HUMBOLDT — Joe Works asked Humboldt Council members Monday evening to consider bringing his Walnut Creek subdivision under its umbrella regarding the management of its water and sewer services.
In December, Humboldt granted Works’s request to tap into the city’s water and sewer system.
Since then, Works said he has learned that he also is required to create and manage a sewer and water district for the 90-acre subdivision, which sits just outside Humboldt city limits.
Works, a founder of B & W Trailer Hitches and one of the town’s biggest backers, wondered if the city would be willing to manage the services on his behalf.
“I hate asking the city to be burdened by what’s going on out there,” he said.
The subdivision is directly east of the Cubs Sports Complex on Georgia Road.
Originally, Works had planned the site be divvied into 30 three-acre sites and access water from Rural Water District No. 8 to the south and rely on individual septic systems for sewage.
In 2024, Works learned that the water district would not be able to provide water beyond the four homes already constructed in the subdivision, leaving him no alternative but to access city services.
The decision to switch from individual septic tanks to public sewage lines was determined by building more and smaller lots as well as the layout of the land, Works said.
“The original plan was for everybody to own septic, which required three acres, which is half a city block or more. For some, that would be a lot of land to take care of,” he said. “I was also looking at the benefits of having more building sites.”
Whatever the number or size of the lots, the topography was not in his favor.
With limestone laying in some cases just inches below the surface, “the rock kind of funnels everything downhill,” into two sizable ponds that provide an idyllic setting.
“I got worried that if we end up with 30 houses, and they all have septic tanks, and they’re all draining toward the ponds, then maintaining good water through the years might become an issue.”
“That’s why I came and asked whether we could use the city’s sewage processing plant to actually do it right,” he said.
Both water and sewer lines have already been extended to the subdivision.
Cole Herder, Humboldt administrator, said the city extended a water line east of the sports complex “about five years ago” when U.S. 169 was being rebuilt.
