SHELBY — Charlie Roub is not opposed to a proposed sanitary sewer project in Shelby.
It’s the cost that will be assessed to the two dozen homeowners on West Main Street that has the first-ward city council member concerned.
A second reading was given Thursday during an eight-minute, special council meeting to an ordinance that would upgrade 24 total septic systems in various stages of failure to a sanitary sewer system at an estimated cost of $528,400.
While the city will pay a portion of the work, approximately $380,800 will be borne by the homeowners, an average cost of almost $16,000.
“I have some big concerns for these property owners. Some of these folks are elderly. You can’t just dump something like this on then,” said Roub, joined in opposing the ordinance again Thursday by at-large council member Steve McLaughlin.
The reading was approved by second-ward councilman Derrin Roberts, third-ward councilman Garland Gates and fourth-ward councilman Nathan Martin.
“There are a couple of different options available. I just don’t know that we have looked at them,” Roub said after the meeting.
A third and final reading for the ordinance is planned for Tuesday during the next regular council meeting.
The meeting Thursday was far less volatile than during Monday evening’s first reading, when community members spoke about the issue. Several residents attended the meeting Thursday, though none chose to participate. Roub was the only member of council to address the issue during the meeting, repeating his financial concerns.
When Thursday’s session began, Gates apologized for what he described as his “boorish” behavior during Monday’s meeting. Some residents were reprimanded for speaking out-of-turn during the earlier meeting.
Beth Conrad, the director of environmental health for the Shelby Health Department and also a registered sanitarian, spoke during the meeting at the invitation of Mayor Steven Schag. She told council members that the soil composition in the West Main Street area would make it difficult, if not impossible, to upgrade the current septic systems.
During Monday’s meeting, Conrad said the city earlier this year received a $200,000 grant, from which $100,000 can go to the city’s portion of the project and $100,000 to homeowners. The homeowners’ portion would be distributed based on income per household and each homeowner would have to apply for the assistance.
