Septic vs. Sewer

Members of the board have heard from a few of our neighbors with septic systems regarding the steps to take to switch to public sewer. The answer is a bit complicated and costly.

We have conducted some preliminary research and a conversation with an engineer with the county’s water/wastewater services. You can find the engineer’s letter and attached documents below.
We have attached a map showing the boundary of what is regarded as “Stonehenge” based on recorded subdivision plats.   Within that boundary we have identified:

  • 220 – Homes without public wastewater available
  • 10 – Homes with public wastewater available, but not connected
  • 3 – Vacant lots with public wastewater available

The map also shows two assessment districts within Stonehenge that were created in 1993 – the 4 lot “”Rexmoor Drive Wastewater Assessment District” and the 8 lot “East Rexmoor/Harwick Drive Wastewater Assessment District”.   Property owners within those assessment districts were given 10 years to pay their share of the project costs through biannual payments.   For all assessment districts created since 2002, the payback period for property owners has been 20 years.

Also attached is general information about the creation of assessment districts.   This covers sending out petitions to initially determine interest and establishing a liaison between the neighborhood and the County, under the “Getting Started” section, the public hearing process, methods of assessment payments, and other topics based upon questions received over the years.   The county typically does not prepare preliminary cost estimates for a possible service extension until they have received initial interest for a specific area, and can determine the number of properties to be served and a line extension route.   Based on the last wastewater assessment district created, and our conceptual estimating number, a very preliminary “cost per property” for a wastewater service extension could be in the range of $30,000 to $35,000 or higher.  This does not include the residential wastewater connection fee (currently $5,400 until 6/30/21 and subject to change) and private plumbing costs associated with switching your house from your existing septic to the new public wastewater system.