Georgetown, Del., May 1, 2007: Sussex County Council has approved an estimated $14 million expansion to the Oak Orchard Sanitary Sewer District, a project that will add more than 500 lots to the district and remove scores of private septic systems out of the critical Inland Bays watershed.

County Council, at its Tuesday, May 1, 2007, meeting, approved expanding the district’s boundaries to include new areas along Del. Routes 24 and 5, north of Oak Orchard. Communities County Council approved as part of the expansion include Driftwood Village, The Meadows, Oak Meadows, Oak Orchard West and River Village.

The Sussex County Engineering Department conducted a public hearing April 21 to take comments on the proposed district expansion. Based on public input offered at that hearing, the Engineering Department recommended to County Council that approval be granted for five communities and a number of other adjacent properties.

Because the proposal involves the expansion of an existing sewer district, a referendum was not necessary, said Rob Davis, senior planner in Sussex County’s Utility Planning Division.

Approximately 560 existing lots/parcels are within the expansion area, and will be served by the expanded sewer district once it becomes operational. Construction is set to begin in the fall of 2009, with connections beginning in the spring of 2011.

The estimated cost of constructing the necessary infrastructure to expand the district is approximately $14 million, said John J. Ashman, director of Utility Planning. To help cover the cost of construction, users in the expanded area will pay one-time system connection charges of approximately $3,300, and an annual assessment of about $1,140 for a home with 100 feet of front footage. A separate annual service charge will be billed to each user for operations and maintenance.

Users in the district expansion will have to connect within one year of the system becoming operational.