Masonwood proposal on hold

Murphy said the added cost of expanding a service line to accommodate more LUEs than intended should be paid for by the developer whose buyers will benefit from the expansion and not the current ratepayers. In about 10 years, other residents are anticipated to use this added line—at which time the agency can then begin subsidizing the cost of the expansion, he said.

The Hatchett Tract represents a very large demand on the fringe of the public utility agency's water system, said Peter Golde, a resident of Belvedere development on Hamilton Pool Road.

Originally, the Masonwood West developer requested 1,837 LUEs for the 950-acre tract, General Manager Don Rauschuber said.

The total cost to serve the new reduced tally of 700 LUEs is $7.4 million, with the developer requesting the WTCPUA pay $5.3 million, Murphy said.

"We're only talking about 325 customers over our current capacity [of 350] and we want to spend $7 million for only 325 customers?" Murphy said. "Some sort of system needs to be worked [for] when we start using a portion of the capacity of the oversized line, but we shouldn't have to pay for this upfront."

Meredith said the plan was preliminary and the lot sizes may change, altering his request.

The commissioners unanimously agreed to postpone a decision on granting service to the Masonwood development to December to allow staff to work with the developer on the request.