[Durham INC] help re: city water hookup fee

[Melissa Rooney]

Hi well-informed Durham neighbors. We are building a house on a lot where a dilapidated house once stood on Canal Street. I do not know when the original house was torn down, but it was quite a while ago. The lot is on a fully developed street just outside of the Cleveland Holloway area. It is surrounded by other housed lots which obviously have water and sewer hookups.
Now that we are ready to hook up to water and sewer, city staff are telling us that, because this is a new build, we have to pay $2900 to hook up to city water/sewer. But this is not a brand-new build, in the sense that the infrastructure for the previous house is still there, we just have to hook up to it.
Can anyone tell me 1) who I can contact to find out if we can eliminate (or even lower) this cost, given that the house is not a brand new build, in the sense that the infrastructure for the previous house is still there (we just have to hook up to it) and/or 2) if it is even worth trying to seek fairness here?
This is a previously run-down area of Durham that is just now beginning to heal. Building high-quality houses like ours on vacant lots in recuperating neighborhoods like this is essential to improving these neighborhoods and spreading the momentum in re-development of downtown Durham. It seems inappropriate for us to be penalized by having to pay $2900 just for the pleasure of improving this Durham neighborhood (which, again, already has decades-old infrastructure throughout).
Thanks for your help!Melissa (Rooney)
www.melissarooneywriting.com
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