Who’s minding the store? By KAREN KENNEDY Imagine buying a home only to discover there’s no septic system and if you flush the toilet, raw sewage is being straight piped right into your yard. Such is the story of Alexander and Debrah Garcia. The Garcias purchased a home on Weldon Road in Brandenburg – a singlewide trailer on about three-quarters of an acre. The Garcias knew it was a “fixer-upper” and being sold “as is.” This, thought the Garcias, meant things like fixing the roof, replacing flooring, etc. They didn’t expect a home without an approved onsite sewage disposal system. The home had been abandoned by its previous owners, went into foreclosure, and was eventually “sold on the courthouse steps” – with ownership assumed by Ameriquest Mortgage who had held the mortgage for the previous owners. After Ameriquest assumed ownership, the property was cited for excessively tall weeds and grass, a violation of the county’s Abandoned Property Ordinance in existence at the time. The county wound up having to clean up the property and put a lien on it since Ameriquest ignored the citation. While in the process of cleaning up the property, the county discovered there was no septic system, and word eventually reached the health department. At least four people employed by the county became aware of the property’s lack of septic. When Ameriquest sold the property to the Garcias, they did not inform the Garcias there was no septic. Actually, Ameriquest may not have been aware there was no septic. Since Kentucky law prohibits straight piping, the Garcias logically assumed there was septic. In fact, Alexander Garcia says he specifically asked his real estate agent if there was septic, and she stated, “Of course there is septic.” Once the Garcias legally owned the property, the health department informed them they could not live there until an approved septic system was installed. The Garcias had to move in with relatives for awhile. Not having the $4,000 to $7,000 they were quoted for a septic system, they played “Let’s Make a Deal” with a businessman, trading their pickup truck for a septic system. “What choice did we have?” said Alexander Garcia. “I’d rather walk to the store than drive there and use their bathroom.” That may sound like a joke, but the Garcias aren’t laughing. “The sale was illegal,” contends Alexander. “There are laws that say any place occupied by people must have an onsite sewage disposal system. If this is the case, how can a dwelling that doesn’t have it be legally sold?” Kentucky Revised Statute 211.350 is tediously wordy, but when you cut to the chase, it says an occupied building must have an approved, onsite sewage disposal system. Meade County does have a mechanism in place when a mobile home (age 1976 or newer) is placed onto a property, and zoning administrator Barbara Campbell provided information about this. According to Campbell, the first step is to ensure property is zoned for a mobile home. In order to receive a permit, the homeowner must produce a deed or plat for the property. If septic already exists on the property, septic verification must be obtained from the environmental office and then submitted to Planning and Zoning. If there is no septic already on the property, the homeowner must hire a certified septic installer to apply for a septic permit through environmental services. After many hours of research into the matter – talking with Planning and Zoning, environmental services, Meade County RECC, the county electrical inspector, the county attorney’s office, and a real estate agent – I came up with the conclusion there is no one and nothing – no checks and balances in place – to prohibit someone from selling or buying an existing property that is straight piped. The Garcias’ story is case in point. What’s really scary is if environmental services hadn’t been made aware of the problem, the Garcias could very well have said “The heck with it,” and continued on with the straight piping. Public health environmentalist Paul Schultz shares his thoughts on the issue. “An effective way to ensure that a buyer would know what they were purchasing,” said Schultz, “would be to require an existing septic system inspection on every piece of property that isn’t serviced by public sewer. The potential problem with this scenario is the cost to do those inspections multiplied by the number of home sales in the county. You need to calculate what that cost is to the consuming public and determine whether or not that cost is justified by the present problem that exists.” What Schultz is essentially saying is the expense could be incurred by the person buying the home. For example, a $50 fee would be paid by the homeowner to an inspector certified to approve or disapprove an existing septic system. Logically, this inspection would be completed by a county employee or a private contractor hired by the county to perform the service. The real estate agent I contacted pointed out the value of a home inspection. It’s a good point, for sure, and most of us will agree a home inspection may be money well spent. However, not everyone opts for a home inspection, and if they don’t and people continue to straight pipe, their actions pose health risks for us all. Some may say what happened to the Garcias is a rare occurrence and this discussion is not worth the ink and paper used to print it. However, it did indeed happen, and the Garcias think someone in our county should be minding the store. “Who’s minding the store” is a new column with a format designed to provoke thought about issues that affect the citizens of Meade County. The column will address controversial issues – perhaps something that “needs fixing” – yet at times may celebrate something that makes our world a better place in which to live. Got a topic you’d like to see discussed? Contact Karen Kennedy at 422-2155 or send an e-mail to messenger@bbtel.com. The Messenger will consider all topics and select those that best lend themselves to the column’s format. All comments in response to the column should be sent to the Messenger in the form of a Letter to the Editor.
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