other subsections,” he said. “It’s not adjacent, so that’s where the village does come in.”
Trustee Sky Van Rossum said he would have expected the buyers to have asked for a reduced purchase price had they known the property wasn’t hooked up to sewer and water service.
“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think we’d be here defining adjacent at that point, because that would have been settled between you and the buyer,” Van Rossum said.
Van Rossum said the village “doesn’t have endless pots of money all over the place.”
“This is something that the village had no control between the buyer and the seller in this arrangement, and I think it still needs to be settled there first,” he said.
When asked by Van Rossum how much money is being sought from the village to resolve the matter, Kowalkowski mentioned the $20,000 amount estimated to bring sewer and water service to the property.
Kimps said resolving the matter could possibly come down to the definition of adjacent as found in the village code and whether the village can compel the property owners to connect to sewer and water.
“I believe that the village does have the ability to compel,” Kimps said. “I’m going to have to do some research on my end… I had time to get some brief opinions on it. Nothing that I had completely defined the word adjacent when it came specifically to a water or a sewer hookup, so I’m going to have to get an opinion on that.”
Director of Public Works Andy Smits said the location of utilities in that area “is a very unique situation, but again, this property is similar to others that we’ve come across here in the village.”
“We’ve required anybody that’s in the sewer service area to hook up, whether they had a lateral or not,” Smits said.
Village Administrator Alex Kaker said the area where the property is located is similar to a cul-de-sac.
“This is not uncommon for you to build your sewer laterals or your water laterals into the public right-of-way,” Kaker said. “Again, this is kind of like a cul-de-sac, in my opinion, where it would be the same situation in a cul-de-sac.”
Kowalkowski said the village ordinance calls for a mandatory hookup for properties adjacent to sewer and water lines, and the lines run short and do not touch the Knaus property to meet the definition of adjacent.
“I don’t agree that it’s just like a cul-de-sac,” Kowalkowski said.
Trustee Dan Roddan said the property line is closer to hooking up to sewer and water than if it would be in a cul-de-sac.
“That’s actually a benefit to your client,” Roddan told Kowalkowski.
Roddan made the motion to refer the matter back to the village attorney to provide clarification on the definition of adjacent, so that Kimps could investigate the matter further and make a recommendation to the board.
The motion passed on a 5-2 vote with Trustee Michelle Eckert and Van Rossum being opposed.