Without city record, Marie Street residents on hook for thousands in sewer repairs

Marie Street residents never figured to be on the hook for major sewer repairs when they had been paying city sewer bills for decades.

But in 2014, Cape Girardeau city staffers informed residents they found no written evidence the deteriorating clay sewer pipe that connected to a city sewer line ever had been officially accepted into the city sewer system.

The end result: the owners of 10 properties on Marie Street, most of them located on the east side of the street, were billed $3,300 apiece for sewer repairs.

The old six-inch line was replaced with an eight-inch line in 2015.

The city billed residents this month, resulting in confusion about liens that was later clarified by city officials.

Beth and David Scherer pose for a portrait outside of their home Monday on Marie Street.Laura Simon

Deputy city manager Molly Hood said the city shared the cost of repairs.

According to city officials, the entire project cost $80,000, with Marie Street residents paying $33,000 of the expense and the city paying $47,000.

City officials said the project ended up costing more than anticipated because the city had to hire a contractor to repave the street after the city's paving apparatus broke down.

Stan Polivick, assistant public works director, in a December 2015 email to Hood wrote it "looks like the city will be making a sizable subsidy for this one."

David Scherer said he and his wife Beth, who reside at 418 Marie St., received their bill from the city last week, as did his neighbors.

Scherer said he was surprised the bill came with a lien on his property because the city staff had informed the residents they could pay off the cost over five years from the date they received their bills.

Arlette Dehay, who lives at 430 Marie St., said the city's decision to place a lien against her property angered her.

"I don't want a lien on my house," she said.

Dehay said she has paid the $3,300 bill to get out from under the lien.

Scherer said residents can choose to pay $660 a year or $55 a month to the city over five years.

Scherer and Dehay said they had not expected to be faced with liens unless they failed to pay their bills.

City attorney Eric Cunningham said liens typically are attached to tax bills.

Some residents of the neighborhood wanted to have the expense added to their water bills, which would not have required a lien, he said.

But the city's billing software would not allow the cost to be billed that way, Cunningham said.

Beth Scherer said she and her husband were among those who wanted to pay off the expense through their regular water bills rather than receive a tax bill.

She said city staff had not informed them such a payment method could not be used.

Hood said Thursday that Scherer and others, who agreed to a five-year payment plan, mistakenly received bills indicating liens had been placed on their properties. The city plans to send out new bills indicating their properties have no such liens, she said.

Other residents were tax-billed as requested and have a decade to pay them off, Hood said.

Scherer acknowledged the city helped pay the expense of replacing the sewer line and did not charge property owners a hookup fee.

But Scherer said the $3,300 cost assessed to each property is "a major expense none of us believe we should have to pay."

Dehay said a title company as part of a proposed purchase of property on Marie Street discovered in 2014 no documentation could be found accepting the sewer line.

She and Scherer said city officials were unaware of the issue before that time.

Hood said, "We were all a little shocked to discover it was not part of the city sewer system."

She said there is documentation of the city's acceptance of nearby sewer lines in the early 1900s. But no city ordinance could be found to indicate acceptance of the Marie Street sewer, Hood said.

The lack of documentation could mean the sewer was a private line that was connected illegally to the city's sewer system, Hood said.

The lack of manholes along the block-long street suggested to city staff the sewer line would not have been up to city standards, she said.

"It doesn't appear to be something we would have approved or inspected," Hood added.

But Dehay and other Marie Street residents believe their sewer line was connected legally to the sewer system, and the city is at fault for not being able to provide the document that would show that to be the case.

"I think it was their mistake," Dehay said, adding the city may have simply lost the record.

"We should not have to pay for any of this," she said. "There are a lot of things that don't add up here."

Dehay, who has lived in her house on Marie Street for 40 years, said neither she nor any of her neighbors had ever heard anyone suggest they were served by a private sewer. Dehay and Scherer said surrounding homes were outfitted with sewer pipes in the early 1900s. They said that suggests the sewer line on their street also would have been accepted into the city system.

Dehay said her house was built in 1914.

"I was told by the original owner that they always had water and sewer at the house," she recalled.

She said it doesn't make sense a sewer line "in the heart of Cape Girardeau" would not have been approved by the city.

Scherer said his house was built in 1935. Scherer said he never checked the status of the sewer line when he bought his house 22 years ago.

Scherer and Dehay said they wonder whether other longtime neighborhoods in the city could be faced with a similar issue.

But Hood called the Marie Street sewer situation an "exception."

Scherer said he and other residents on Marie Street were surprised to learn they would have to pay for the sewer repairs since they had been paying sewer fees to the city for decades.

"How come our monthly fees don't pay for that?" he asked.

But Hood said the fees cover the expense of sewer services throughout the entire system.

"We're still treating their waste," she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641