MOUNT VERNON — A Mount Vernon condo association president questions why about 200 property owners should pay for stormwater maintenance that he says benefits the entire east side of the city.
Walter Seward, president of the Woodberry Glen Condo Unit Owners Association Inc., told Mount Vernon City Council these residents alone should not bear the cost of the cattle dam watershed.
A Sept. 21 email from Jack Harris of Intercept Management recommends Woodberry Glen residents pay $13.75 per month. Seward said there is no end date. Harris also recommends a one-time fee of about $175 to address initial vegetation control.
Harris is the appointed receiver for The Landings Homeowners Association, owner of the dam.
Seward said Woodberry Glen sits on about 8.3 acres. Residents contribute to the watershed, but he knows of businesses that are not being charged.
He also said the deeds to Woodberry Glen homes make no mention of a New Community Authority, tax incentive financing or any duty to maintain a stormwater system.
Seward asked why the city does not spread the cost across its roughly 17,000 residents, as it has done in the past.
“This watershed helps protect all of the east side of Mount Vernon, east of Center Run. This is part of it,” Seward said. “We feel that the changes that are being proposed for this watershed should be citywide as the north side sewer work or storm water.
“Why is it not being done this way?”
HOA officers wrote Harris in March the HOA is willing to assist with ongoing maintenance “at a level that is financially appropriate for our residents.”
That appropriate level, the letter states, is approximately $5 a month per Woodberry Glen homeowner.
Law director says fees cover private stormwater system
Law Director Rob Broeren said Monday the charges are for a private stormwater system.
“Woodberry Glen was carved out of The Landings property. That’s why they’re required to pay for the private stormwater system,” he said. “That’s what you’re being charged for. You’re not being charged for watershed or other things like that.”
Broeren said the condominiums could not have been built without the private system and Ohio EPA rules require its maintenance.
Seward disagreed that Woodberry Glen residents share that responsibility.
He said Woodberry Glen deeds contain no maintenance requirement. However, deeds for waterfront properties below the community do.
“So, we’re at a standstill with that part of it. But it looks like we’re getting the blunt end of this,” Seward said.
(Below are timeline drone photos of the recent dam rehabilitation project courtesy of Dave Culbertson.)
