The Oak Harbor City Council is going to spend time and money trying to solve a public relations debacle involving sewer service in the city’s waterfront Dillard’s Addition neighborhood.

The problem was that the 30 or so residents weren’t notified ahead of time that a contractor was installing an unusual sewer system in their neighborhood, which they will be required to hook into and help pay for.

The resident wanted to have input on the type of system, which will cost each household an estimated $15,000 to $20,000.

Meanwhile, the work of installing the sewer system continues and should be completed soon.

At the Tuesday night meeting, council members passed an emergency motion to hire a consultant to provide an alternative analysis of the pressurized sewer system going into Dillard’s Addition.

The analysis, which will cost up to $12,000, will also help choose the right type of sewer systems to serve the 100 other homes in the city currently on septic tanks.

Although the city has an engineering staff, City Administrator Paul Schmidt said council members felt there was a need to have an independent consultant look at the issues.

“It’s basically going to be a review of the system that’s going in versus gravity sewers,” he said.

Last week, the council also decided to form an ad hoc committee to review two chapters of city code that cover requirements to connect to sewer systems and latecomer’s reimbursement agreements.

The code regarding the latecomer’s agreement is at the heart of the controversy. While city staff says the code doesn’t require the residents to be notified before a sewer system is installed, the residents feel that code clearly does state that notification is necessary.

“They didn’t follow their own rules about legal notice,” said resident Carroll Young, who has contacted the state Attorney General over the issue.

City leaders admit that notification probably would have been a good idea, especially when an unusual type of sewer is being installed. They say notification is required before the meeting to finalize the latecomer’s agreement, but that takes place after the construction is complete.

Schmidt said the code also isn’t very clear about when homes annexed into the city are required to hook into the city’s sewer system. Residents of the Dillard’s Addition are concerned that they will be forced to connect when the work is complete, even though they have working septic systems.

In addition, Schmidt said the ad hoc committee will look at incentive programs to urge residents to hook into the sewer system.

The action by the council, however, is unlikely to appease everyone who lives in the Dillard’s Addition neighborhood.

Young said she will be happy if she gets a regular gravity system, instead of the pressurized system being installed that requires each home to have a pump and grinder. The homes will be without sewer service during power outages. The cost of hooking into the sewer pipes and purchasing a pump and grinder will cost each household an estimated $15,000 to $20,000.

She also believes the design of the system being installed was improperly changed.

“What is being installed is not what council was handed for their approval,” Young said.

Schmidt said that a regular gravity system was considered for the neighborhood, but that the costs were astronomically larger than the system that was settled on. He explained that it’s a challenging area for sewer service because it’s nearly at sea level, below the level of the sewage treatment plant.

Nonetheless, Schmidt said the work by the consultant and the ad hoc committee will be completed before anyone is forced to connect to the new sewer system.

“We’re not going to sit on it or take a long time,” he said.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.