On-Site Sewage failure/ transfer
I received a complaint, which revolves around a failing septic system and illegal sewage transfer. For context, the property owner uses a sump pump to transfer effluent into an open field. This is done to avoid or postpone repairs to a failing OSS. The owner has received two civil infractions which I issued while representing the county as a Compliance Officer. The issue, Is that civil infractions have been time-consuming and inefficient. The property owner(s) have made no attempts to repair or respond to correspondence from the Health Department, the courts, or Code Enforcement. Any ideas would be great. Ecology and DOH have been notified without avail. MRSC was also used to inquire about this topic, which suggested I re-ask this question in a more specialized forum. Thanks ahead for your time!
Andrea Tubens
May. 30, 2024How many citations can you issue? What happens if they max out on infractions? Here, in Mason County, after five infractions the case is referred to the county prosecutor's office. Our judicial system is poorly staffed (three openings in prosecutors and three openings in defense dept with only one defense attorney currently). I bluff a lot. I have in the Notice, in a red-letter sentence, that "after five infractions the case is referred to the Prosecutor's office". Only one case got a call (pretty much all the prosecutors have time to do) and the drain field was repaired within the month. If there is nothing like that in yor=ur code, maybe ask for a code revision to give you some "teeth" in your enforcement? Good luck.
Lauri Dunning
May. 3, 2024Jorge- are you in Klickitat County? I'm reading KCC and see there's a recently updated 2021 process described in Chapter 24: Public Nuisances. If you can meet the standard to get to a Notice and Order, then an appeal (if there is one) would go to the County Nuisance Board of Appeals. I know what you mean about citations, and they lack the "duty to correct" part (only take money out of their pocket, but don't actually fix the problem).
Jorge Sendejas
May. 6, 2024Lori- Yes, Klickitat County. Our Nuisance board by internal policy only applies to Title 24. And at this time, there are no appeals to the citations, or violations, no reply at all from the property owner. It is growing incredibly frustrating, the citation amounts are laughable.
Jorge Sendejas
May. 6, 2024Lori- Yes, Klickitat County. Our Nuisance board by internal policy only applies to Title 24. And at this time, there are no appeals to the citations, or violations, no reply at all from the property owner. It is growing incredibly frustrating, the citation amounts are laughable.
Cedric Atkins
May. 2, 2024What are the codes related to this particular situation for the county? Has Notice to contact and Notice of violation made its way to the property owner? Have fines been assessed to the property?
Jorge Sendejas
May. 6, 2024Cedric- 8.10.190 Repair of Failures. And 8.12.020 Registration or permit required. Where the Codes referenced for the last infraction. Notice has been given in person, by notice on doorway, and through the courts. Besides the fines associated with the infractions, there has not been any other monetary penalties. I am pushing for a Health Officers involvement, which I believe under RCW 43.70.200 would allow higher fines and such through court proceedings? Anyone have any luck going that direction?