ELYRIA — Elyria City Council has shot down the tentative settlement to end the legal fight with the Lorain County Rural Wastewater District amid concerns from residents of the Chestnut Lakes housing development that the sewer line would cause hydrogen sulfide gas to infiltrate their homes once again.

The gas, which smells like rotten eggs, assailed homeowners nearly four years ago when developers were putting in a Wal-Mart Supercenter.  Lawsuits were filed and, in time, the smell dissipated, but homeowners are now worried that once LORCO starts digging in the same locations, the gases will return.

Separately, the Chestnut Lakes Homeowners Association is fighting to stop LORCO from running portions of the 37½-mile-long line through its property. And on Monday night, members of the association learned City Council would support their cause by urging lawyers to return to the bargaining table with the concerns of residents in mind.

“We had people from Chestnut Lakes speak to us, and they told us that they have been ignored by LORCO and those who gave LORCO permission to install the sewer line,” said Council President Forrest Bullocks, D-2nd Ward. “We decided they needed help and our Law Department would incorporate their claims into our lawsuit.”

Going back to the table at this point is not an option, LORCO Director Rob Berner said.

“We spent three days with attorneys trying to negotiate an agreement in good faith. Three of the four legislative bodies have unanimously agreed to it, but Elyria,” he said.

“Either Mayor Bill Grace did not negotiate in good faith or the mayor doesn’t have any clout with City Council. If the mayor doesn’t have the ability to get it approved by Council, why would I want to sit down with him again?”

Berner said he would be happy to take Council’s issues into consideration for future negotiating if Elyria pays LORCO’s legal bills going forward.

“There are no reasons for us to go back to the negotiating table and spend more on legal fees,” he said.

Grace said the negotiations were in good faith, but City Council wants LORCO to look into relocating the main that would go through Chestnut Lakes and move it away from the homes. Council members have that right, Grace said.

The meeting Monday was a special session of the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee, where all Council members present were given an opportunity to voice their opinions.

Councilman Vic Stewart, D-at large, and Councilman Mike Lotko, D-at large, were absent.

All nine members who were present agreed unanimously to reject the deal. A formal vote of Council will take place at the next City Council meeting.

However, the consensus reached Monday night was to reject the agreement as it was presented, said Councilwoman Mary Siwierka, D-at large.

“A settlement, although not perfect, is where we need to go instead of dragging this thing out in costly litigation, but it was clear to Council that LORCO has not been responsive to the residents,” she said. “We want them to go back and take the residents’ concerns into account.”

Siwierka said she is confident that should that happen, Council will sign off on an amended agreement.

“It’s a fairly reasonable agreement and obvious, at least to me, that the attorneys had put in a lot of work in hammering out a middle, but the concerns of residents need to be pumped up a little bit,” she said.

Absent an agreement signed off by all interested parties, the case will continue.

The agreement already has been signed off on by the LORCO board, the Avon Lake Board of Municipal Utilities and Avon Lake City Council. Elyria City Council was the only group to turn it down.

LORCO attorney Dennis O’Toole did not attend Monday’s Council meeting, but was shocked to learn Council members rejected the tentative agreement because of something that has nothing to do with the city’s pending litigation.

There is no connection between the residents’ litigation with LORCO about the gas concerns and the appeal the city is arguing before the Ohio Environmental Review Appeals Commission in hopes of stopping the entire project, O’Toole said.

The claims of the residents of possible hydrogen sulfide gas go back further than just the LORCO project, O’Toole said.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

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