Milford City Council recently approved requests from two property owners in Shawnee Acres related to city services. The first was for land located at 4 Lexington Drive and the second was for 2 Brandywine Road. Both requests were related to an agreement with Shawnee Acres property owners that when the property becomes contiguous with city limits, it is required to be annexed, and that the property owner sign a water and sewer agreement with the city.
“We received a utility permit from Public Works to review for a vacant property within Shawnee Acres,” City Planner Rob Pierce said. “As previously done in the past, any connection to our utility system in the development is required to sign a sewer water agreement.”
Provided to council was an agreement put together by previous City Solicitor David Rutt and reviewed by current solicitor Gregory Morris. The main stipulation in the agreement is that when 4 Lexington Drive becomes contiguous, they would be required to annex into city limits.
“This is kind of like an island in the city because we have sewer and water out there,” Mayor Todd Culotta said. “That’s not that we have to let them connect, but there is some state law that says if you are that close, you have to connect.”
Pierce confirmed that there were DNREC regulations that required a property owner within 200 feet of public water and sewer to connect. If wells or septic systems in Shawnee Acres fail, Pierce felt that DNREC would not allow the property owner a permit to replace it and would require them to connect to public water and sewer. The agreement to approve the agreement for 4 Lexington Drive was approved with a vote of seven to zero with Councilwoman Lori Connor absent.
“The next request went before the annexation committee earlier this evening,” Pierce said. “We have received an annexation request for 2 North Brandywine Road, and it is a similar sewer and water agreement. We received a request to connect to the central utility. This is not endorsement or approval of the annexation; it is just submitting paperwork to the state indicating how we plan to serve the property with public services.”
The agreement was approved with a vote of seven to zero.
