Takhini North homeowners are calling for clarity as rocketing cost estimates for plumbing work in their aging neighbourhood have left them reeling.

In series of interviews this morning, Takhini North homeowners say they were never told when they bought their homes that upgrades required by the city would be anywhere near the $22,500 the city's engineer is now estimating.

They maintain the investors who bought the properties from the Government of Canada told them the cost for water and sewer improvements to their properties and their share of neighbourhood roadwork was closer to $5,000.

Takhini home owner Rob Yeomans said this morning that when he bought both sides of his duplex on Arnhem Road a few years ago he was told the costs for improvements would be $5,000 per unit.

Yeomans said he also wasn't told the quotes he was being given by the sales representative for the investors were collected over the phone.

'I took (the figures) at face value,' he said.

'When we were buying the houses there were a lot of things to consider. There were a lot of improvements that had to be made, a lot of things we had to do,' he said.

Yeomans said he owns two sides of a duplex that he uses as rental properties and that the prospect of paying close to $50,000 for new plumbing was a little overwhelming.

'For the city to come back and drop a bomb like this, it's significant.'

If the costs were as high as $20,000 per unit, he added, he would likely have to raise the rents to compensate.

Takhini North was sold from Public Works Canada to a private investor group in 1998-99 and had legal obligations placed on the land title requiring homeowners to have the plumbing replaced when the city began infrastructure work in the neighourhood.

The investors' sales representative, Susan Rogan, said earlier this week that she felt the city's estimates were high and that residents should consider hiring their own contractor.

The $6,000 estimates $1,025 for plumbing from the house to the property line, $1,500 for interior plumbing and $3,692 for road work given to purchasers when the investor group was selling the homes, she added, were rough estimates that were collected from local companies over the telephone.

City engineering manager Wayne Tuck said earlier this week that his 'worst case scenario' estimates for the work that had to be done were $22,500 $6,500 for interior plumbing, $10,500 for exterior plumbing to the property line and $5,500 for road work.

The city has also received $2.3 million in Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF) money to help pay for the infrastructure costs on public property in Takhini North.

The plumbing, Tuck added, had to be replaced as they were hooked up in series, meaning only the first house in the system was hooked up to the city's main lines.

Jim McLeod, the city's manager of public works, said today the plumbing in the neighbourhood has experienced problems recently.

On Nov. 26, McLeod said, the plumbing at No. 14 Casino St. froze, knocking out plumbing to other houses on the street, including numbers 12, 10, eight and six.

'What happened is the houses are connected. When the plumbing at 14 failed, it knocked out the plumbing to the rest of the houses.'

Takhini North home owner and resident Teri Cherkewich said she bought her home from an individual who wasn't related to the original investor group.

'I got notice of the work requirements from my neighbours. I've been looking, and I can't find any notice that I ever received from the person who sold me the house,' she said.

'For one thing, that's a lot of money. Anything I've ever been told by my neighbours was closer to $5,000.'

She said she was not convinced that the series-type plumbing system in Takhini North homes should be considered private when it was essentially one system that was being used to service the entire neighbourhood.

She said when there was a freeze-up in her neighbourhood last month, the city was knocking on her door asking her to do something about it.

'If the plumbing is just a private issue, then what's the city doing knocking at my door?' she said.

She said she and several other Takhini North residents were undertaking a 'fact collecting initiative' to find out where the reconstruction figures come from and how the MRIF funding was applied for.

She said from information she's acquired about MRIF, the funding looked like it could be applied to private and public property.

'I'm not taking this issue lightly. I plan to spend my own time working on this issue,' she said.

Resident Babette Mueller said this morning that she was surprised at the $22,500 figure and that she would also like to see something done about it.

'I guess I had the same reaction as most other people, I didn't think it was going to be that high. This is very disappointing.

'A lot of us have added to the mortgages on our house for the renovations we've had to do,' she said.

'This just adds a lot of money.'

She said she would like more clarity and 'transparency' on how the MRIF funding was applied for and how it was being used.

Resident Mac Hislop said he would like to see some clarity put to the infrastructure numbers so that residents would have a clear idea of what to expect when they went into a Takhini North development charrette scheduled for next month.

'Over the last few years, there's been a variety of numbers thrown around.'

He was very interested in participating in the charrette, he added, provided the city put value in the input it received from both he and his neighbours.

'In terms of what development will happen there, I'm interested in seeing how the city will work with the community,' he said.

'It's essential that the city listen to residents to ensure that money put into the community conforms with what's already in Takhini North.

'One of the key things was maintaining green space. That's something that's really important to us,' he said.

City manager Dennis Shewfelt said this morning the caveats on Takhini North properties meant the plumbing work had to be done.

Shewfelt said while the city required residents' permission to have the work done on their property, he would prefer to see the city take the lead role in the work.

'If every resident were to hire a contractor it could cause delays,' he said.

Shewfelt also said city administration was looking to offer residents the option to pay their plumbing costs along with the road work in the form of a local improvement charge (LIC) and have residents pay the costs over a period of 10 to 15 years.

Mayor Bev Buckway said this morning she would support the LIC idea as the costs of the work would likely be more than residents could be expected to pay at one time.

'It seems like a reasonable option,' she said.