For more than 25 years, the cities of Victor and Driggs have shared the Driggs wastewater treatment system. That partnership is now the subject of a major lawsuit, a mayoral recall effort, and more than $65 million in proposed infrastructure spending between the two cities. This is how it happened, what the lawsuit says, and what comes next.
Before 1999, Victor residents relied on individual septic systems. On October 13, 1999, the two cities executed an agreement under which Driggs would treat Victor's wastewater at its facility, a sensible regional solution for two small towns sharing a valley (Complaint, ¶6).
The arrangement worked well enough through the early 2000s. But as regulatory pressure on the Driggs wastewater plant increased due to repeated permit violations, the cities formalized their relationship with a new Inter-City Agreement in 2011. The agreement, attached to the complaint as Exhibit A, states that Driggs' wastewater facilities "are presently being improved and will be of sufficient size and capable of receiving and treating the anticipated wastewater from Victor and the surrounding regional area." Victor agreed to pay a proportional share, roughly 44.1% based on its share of total wastewater flow, of the plant's debt service and operating costs (Complaint, ¶¶21-27).