There Is Much Work Yet to Be Done Before Kirtland Can Start Relying on The Sewer System

A public sewer line running underneath U. S. 64 in Kirtland recently started to pump waste from the community to the sewage treatment facility in Farmington. But there is much work yet to be done before Kirtland homes can start relying on the sewer system and reduce the number of septic tanks in Kirtland near the San Juan River. Six buildings near U. S. 64 as it passes through Kirtland started sewer services last week, said Mark Duncan, the chairman of the Valley Water and Sanitation District, which oversees the sewer system. It's the first sewer system in Kirtland. Kirtland Elementary School and the Kirtland Youth Association's facility are two buildings with sewer services in Kirtland. The system has the capacity to support all Kirtland residents and businesses, Duncan said. But hooking up to the system is expensive. Area residents will have to organize themselves and find a way to pay for the infrastructure needed to pump sewage to the sewage line. And even if they could connect to the system, sewer rates in Kirtland are prohibitively high. "Right now I don't think it would be economically feasible for a household to hook on, " said Bill Flack, a board member for the Valley Water and Sanitation District. "If we can get enough businesses on the sewer system they can help us pay the high dollars. Once we have more use we can start reducing our rates and then it will be affordable for a house. " For a standard home in Kirtland, the district Would charge a monthly service fee of $25 for using up to 2, 999 gallons of water. The district would also charge $8 per 1, 000 gallons of water, Flack said. For a standard home in Farmington, the city charges a monthly service fee of $7.47 for a 5/8 inch sewer line, $1.76 per 1, 000 gallons of water and monthly renewal fee of $5.45, said Ruben Salcido, the operations and maintenance director for the city. So if a home used 1, 000 gallons of water in a month the sewer bill would be $14.88 in Farmington and $33 in Kirtland. Additionally, connection fees in Farmington average between $75 and $100 for homes and business, Salcido said. In Kirtland, connection fees are $2, 300 for businesses and $1, 000 for homes, Flack said. However, Salcido said, some Farmington homes that want to use the city's sewer system have to pay hefty maintenance line extension fees that can cost between $1, 500 and $6, 000. Another issue for potential sewer users in Kirtland is that many of the homes in the community are south of the highway and below the sewage lines, so the communities would need to build a lift station to pump sewage into the Kirtland system. "They have to bring their sewer to our lines, " Flack said. "Most of these neighborhoods will use a low-pressure lift station and the neighbors will share whatever maintenance will be. " Flack said about 50 businesses in Kirtland already expressed interested in hooking up to the sewer system soon. And he thinks there are about 40 more businesses in Kirtland that could become sewer customers. In addition to courting businesses, widespread access to a sewer system would increase property values in Kirtland, said Kara Wood, a home broker for Kirtland Realty who also lives in Kirtland. The median value of a home in Kirtland is $50, 000 less than it is in Farmington, according to census data. "One of the biggest hassles with my job, is dealing with septic system, " Wood said. "I'm hoping that people start to step up and move ahead to organize the residential areas. " One likely change in Kirtland if homes start getting sewer service is that houses could be built closer together, Wood said. The state requires new homes relying on septic system to be built on at least three-quarters of an acre. A sewer system "means we're not required to have such large lot sizes for new homes, " she said. "You could have higher density and that makes land a little more valuable because you can get more lots out of it and a lot of homeowners don't want to take care of three-quarters of an acre. " San Juan County started gathering funds for a Kirtland sewer system in 1997 because of failing septic tanks and to better attract businesses, said Linda Thompson, the chief financial officer for the county. The system cost $4.6 million in federal, state and county funds. "A sewage line opens up some really positive doors for the community, " said San Juan County Commission Chairman Tony Atkinson, who represents the Kirtland area on the county commission. Kirtland has a population of 7, 875 and grew 27 percent in the last 10 years. The community is about the same size as the city of Bloomfield, which has 8, 112 residents, according to the 2010 census. But Bloomfield has 535 business compared to Kirtland's 232 businesses. Aztec, which has 1, 100 fewer residents than Kirtland does, has 484 more businesses, according to census data. But officials are hopeful a sewer system could entice more businesses to Kirtland. In the last 30 years, Atkinson said Kirtland residents twice voted to incorporate and become an official city. "Whether Kirtland can stand on its own as a city or not, I don't know, " Atkinson said. "But having a sewage line running down the highway could help if they tried to incorporate. " Source: wef.org