NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
The city's utility department has announced it will begin charging customers for tree root inspections of sewer lines inside private properties in an effort to stop the practice that officials say is costing $200,000 per year and better done by the private sector.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The city’s utility department will stop offering to scope home sewer lines or perennially grind out roots at no charge this spring, the department announced Monday.
For decades that has been a staple service offered by the municipal sewer department, particular to older homeowners in mature, treed neighbourhoods where it was considered good practise and preventative maintenance.
Environmental utility department officials told the News that it’s not offered in other towns or cities, can be better done by private sector plumbers and is costing up to $200,000 per year in manpower.
That time will instead be used to tackle a backlog of work to replace street mains and other regulatory work.
“It’s been a courtesy really, and an industry that we’ve been trying to get out of for years,” said Brian Graham, the department’s field operations manager.
The changes and fees will come into effect April 1. The city will continue to offer the services for a fee, but recommends that property owners engage a plumber.
“While we have provided these services for free for many years, this is routine maintenance that is the responsibility of the property owner,” said the department’s general manager Lora Brenan.
The city estimates that 5 per cent of households take advantage of the service, but the cost is borne by all ratepayers.
That money should be focused on maintaining publicly owned infrastructure, such as street mains, said Graham, especially as public infrastructure expands or is upgraded to meet higher regulatory standards.
Since the problems are located on private property – in the customer’s pipes – then they are legally the responsibility of the property owner, he said. That point for a sewer line is consider to be corresponding with the water curbstop in relation to the property line, which is typically a few feet into a front lawn.
Graham also said that increasing costs of dealing with fat deposits and cloth sanitary wipes is also putting pressure on maintenance budgets. To balance that, the city will halt free house calls to investigate smells, or grinding out root intrusions.
City crews routinely cut out tree root ends and balls with a hand-driven rod system. Graham said the matter is better handled with mechanical augers that are a common tool for plumbers.
“It’s a safety issue that is taking business away from the (private sector),” he said. “Our focus should be on the infrastructure and mains.”
