Angry at high cost assessments sprung on them to make sewer pipe repairs extending beyond their properties, about 20 Denver Borough residents spent an hour voicing opinions to officials Monday night.

Originally, residents were not responsible for the cost of maintenance or repair of sewer pipes — laterals — from their homes to connection points in the middle of the street. A 2005 ordinance changed that.

Now, repair issues centered around Fifth and Sixth streets in the borough are causing an uproar, and residents want the ordinance changed back, making them again responsible only for repairs up to their curbs.

"We were looking out for everybody," said John Bitler, 501 S. 4th Street, a member of of the Denver Water and Sewer Authority when the original rules were written. "The line was the curb line. You can correct this mistake and return to the curb line. As far as doing what other communities do, poppycock!"

Last summer, as the borough repaved Fifth and Sixth streets, the contractors — Mechanicsburg-based Mr. Rehab Inc. — ran a camera through the sewer lines, looking for cracks or other problems.

The camera used new technology in which the lens could rotate, enabling it to see more. What it saw were more problems — at least 10 of the laterals were blocked or cracked by roots of trees that had been removed a couple of years before.

Becky Rowe and Dan Garrett spoke on behalf of their 86 year-old mother, Hilda Garrett, a South Fifth Street resident.

"I find it ironic," Rowe said, "that two years after removing trees from the boulevard's center islands due to root problems, the new ordinance is enacted."

Borough manager Mike Hession said maintenance crews ordinarily work on a five-year plan. However, because of funding issues, work is behind schedule.

When the Fifth and Sixth street sewer problems were discovered, the borough felt it had to act, but its timeline to notify residents prior to repair was short. Hession personally went door-to-door delivering the notices and explaining the problem.

But with bills of up to $4,000 due in the next year, several residents have refused to pay, believing that the ordinance is wrong.

"I believe the borough did operate under the law," said Robert Dean, 447 S. Fifth St. "You didn't operate within the spirit of the law of what's best for the taxpayer. … We don't want this drug out."

Council made no decisions Monday but agreed to look into the matter. It left open the possibility that the issue will be revisited.

"One of the things we forget, this is government of the people," Mayor Mary Ann Fichthorn said. "Someone made these ordinances — your friends, your neighbors. … We will look into it."