PRESCOTT ARIZONA REAL ESTATE – PV sewer

Dean said she cannot afford whatever it will cost homeowners to pay for the proposed sewer district.

Homeowners at or above the poverty level will face zero or little costs if the county and town proceed with plans to form the district, Yavapai County Supervisor Tom Thurman said.

“Even if you are at the poverty level and your (septic) system goes bad, you are not going to have the money to repair it.”

Thurman said he feels obligated to notify his constituents that the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality will not accept new septic systems on lots smaller than a half acre.

He expressed concerns at a study session of the Prescott Valley Town Council June 3 about aging septic systems failing in the unincorporated Castle Canyon Mesa and Prescott East area. He represents District 2, which covers the Prescott Valley area.

Thurman and town officials will need to persuade affected homeowners to believe a district is in their best interests. The council Thursday plans to consider a work plan with the Rural Community Assistance Corp., a nonprofit entity, for the proposed sewer district.

The corporation would determine whether sufficient support exists in the community to support a proposed district.

Some homeowners are even more outspoken than Dean in their opposition.

“They charge you an arm and a leg every time you flush the toilet,” said Dave Gardner, a hot-dog stand merchant who has lived on Indian Wells Drive since the mid-1990s.

Gardner continued, “I want no annexation. I want nothing to do with Prescott Valley.”

Gardner is correct in the sense that any proposed district would be annexed into the town, according to Town Manager Larry Tarkowski.

“We will not accept wastewater without an annexation agreement,” he said. “To go ahead and move the project forward, Yavapai County would form a wastewater district. And then we would enter into an agreement if they are successful to accept and treat their wastewater and annex.”

Tarkowski said property owners may pay off their assessments in full in advance, or over a 20-year period of a bond, with interest.

“You have what is called a ‘cash-call period,’” Tarkowski said. “The cash-call period allows people to pay off the assessment up front” in 30 days.

Tarkowski recalled more than 50 percent of the affected property owners paid assessments for sewer districts in 1991 (phase one) and 1994 (phase two).

The financing mechanism remains to be determined, Community Development Director Richard Parker said.

Costs might discourage Sean McCain and others from supporting the district.

“I’ve got mixed emotions,” said McCain, who has lived on Indian Wells Drive for 12 years. “It is going to cost a lot of money – money that we don’t have.”

McCain, who works for a ready-mix company, said he has not had a problem with a septic system.

“I am happy with the way things are right now,” he said.