City Council to Vote on Controversial Sewer Policy Tonight

Some San Leandro residents could get a reprieve from paying thousands of dollars to relocate their sewer laterals in the event a sewer main needs to be replaced.

The City Council will vote tonight on whether or not to spread those costs among taxpayers, rather than require affected residential property owners to foot the entire bill themselves with the help of city financing. 

The issue has heated up since the city made it known earlier this year to residents of the so-called “Dowling Triangle” — between Dowling Boulevard and Dutton and Beverly avenues — that a collapsed sewer main underneath the area would have to be abandoned and rebuilt.

Under the city's current code, nine property owners in the Triangle would have to shoulder the cost of rebuilding their sewer laterals to connect to the new main. 

Knowing the problem was proximate, the council updated the  last December to clarify that residents are responsible for the cost of rebuilding their sewer laterals to connect to a new main. The code change also established a financing program to help spread out the cost. 

Homeowners — from the Dowling Triangle area and from other parts of the city — responded with outrage to the plan at various council and neighborhood meetings. Some have threatened to sue the city.

Opponents say the cost of sewer repairs should be spread among taxpayers and the code change should have undergone a more public vetting process before it was passed.

San Leandro has approximately 23 miles of sewer main lines located at least partially on private property, according to an analysis done by the city. Though the need to relocate sewer mains is rare, according to city engineers, some 500 residential properties could potentially face a situation similar to the Dowling Triangle. 

Reconnecting sewer laterals could cost a property owner more than $8,000, according to city estimates.

About one third of the sewer system in San Leandro is under city control, while the other two-thirds are part of the Oro Loma Sanitary District, according to Uche Udemezue, head of the city's engineering department.

Under an alternative to be voted on at tonight's City Council meeting, residents living in the city's sewer district would foot the bill collectively for relocation of sewer laterals. This option would shift $2 million to $4 million in liability to the city's sewer district, and would likely cause sewer rates to go up. 

You can read background material on the issue on the city's website. Tonight's meeting begins at 7 p.m. in , with live streaming available on the city's website.