LORDSTOWN Not all residents who tapped in to septic system will get refund

The village will not receive the settlement money in a lump sum.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Some residents spent more than 90 minutes questioning council members on why they will not be reimbursed for tap-in fees to the septic system as part of a lawsuit settlement. .
The settlement, which resolves a lawsuit between Lordstown and the Trumbull County commissioners and sanitary engineer, calls for hundreds of Lordstown customers who tapped into the septic system since 1992 to have their fees -- either $500 or $1,000 -- returned.
The settlement calls for the village to be slowly reimbursed $1.2 million in additional construction costs, $1,000 at a time, as customers in areas served by offshoots of the Lordstown septic system pay tap-in fees. The settlement also allows the village to be reimbursed for five tap-in fees it paid for various locations, including the road department.
But not all village residents are entitled to the refund, explained Solicitor Paul Dutton.
He said the suit was filed primarily for two reasons. The village contended the county should not have had the village construct larger-than-needed sewer lines. Lordstown officials also claimed it was unfair to taxpayers to pay tap-in fees for a sewer system they paid to build.
The crux of the suit, Dutton explained, centered on five phases of sewer construction that was funded solely by the village; no grant money, other government funding or money from any private developer was used. Because no outside funding was used, the county was not allowed to order the construction by the village and then have the village collect the tap-in fees.
Those not included
As for residents who are using other portions of the village's sewer system, they were not included in the suit because those sewer lines were either constructed with other funding or were installed when Lordstown was still a township.
But resident Ruth Ann Horvath presented council with a petition asking that other residents not using those five phases of the system also be reimbursed. Others asked council to consider using general fund money to reimburse tap-in fees.
Mayor Arno Hill said while he believed other residents might be entitled to refunds, he stressed that those using other areas of the sewer system were not, and could not have been addressed in the lawsuit.
Dutton also explained that the lawsuit was filed on behalf of the village, not the individual residents.
Despite settling the lawsuit with county officials, the village will not receive the money in a lump sum. Officials estimate it could take several years for the entire $1.2 million to be paid back.
slshaulis@vindy.com