For the second consecutive meeting, city residents voiced their concerns to the Powder Springs City Council Monday about being required by the city to pay for the cleaning of a detention pond.
Previously, the city had been paying for maintenance of these 113 ponds instead of charging fees to the property owners, a policy that was costing the city too much money, according to the previous City Manager Brad Hulsey and the previous Public Works Director Greg Ramsey.
However, City Manager Pam Conner said the maintenance of these detention ponds was paid by private owners or active homeowners associations who wanted expenses shared by those who benefit from the ponds by having runoff from their properties collected in them.
In this subdivision, 104 homeowners will have to pay about $1800 for the first year and $900 for each year afterward.
Conner told the Blue Heron Pass residents they can secure another contractor as long as the initial pond cleaning is completed by Dec. 31 and city guidelines are followed.
Last month, Evergreen Park subdivision residents said they were being charged $13,000 for 54 homeowners, which is the same fee Mayor Pat Vaughn said was charged to her Country Walk subdivision.
Vaughn said Country Walk’s follow-up fee will be $1,500 annually for detention pond maintenance.
Yet Evergreen Park residents and the ones on Monday said their letters from the city made no mention of an option for them to find their own pond cleaner.
About the Author
