Hundreds of houses could be required to move onto the city sewer system if a proposed council ordinance is adopted. The Las Cruces City Council reviewed the ordinance, which would modify the current municipal code to include mandatory sewer hook-ups, during a work session Monday.
Interim Assistant Utilities Director Adrienne Widmer says the switch from septic tanks was proposed in order to prevent sewage contamination.
“The plan was developed to determine the potential of contamination from leached wastewater from septic tanks into our water supply,” Widmer said. “Based on that plan, nearly 2,000 parcels with septic tank locations were identified.”
Widmer says the plan, which has been in development since 2008, investigated the distance of tanks to water supply wells, the depth of groundwater and the density of septic tanks in order to prioritize select areas.
“The possible connections is 410. Only 148 have actually hooked up,” Widmer said. “148 out of 410, which is only 36% of the total.”
Members of the city council voiced concern that the ordinance is cost prohibitive for residents, citing the pandemic as one reason homeowners might not have the ability to pay for the switch. Councilor Yvonne Flores says that while she understands the need for sewer hook-ups from a health and safety perspective, she is not comfortable with forcing residents to shoulder unexpected costs.
“For someone to come up and tell me that now I have to pay for something that the city didn't provide for me from the very beginning would be such a hardship,” Flores said. “They just can’t go in and force this on somebody at this point. I don’t know if there’s a law against that, but there ought to be a law.”
Widmer stressed that additional grant money can be found for residents in need, through a partnership with other city departments.
“Certainly, we don't want to penalize anybody, to force them to spend a lot of money that they cannot afford,” Widmer said. “And we certainly don't have a problem with working with the rest of the city to continue to find funding as part of utilities. I mean, it is our responsibility to try to protect our only water source.”
Multiple members, including Councilor Flores and Councilor Kasandra Gandara, asked for an extended presentation that maps out the septic locations and provides a deeper cost analysis.
During the meeting, the cost for the transition was estimated to be around $5,000 between wastewater impact fees, plumbing costs and decommissioning expenses for the original septic tank.
Mayor Ken Miyagishima expressed a desire to create payment plans that include decommissioning expenses—something that is not currently an option for residents seeking a payment plan with the city. Above all, the mayor emphasized that connecting to the sewer system is a home investment.
“I will tell you that having you hooked up to the city sewer system really increases the value of the home. So, this is an investment,” Miyagishima said. “It really does. Let me tell you something, that's why people live in the city as opposed to say in the county.”
The council elected to move the ordinance forward in order for further review.
