'I'm hoping for a miracle': Breslau neighbours slapped with $14K bill each for sewer work done a decade ago

People who live in a neighbourhood in Breslau are in shock after they received a letter earlier this month saying they had to pay almost $14,000 for water and sewer work that was done on their street a decade ago.

Twenty-five properties along Scheifele Place, Woolwich Street South, Dolman Street and Joseph Street received a letter dated Oct. 27 from Woolwich Township informing them of the charges. Each household is being asked to pay $13,950.19 to cover the cost of the project, which is $348,754.75.

"I was in complete shock. It's such a huge amount," Kayla Jager, who has lives on Woolwich Street since 2018, told CBC News.

"I think it's completely unfair. I'm at a loss really because I don't know where to begin. I'm not a lawyer and I can't really afford a lawyer, so I'm hoping for a miracle."

Jager said she and her neighbours did not receive any communication from the township about any potential charges until they received that letter.

The letter, which CBC News has seen, explains township council approved a bylaw on Oct. 7 to levy the costs of the work to property owners that benefit or will benefit from "municipal servicing works."

The letter also outlines that residents can pay the bill by Dec. 12 or they have the option to add it to their tax bill, paying annual installments of $1,286.25 for the next 20 years.

"It's terrifying that the [township] can do this to us at all and I don't think we are the ones benefitting in any way because I'm on a septic tank and a well so I have no use for this," Jager said.

She said she also worries for the neighbours who are on a fixed income and may struggle to pay.

"Some of them are in financial situations, where they're retired and they're on a fixed budget too and this is just as much of a shock to them as it is for us," she said.

Jared Puppe, director of infrastructure services, told CBC News the township should have done a better job in communicating the charges with residents.

Puppe said in 2014, 77 per cent of residents in the neighbourhood voted in favour of having water and sewer services extended to their homes. The township went into litigation with the construction company when the work was completed in 2016.

That litigation did not get resolved until 2024, which is why residents are being billed now.

"The thinking at the time was that we felt we were fighting the good fight to reduce the cost, but what we missed sight of is the fact that there was likely to be property ownership changes throughout the process," he said.