“You’re gonna charge me for pooping in my yard,” said Chuck Harris.
“Yeah, I’m not saying you’re wrong,” Kerr replied.
“And that’s not right.” Harris retorted.
“No, it’s not right,” Kerr admitted.
BY PHILL BARNETT
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Martin County Sanitation District met June 28 to discuss sewer problems facing many residents.
After the previous meeting minutes were approved, chairperson Jimmy Don Kerr opened the floor to meeting attendees concerned about the county’s sewer system.
E. Coli Violation
Inez Mayor Ed Daniels set the civil yet combative tone of the meeting at the very start by asking, “Who is it we beat on this time?”
Through light laughter, the board quickly indicated that Alliance Water Resources manager J.J. Ridings would be on the chopping block for the evening.
Daniels’ main concern was an E. Coli violation reported at the Inez wastewater plant. Due to a pump failure, water re-entering the water supply from the facility tested positive for dangerous levels of illness-causing E. Coli bacteria.
Alliance Water Resources manager Craig Miller pointed out that Alliance was unlikely to face a penalty as a result of the violation due to the historical “poor shape” of the Inez wastewater treatment facility.
The Alliance personnel indicated their determination to get the Inez facility running at maximum capacity.
The solution was estimated by AWR to cost around $10,000. While the Sanitation Board does not have a clear picture of where the funding for this project will come from, it is imperative to prevent further E. Coli violations. The board approved moving forward to resolve the issue.
Chuck Harris
Resident Chuck Harris attended the meeting to address a sewer issue at his home. Due to a nonfunctional grinder pump, Harris claims that untreated raw sewage is running through his yard. Harris has identified his home as the source of the sewage by noticing the presence of indicators in the sewage, such as soap bubbles when someone is showering.
“I do not feel that I should pay for sewer running in the yard,” said Harris, frustrated that this issue has been known to the Sanitation district for two years but has not been resolved.
When Alliance managers responded that 19 grinder pumps had been ordered, Harris replied that he had been told the same thing two years ago.
“It’s been a constant struggle trying to get those things. We just don’t have any money,” replied Kerr.
Miller attributes the issues experienced by Harris and many others in the county to the low-pressure gravity sewer system in use in many parts of the county outside of Inez. Low-pressure systems require a below-ground grinder pump to push sewage through the system.
“You cannot put something in the ground, which we have seen time and time and time and time again here, and think it’s going to last forever, without doing preventive maintenance,” said Miller.
“You have to do the preventive stuff. Frankly, it’s never been done here,” Miller continued. “And while we’ve focused, for the past two and a half years, so hard on water — because that’s what everybody was worried about — sewer has not gotten the attention it deserves.”
Miller went on to say that this will be changing and sewage will receive more attention going forward.
“You’re gonna charge me for pooping in my yard,” said Harris.
“Yeah, I’m not saying you’re wrong,” Kerr replied.
“And that’s not right,” Harris retorted.
“No, it’s not right,” Kerr admitted, before discussing a solution to get a Health Department inspection on an alternative septic system for the property, which the board and Harris agreed to.
Khaled Sabry
Khaled Sabry also attended the meeting with an issue similar to Harris. Every time the creek gets up, sewage backs up and floods his property. The odor became too much in September, and Sabry vacated the house. He does not want to pay a sewer bill, so the water district is refusing water service.
Sabry claims that he has a septic tank that was estimated by a septic service to cost about $400 per year to maintain. He pointed out that the company could not compete with these costs as his sewer bill totals about $1200 per year.
Sabry asked why he could not just seek health department approval and use his own septic system instead of waiting months or more for the sewer district to replace a system that is unnecessarily expensive.
“Especially when you work for nine, ten dollars an hour, after taxes, $200 a week,” Sabry estimated. “Man, I pay 5 or 6 weeks of my life for the sewer?”
Miller and Kerr dismissed Sabry’s request, saying he must be tied into the main sewage system and that someone would need to inspect his property to determine the best course of action.
Apartment Complexes and Commercial Lift Stations
Under the current sewage system used by the sanitation district, large sewage lift stations are required for heaver concentrations of sewage systems like those found in apartment complexes and commercial buildings.
Residents of Dempsey Housing, both Quail Hollow apartment complexes and Riverside Housing received notices from Sewer Management detailing how the “lift stations have become a significant financial burden on the Sanitation District” and proposing 3 possible solutions.
1. “Transfer ownership of designated lift stations to the commercial properties/apartment complexes.”
2. “Amend the Grinder Pump Policy to a Lift Station and Grinder Pump Policy. This policy change will state that commercial properties/apartment complexes be liable for repairs to Lift Stations designated for their complex, when not in compliance with the Lift Station and Grinder Pump Policy.”
3. “Implement a monthly general maintenance fee of $750 for lift stations that are solely designated for commercial properties/apartment complexes.
Amy Phillips, Chad Dillon, Denise Marcum, Stephanie Hogan and Jay Osborne, owners and residents at these locations all attended the meeting to weigh in on this issue.
“It has to be a multi-pronged approach,” Miller said. “We gotta make adjustments to our [charges], we gotta do grant funding, you know, and we gotta make cuts.”
The board resolved to table the discussion until the beginning of the next fiscal year. They will also seek more funding by reaching out to contacts such as Hal Rogers and other political figures.
“It’s a definite problem. It’s been ignored far too long, and we are making steps to address it. It’s a bad deal,” Kerr said.
“Hopefully, you’ll find some C4 under your beds, too,” Mayor Daniels continued the banter to the end, making a not-so-veiled threat and immediately laughing at what was hopefully a joke. He was met by a shocked room, surprised he would say such a thing on camera, even in jest. Others laughed in response to the shocked yet playful responses of other meeting attendees.
Daniels asked how much it would cost to totally fix the treatment plant, to which the AWR members responded, “Millions of dollars.”
“We don’t like any of these solutions. We don’t,” said Kerr. “We’re tasked with trying to make this thing work, and that’s what we’ve gotta try to do.”