A Hawk Lake homeowner says sewage issues have left her property uninhabitable, but finding a cost-effective solution may take a few years.
Val Cultice told the Culver Town Council last week that she and her sister inherited a property in the area, but it’s been over three years since they’ve been able to use it.
“The septic system is in failure, and the property is too small to replace the system because of the lot size,” she explained. Cultice added that none of the neighbors are willing to let some of their land be used, and other properties in the area are in a similar situation.
She explained that joining the Southwest Conservancy District wouldn’t be feasible, since the connection is on the other side of the lake. Forming a separate conservancy district would be expensive, since there are only about seven homes in the area.
The other option would be to work out some sort of arrangement in which the homes are connected to Culver’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. Cultice said there’s already an easement.
Town Manager Jonathan Leist said officials guessed that it would cost somewhere around $200,000 to run the pipe, if there weren’t any other issues. He noted that annexing the homes into the town limits is a possibility, but Cultice wasn’t sure how many of the property owners would be in favor of paying the town tax rate.
Jim Clevenger, the attorney for Marshall County and the Town of Culver, pointed out that the county is aware of the issue, but it might take a while for it to come up with a solution.
“The county is considering adopting a county-wide sewer district,” Clevenger explained, “and it would include your area and a number of other areas around the lakes that are not already covered in either a conservancy district or a sewer district.”
He said the landowners would still ultimately be responsible, but the county would help coordinate them and try to reduce costs. But he warned that it would likely take a long time for the county to establish the sewer district and get around to the properties in question.
As a next step, Leist suggested that Cultice try to organize a meeting with the seven homeowners.
