Killeen — Is Killeen's controversial sewer line repair policy what "most cities do?"
Last week, Channel 6 News found out the City of Killeen doesn't pay to fix sewer laterals. These are the sewer lines that go from a person's home to the sewer main lines. The problem is, these lines can break under public roads, outside a homeowners property line. When they do, the city still requires homeowners to pay to dig up the street and make the repair. It can cost thousands.
In the City Council Workshop on August 7th, City Attorney Kathy Davis told the council their policy was common across Texas.
"It's important to understand right now that what the city is doing is legal and it's the way most cities in Texas do it," Davis said.
But is that true? Channel 6 News contacted Waco, Hewitt, Temple, Belton, Harker Heights and Copperas Cove to find out what their policies are.
City of Waco Utilities Operations Manager Michael Norman told Channel 6 the City of Waco handled most sewer line repairs outside a homeowner's property lines.
Hewitt City Manger Adam Miles told Channel 6 the City typically takes responsibility for the repair of wastewater lines located within the public right of way, while the individual property owner would be responsible for repair of lines located on their property.
Spokespeople for both the City of Temple and the City of Belton told Channel 6 their cities take responsibility for sewer lines outside a persons property line.
The City of Harker Heights told Channel 6 they require, like in Killeen, that citizens pay for repairs on their sewer service line from their residence to the city’s main, but they will help citizens pay for repairs in rare circumstances.
Only the City of Copperas Cove seemed to have the exact same policy as the City of Killeen.
When Channel 6 confronted the City of Killeen about these findings, spokeswoman Hillary Shine sent Channel 6 a statement saying, "There are 961 cities in Texas. A broader look than just cities locally will support her (the attorney's) statement. A quick Google search shows Carrollton, Fort Worth, Bryan, Sugar Land and Highland Village use the same standard as Killeen."
Channel 6 later did a "quick Google search" for Sugar Land and found that the policy for that city is that, "The homeowner is responsible for water and wastewater lines that connect to the city's main lines." This policy is the same as Killeen's policy. However, the next paragraph states, "City main lines are located in utility easements along property lines." This means that that the private lateral lines would never travel into a street, eliminating the issue entirely.
The City of Killeen has the highest population of any city Channel 6 contacted concerning these policies.