News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville City Council will once again consider bidding out a low-pressure sewer system to extend sewer to Contraband Road, Dry Valley Road, and Shag Rag Road.
That after rescinding the bid approval at the last council meeting due to concerns with a developer potentially aiding with a cost share to extend the sewer up to a Buck Mountain Road property. City Manager James Mills said it’s important to understand that approving the sewer agreement does not mean the city is approving development on the property, or even rezoning the property.
“It’s an additional $50,000 to get it to this point,” Mills said. “This original contractor discussion with the developer was to pay the bulk of it. So the Water Quality Control’s goal here was to control cost, to reduce the costs of extending sewer for an area that at some point, we are legally required to get sewer to.”
The property is part of an annexation that happened some years ago, with the condition that the city would eventually extend sewer.
Mills said the city would not extend sewer up Buck Mountain Road without a binding contract for the cost share agreement. He said the city is not bound to extend sewer past the current plans on Dry Valley.
Mills said if the developer comes back and wants to tie into the sewer system, the city would incur those costs. He said with the developer’s aid, the city has a greater potential to come out on the positive for the work.
“There is no payback for sewer extensions in existing subdivisions with existing homes, that’s not where we recoup any costs,” Mills said. “Where we recoup costs is to get sewer to undeveloped property and then the developer extends the sewer into the subdivision at his cost and then we take the customers.”
The city will consider the item at its Thursday night meeting.
