A lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of Eagle Crest property owners alleges the community’s utility companies have been improperly charging water and sewer connection fees.

The suit was filed in Deschutes County Circuit Court against Cline Butte Water LLC and Cline Butte Environmental LLC, the sewer company. The civil complaint is asking as of now that $1 million in fees be returned to owners at the resort west of Redmond.

The suit claims the water and sewer fees were included in the purchase price of lots and the two utility companies didn’t have the right to charge the fees because connecting lines were already constructed.

A handful of property owners at Eagle Crest and Sage Builders LLC, a custom home building company in Bend, filed the suit against the utility companies.

Edward Fitch, a Redmond attorney representing the group, said Wednesday the case could turn into a class-action lawsuit in which many other owners would be represented by the initial plaintiffs.

“It affects hundreds of homes in Eagle Crest,” Fitch said.

Representatives for the resort and the utility companies could not be reached Wednesday.

The suit alleges up to $2,400 has been charged per lot for water connections and up to $3,750 per lot for a connection to the sewer system. Fitch said $1 million is a rough estimate of what has been collected since 2006.

“We don’t think the fees are appropriate because the utility never incurred these costs, and therefore the fees are not appropriate,” Fitch said.

The suit also alleges Cline Butte Water, the water utility, has overcharged owners for a deposit to install water meters on the properties since 2012.

“Cline Butte Water has failed and refused to refund any monies from the deposits,” the complaint states.

“There are a lot of issues in this case that need to be sorted out,” Fitch said.

The resort community expanded residential lot development starting in the 1990s to include two other phases. The expansions were approved by Deschutes County.

According to the suit, there are about 1,600 residential lots that are part of the two phases. The lot owners or future owners “have or will be charged the fees,” according to the complaint.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820,

tshorack@bendbulletin.com