Group looks to halt Paradise sewer

Like the great baseball player Yogi Berra said - "It ain't over till it's over" - a group of Paradise residents haven't given up on stopping a community sewer system from being constructed.

It's been weeks since the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise board passed a resolution for a special assessment, which will be an added tax for a community wide sewer system. It seemed to be a done deal. "It's not done until they start digging," said Lee Ann Overman, a Paradise resident who's heading up a movement to halt the project, which will raise each property owner's taxes at least $185 a year for 40 years and have a monthly bill of around $35. Around 20 residents have placed 30 "No Sewer" signs in their yards over the last week in a show of displeasure of the planned project, she said.

"I have a perfectly good certified sewer system and there's no reason why I should be forced to hook this new system up to my house," said Tim French, who put five signs, at $10 apiece, in his yard on Saturday. "I want the whole damn town to know that I'm against the sewer system," he said.

Overman said there are numerous people in opposition to the new system, but they didn't file a written objection within the mandatory time frame, which caused the special levy to pass. Sunny Chase, chairman of the committee, said residents were told about the vote and the meetings, but those in opposition insisted they were not properly notified. "They put up little cards in the post office. They didn't want us to know about the meetings because they knew we didn't want it," said resident Danny Risland, who also has a sign in his yard. Risland, who has lived in Paradise for 40 years, said he mathematically figured that new septic systems could be put in each of the 75 houses of Paradise at $5,000 apiece and the total would only come to $375,000, a fraction of the $4.5 million it will cost to install a sewer system. "And this way, there's no bills and no monthly fees and no extra taxes," said Risland, who believes the entire sewer system project is about a subdivision that is being planned by resident Bridger Bischoff, who had 40 votes toward the levy to account for each of his subdivision plots, although he will be paying an additional $102,000 for the extra sewer system infrastructure and $7,400 for his 40 hookups each year, said Chase. 

At a sewer committee meeting a week earlier, Chase said she believed the town may be dying and not growing because they don't have a system. She said there were businesses that wanted to move into Paradise, but couldn't get financing because there was no centralized sewer system. Risland doesn't believe the town is dying and prefers that the town doesn't grow. Risland said Bridger's planned subdivision will spoil his view.

The county was able to get $3,643,000 in grants to cover the costs of the new system, but taxpayers will have to make up for a $770,000 low interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. Overman said that two years ago a man from Great West Engineering told people they could close down the town because they had no sewer system. She called it a "scare tactic." However, Chase said part of the reason to install a system was keep the town from being unsafe. She said that 10 years ago the county made an exception to a failed septic that was not up to standard.

Chase said they are still going forward with the project. She said the county has not yet purchased Bischoff's land for the plant and drain field, but she said the paperwork is being finalized. "It is not an option to break the contracts that we have signed. Among other things, it would mean repaying the $300,000 plus in grant funds that have been expended," said Chase. "There would be a debt on the town at that point with nothing to show for it. Our only option is to keep going forward with the power that has been granted us as a Sewer District until Paradise has a sewer system that is installed and operating." Nevertheless, Overman believes they can still stop the project from continuing. "We want the million dollars off the backs of the Paradise homeowners," said Overman, who added that the community has a lot of senior citizens on fixed incomes who will be burdened by the additional cost. She also plans to order more signs. Anyone wanting to purchase signs can contact her at her residence on Third Street. 

Chase said that several people have told her that they've been asked to put the no sewer signs in their yards, but have refused because they support the proposed sewer system. Some even felt pressured, according to Chase, who also noted they weren't providing people with clear facts. Chase noted that the majority of the property owners are in favor of the system. She said the committee has already received 56 of the user agreements. The committee has scheduled another meeting on Friday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m., although the meeting site had not been selected.