MAUMEE, Ohio — Maumee City Council on Wednesday unanimously voted to repeal a controversial ordinance that required owners of for-sale properties to pay for sewer repairs if the property failed an inspection.
But a new ordinance that offered a potential solution to the sewer inspection issue city officials say is urgent was taken off the special meeting's agenda. That ordinance, 031-2024, calls for homeowner sewer inspections but without a requirement for replacement or relining of sanitary sewer laterals. That ordinance also would create a revised grant program.
There is currently no proposal for a new solution.
Since it became a law on June 17, residents in Maumee have been raising questions and concerns about the now-repealed Ordinance 20-2024, which council passed in an emergency measure.
According to Maumee Mayor James MacDonald, the reason for the emergency vote was due to a need to submit materials to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency by a deadline.
Maumee, after self-reporting decades of illegal sewer discharge into the Maumee River, was required by the EPA to submit a Sewer System Evaluation Study by July 21. An SSES is the final plan for how the city proposes it will fix excessive sanitary sewer discharges that can contribute to sanitary sewer overflows, as well as water in basements of properties.
"They [EPA] don't offer solutions, they just tell you what you have to do," MacDonald said. "So when we offer a solution, they usually get back with us and say 'it's acceptable' or they tweak it."
MacDonald also said the city has tried to apply for grants from the state and federal governments in the past for help and has been denied. So for officials, the ordinance was the available solution at the time.
Homeowners, however, have been vocal to city officials about what it means for their wallets and futures, with one residents' group collecting signatures to file a repeal petition with the city and Lucas County Board of Elections in hopes of having a vote to repeal the ordinance in November. That effort may be moot depending on the outcome of Wednesday's special city council meeting.
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Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct Patrick Burtch's title.
