Two southeast Carson properties still have time to pay sewer fee

Two southeast Carson City property owners still not hooked up to the sewer have more time to connect before having to pay fines.

Mary Collings at 4540 Silver Sage Drive and Albert Replogle at 4151 Ponderosa Drive were among six property owners cited in February for missing a deadline by more than a year to connect to the sewer.

Collings and Replogle are the last two property owners not served by sewer in the first three phases of sewer installation in southeast Carson City. Sewer serves 295 properties in southeast Carson.

Supervisors on Thursday deferred Collings' payments until she can sell a second house to raise the $3,006 needed to pay the connection fee and lateral reimbursement fee. Collings has two years to sell the house or the sewer fees become due at that time.

She and Replogle each missed a Jan. 31, 1999, deadline and a Jan. 31, 2000, extension to hook up to the sewer and qualify for a fee waiver. They asked supervisors Thursday to still give them the fee waiver, but supervisors did not give waivers in either case.

The board took no action on Replogle's appeal because a court case is pending on his citation and the District Attorney's Office is negotiating with Replogle, said Deputy DA Neil Rombardo said.

Mayor Ray Masayko agreed with Rombardo's advice to leave the matter with the court.

"Mr. Replogle, you need to go through the process with the District Attorney's Office," Masayko said. "If you've been cited, you need to get it before a judge before you come here."

Replogle contends he does not have to hook up to the sewer because his property does not have the minimum 2 percent slope from his home to the sewer main. The city maintains exceptions allow a slope of 1 percent.

"The Utilities Department did not engineer or install the sewer deep enough to maintain a minimal slope," Replogle said. "It's not my problem."

Masayko said the supervisors would stand by justice court's decision.

Regarding Mary Collings' failure to meet the sewer hook-up deadline, supervisors had sympathy but still did not approve her request to waive the hook-up fees - $2,256 for the sewer connection and $750 for the lateral reimbursement.

Collings' son, Charles, told supervisors his mother has not lived in the house since 1994 and that the Silver Sage house has been a rental since then.

Charles Collings said distress from his father's death and his mother's recent health problems allowed the sewer issue to slip from her mind.

"My mom was very ill and her focus was on her health," Charles Collings said, adding that Mary Collings is a senior citizen living on a fixed income.

Supervisors resisted giving a fee waiver, instead opting to put a lien on Collings' second home on South Sutro Terrace until she sells it or for two years, whichever comes first. Four supervisors agreed with the deferral but Supervisor Pete Livermores would not sign on to a deferral.

"I think you and your family members have had a tremendous amount of time to come to a conclusion with this," Livermore said. "I find it extraordinary that with two properties and family members to offer assistance and you come to us to waive fees."