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As a homeowner and a licensed Realtor, I understand that maintaining a home can be expensive and things like replacing pipes just need to be done sometimes. That being said, there are unusual circumstances that complicate this situation and ultimately make it a much more expensive repair. First, as explained, the site of the problem is where the steel pipes coming from our house meet the clay the stub that connects us to the to the city sewer. Again, the source of the problem was concrete degrading over time, compromising the integrity of the connection and allowing tree roots to enter the line. According to City Code, the homeowner is responsible for the line until it hits the "Y." What this translates into for us is complete and total responsibility. The onus is put on the homeowner to fix the problem and handle any street repairs that the City or County requires. As explained, there was a large amount of roots at the site of where the steel pipes connect with the clay stub. Because tree roots were headed in both directions, this potentially could have affected the City sewer had we not discovered the problem first. Because the tree roots adversely affected us first and the situation needed to be remedied immediateiv, we are now left to handle the financial end of this repair. What complicates the situation is the burden that the County has put on us as individual homeowners. Years ago, when the sewer system was installed, the stub was located on the south side of our property, somewhere in the front yard. For the greater good of Roseville and the general public, County Road B has been widened at least twice and a sidewalk has been added. Each time one of these projects happened, residential property was taken away from the homeowner. Consequently, the area where digging needed to be done was at the shoulder of the road, which is made of 7-inch thick concrete. We understand that the idea behind eminent domain is to take private property for public use and the greater good. The previous homeowners had no choice but to accept that the road was going to be widened. As the current homeowners, an undue burden was placed on us when we needed to gain access to the sewer which used to be in our front yard. Further, whose to say that all the excavating, filling and compacting with heavy equipment for these projects (and others, like installing gas lines) could not have had a negative impact on our sewer connection? In the same vein, what makes this situation even more frustrating is the stance the County is taking with regards to the City sewer -- that they have nothing to do with the City's sewer and it's up to the City and homeowner to maintain it. This might be a legitimate argument had they not at one point taken some of our property, laid 7 inches of concrete over it and therefore inhibited our ability to access the sewer. In summary, we feel that much work has been done for the public good on this road, but that a disproportionate amount of responsibility has been placed on us in this situation. What originally magnified the situation is the amount of road that Ramsey County was saying we needed to replace. A 5x8' hole needed to be cut in the shoulder of the road to access the pipe by Roto Rooter. Ramsey County was saying that repairing the 5'x8' section of concrete was not sufficient and that a 12'x2O' section of concrete needed to be replaced. What this translated into was not only a hefty bill for replacing the pipe, but also a gigantic bill for replacing the concrete. Just the concrete work alone was going to be $5,000, all of which Ramsey County was going to hold us responsible for.