Agenda - Council - 02/11/1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CASE # SEPTIC SYSTEM FAILURE AT 15493 BOWERS DRIVE N.W. By: Steve Jankowski, City Engineer Background: On Friday, January 31, 1992, a complaint of sewage discharging onto the surface of the ground was received by the Building Official. The City Inspector investigated the complaint, confirmed its validity and photographed the discharge. A letter dated January 31, 1991 from the Building Official was hand-delivered to the occupants. The letter advised the occupants that their septic system was inspected and found to be in failure and were advised that they needed to take immediate action to abate the situation. The owners responded to the Building Official's letter via telephone on February 5, 1992. The owners advised the Building Official that they could not afford to rectify the situation and therefore would not take any action, The Building Official then prepared a letter dated February 5, 1992 to the owner summarizing the ownerts response to his request for abatement and indicated that this matter would be brought to the attention of the City Council on February 11, 1992. Additional background shows that a complaint was received in 1985 regarding a similar surface discharge from this system when the property was owned by a previous owner. At that time the City Council reversed the Building Inspector's directive that the on-site system be replaced. They did, however, indicate that any failure in the future would require immediate repairs. A copy of that correspondence is included in the background information. Observations: Section 8.30.08 Subd. 4 specifically addresses procedure to be followed by the City in this situation: "In case the owner shall fail, neglect or refuse to comply with the notice to repair or rehabilitate or abate as described in the section above, the City Council may order the owner of the building prosecuted as a violator of the provisions of this section and may order the pturnbing inspector to proceed with the work specified in such notice. A statement of the cost of such work shall be transmitted to the City Council who shall cause the same to be paid and levied as a special assessment against the property." It is clearly apparent that the system has failed, a health hazard exists, a complaint has been filed and that the City has the authority to rectify the problem. Alternatives: The City Council may wish to consider the following alternatives in dealing with this matter: 1) Order the system to be replaced and assess all costs associated with construction, administrative, and legal costs to be assessed against the property. Construction costs may range between $2,000 for a conventional system and $5,000 for a mound system. Administrative costs associated with Staff time could be in the range of $500. In addition, 7