Elizabeth approves Pine Ridge wastewater deal over double-fee concerns
The agreement would serve up to 186 homes outside Elizabeth, with Pine Ridge paying current wastewater fees and building and maintaining most new collection infrastructure.
The Elizabeth Board of Trustees voted 5-1 July 28 to approve a wastewater-service agreement with Pine Ridge Metropolitan District, allowing up to 186 homes outside town limits to connect to Elizabeth’s sewer system.
Pine Ridge will pay Elizabeth’s current wastewater tap and renewable-water resource fees, build collection infrastructure in phases and handle most costs and maintenance for the new lines. The agreement covers about 420 acres in the district’s boundary and inclusion area in Elbert County; the public record does not give the development a separate subdivision name.
What Pine Ridge will pay and build
Under the [agreement and accompanying staff memorandum](https://elizabethco.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetAttachmentFile(fileId=7686), Pine Ridge must pay a $14,064.67 wastewater tap fee and a $7,446 renewable-water resource fee for each single-family home when building permits are issued. It also must pay the town’s out-of-town monthly wastewater rate, listed as $94.94 per residence.
At 186 homes, the two per-home fees would total about $4.001 million at the listed rates. Staff estimated total tap and renewable-water revenue over time at roughly $4 million to $6 million as fees change. Actual revenue will depend on construction, buildout and future fee changes.
Pine Ridge must obtain town inspections and acceptance of its collection infrastructure and provide a two-year warranty on improvements dedicated to Elizabeth. The district will handle maintenance and repairs during the warranty period and generally remains responsible for lines the town has not accepted. It also must provide easements and indemnify the town for claims arising from its work.
Elizabeth will remain the wastewater provider and maintain the existing public sewer main to the connection point. The town will make the connection; Pine Ridge will pay for a flow meter used for billing and reporting. Unpaid monthly charges can become liens on served homes, and the district can certify past-due amounts for collection.
Staff estimated the project would add about 24,180 gallons of daily flow, or roughly 7% of the treatment plant’s permitted 500,000-gallon-per-day capacity. The plant was described as operating at about 42% of capacity, rising to about 49% with the project.
Dispute over the sewer tap fee
The main objection was whether Elizabeth should charge its code-based double out-of-town sewer tap fee. The staff memorandum cites Municipal Code Section 13-3-140(d) and estimates that doubling the sewer fee would generate about $2.6 million more at full buildout. It says the doubling applies to the sewer tap fee, not the renewable-water fee.
The agreement sets the charges above but does not describe them as a formal code waiver or exception. Mayor Pro Tem Tracy Hutchins, the lone dissenting voter, said the town was “setting a precedent” and not receiving “double the fees that our code requires,” according to the July 28 meeting recording.
Resident Paula Schwarzkopf objected during public comment, saying the board was acting without a public hearing and questioning why Pine Ridge would not pay the double fee charged to other out-of-town connections. Trustees and staff supporting the agreement cited long-term utility revenue, renewable-water fees and added treatment-plant flow. They also said the developer could build its own treatment system, leaving Elizabeth without that revenue.
The record does not show a Pine Ridge representative responding directly to the objections. It also does not assign Pine Ridge a specific future wastewater expansion or upgrade cost. The added flow will contribute to Elizabeth’s longer-term infrastructure needs, but the agreement’s financial estimates are projections rather than guaranteed revenue.