Residents could be charged up to $5,000 to fix leaky stormwater pipes on their property under a proposal being considered by Fayetteville city officials.

But the city would handle 90 percent of the bill, according to the proposal recommended by the council's Stormwater Committee.

However, some residents who have leaky pipes in their yards are arguing that the city should cover all of the costs.

And one resident has hired a lawyer and threatened legal action unless the city pays for repairs.

Laurel Gould has a house on Halifax Drive near the Outer Loop, or N.C. 295, with sinkholes in the backyard that she says were created by leaking stormwater pipes. She said Monday that the city patched up the pipes after Hurricane Florence and didn't do an adequate job.

She said she does not favor residents like her having to pay 10 percent of the repair costs. She said she was irritated to hear the proposal.

“They didn't do the job right the first time,” she said of the city's repair work.

The city has no formal guidelines about pipe repairs on private property, and it has done some work over the years without charging people.

The city has identified 100 needed stormwater pipe repair projects on private property, but it is believed there are many other leaks in pipes installed by private developers.

The issue has surfaced after two major hurricanes in recent years — Florence and Matthew — caused serious flooding in some areas that damaged pipes and other stormwater treatment systems in residents' yards.

The city's Stormwater Committee is recommending that the city pay for all of the stormwater repairs on public right of way, as well as 90 percent of the repairs for pipes on private easements. This means residents would pay 10 percent of costs for repairs on their property but no more than a total of $5,000 regardless of the overall repair cost, said Johnny Dawkins, a City Council member who is chairman of the committee. He said low-income residents could qualify for city grants so their contribution is reduced.

A final decision has not been made, and staff is going to present its recommendations at a workshop in August.

“Keep in mind we haven't come up with a commercial plan for businesses that start having problems with storm water,” Dawkins said.

Dawkins had previously said he supported the city paying for 75 percent of the repairs but said the Stormwater Committee wanted to help residents even more by recommending that 90 percent of those costs be paid by the city.

“We are focused on limiting the liability of the resident,” he said. “And these problems are primarily in areas that have been annexed (by the city) in the last 30 years.”

The City Council agreed to add $1.6 million in this year's budget for emergency repairs to stormwater pipes.

Dawkins said the city does not have a cost estimate for how much the pipe repairs will cost the city until more engineering work is done. He said the repair projects need to be prioritized by a city engineer, with the most pressing repairs being done first.

Councilman Larry Wright, who is also a member of the Stormwater Committee, said he favors the city helping low-income people getting a break on the pipe repair fee based on their income.

“The city wants to help these residents,” he said. “We don't want to come up with some kind of overpricing.”

The City Council last week agreed in principle to create a new stormwater ordinance in which the city would pay all of the costs of repairing pipes on city right of way and a split of the repair costs on private property. The council also agreed with staff on language relieving the city of liability for stormwater systems on private property.

Mayor Mitch Colvin said the city was trying to be fair to the property owners while not exposing taxpayers to unlimited liability.

“The council was trying to help mitigate this problem of storm water that was not 100 percent caused by the city. It's been caused by the developers in some neighborhoods,” Colvin said.

Megan Gerber, a real estate agent, has hired a lawyer who threatened a lawsuit against the city unless it repairs leaking pipes on her property on Argyll Road near the All American Freeway. Gerber recently said she got a more than $60,000 estimate to repair stormwater pipes on her property that have sprung a leak.

In August of 2018, the city investigated the leaks and said in a letter to Gerber that it was the city’s responsibility for maintaining stormwater infrastructure but it didn’t have the money to handle it at that time.

“I have been retained by Megan Gerber to represent her in a possible lawsuit (or others in a class-action) related to the city's failure to adequately maintain its stormwater drainage system," a letter dated June 6 to the city from lawyer Neil Yarborough states.

Lee McKee, who owns a home on Coronado Parkway near Owen Drive, said he has leaking stormwater pipes in his yard. He said he could not afford to pay $5,000 for repairs if the city billed him, but he said the city agreeing to pay 90 percent of the repairs would be “better than nothing.”

He said he's complained to city officials about the leaking pipes.

“They haven't even investigated it,” he said.

Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at jhenderson@fayoberver.com or 910-486-3596.