Sewer Woes and County No's

I am so agitated I almost don't know where to start. I say almost, because when in doubt, I usually default to the very beginning, so I'll try that.

Be forewarned. There's nothing quick and simple, or even entertaining about this post. It's more 'frustrational', if you will, and hopefully, a little informative for you, in case your the next one we're fighting with the county for.

Everyone who has a sewer line also has a branch off the main sewer in the street that serves the property. (Except for a small percentage of homes that share 'sewer taps' with their neighbors, but that's another story, another day).

There's always been an issue between plumbers and municipalities over responsibility.

Almost every time there's a problem, there's a whole lot of he said, she said, not our problem, not our problem either. We, as the plumber, are ALWAYS stuck in the middle of this. I think part of the reason we're stuck in the middle is that we take so much to heart, care so much for our clients, and hate leaving a job unfinished, even if our hands are tied and it's not ours to finish.

You call us because you have a stoppage in your main sewer and fixtures are backing up, overflowing, gurgling, etc..

We come out and perhaps are able to clear your portion of the line, and find that there are further problems within that 'branch line' off the main in the street; in the section that is now off your property and into the county/city 'right-of-way.'

Now what do we do? Whose problem is this? Well, it completely depends on who you talk to. That is a problem in itself.

I'm addressing discrepancies within Dekalb County, GA today.

City of Atlanta has gotten much better through the years, while Dekalb can't get much worse.

Up until about 2-3 years ago, if there was a problem in 'the County tap', we'd call and let them know, and they would come out, install an access clean-out if you didn't have one, and fix the problem. This is because it is their job to maintain the 'right-of-way'.. which is that portion of your yard, near the curb, that utilities run under; that part that they can arbitrarily decide to widen the road into, because it's theirs..not yours (also known as imminent domain).

A couple of years ago, they decided that they weren't going to install the clean-outs any more. You'll recognize if you have one, as they are the big white cap in your yard, closer to the street, that you always try to avoid with the lawnmower. They decided that the homeowner should bear the financial burden of installing this clean-out. They call it a 'property-line clean-out', as it's supposed to be near the line between the property line and the right-of-way. This is not an inexpensive endeavor. These clean-outs are costing homeowners $950.00-$1800.00 and more to install. The County requires them to be a 6" diameter clean-out, as that is typically the size of the 'sewer tap' and you don't want to try and service a larger line through a smaller line..that's asking for trouble.

I was completely undone  the first time I called in for a clean-out and the county dispatcher said 'We don't do that anymore'..Let me tell you, that wasn't the last time I heard that. (I even tried to make the call several more times just to see if someone else would tell me something different.)

Things went quickly downhill from there.

We'd call in with a stopped up county tap and a crew would be dispatched to hand us or our client a copy of the county code.  We've even had them pull up, park several houses down and across the street from our client, and hop out of the truck saying "That's grease in that line..we don't do grease."..Somehow, from all the way across the street and halfway down the block, they determined the roots that were obstructing the tap (10' below the ground) were actually 'grease'. I think I'd like that guy to buy my next lottery ticket!

Okay, so we caved in to the 'homeowner must have property-line clean-out installed' ..After all, the clean-out is technically the homeowner's..They're paying for it, it's on their property (barely), and at least it let's them know, without paying for a service call, whether their sewer stoppage is on their side or the county's.

Just as a side note, by the time you need us to come and clear your sewer and install the required clean-out, many folks are having their sewers replaced at the same time. Often it's just the most cost-effective route. 

Back to the county. 

Recently we've been told that the entire branch line off the main in the street belongs to the property owner.

We've also been told (and so have several of my friends that are plumbers), that now, the county is not going to maintain the right-of-way any more!!

They are now pushing and pushing to make homeowners bear the expense of replacing the sewer tap to the main in the middle of the street. They've been successful many times over. Unless it's our client; then we dig in with both heels and make the calls and fight the fight until it's fixed.

There is no way I can sit back and accept this one. We are no longer talking about a thousand or two for a clean out.We're talking about DOT permits, Right-of-way bonds and permits, 5 million dollars in insurance, and a cost to you of  $10-15-20,000 and up. With all the requirements, there's not a chance you'll be able to shop this out and find 'this other guy will do it for half that'; the mobilization costs alone are in the thousands of dollars.

By the way, we don't do that type of replacement. I have no financial stake in this. This is simply outrage on my part, on your behalf. This is something almost no one is aware of until it happens to them! 

I get many conflicting stories from the county. I keep going back to the County code. Let me run down the code section for you. Until they rewrite it, I'm fighting the good fight.  And even then, I'll fight to keep them from shirking off yet another county service (as our tax bills keep rising):

Sec. 25-220. Maintenance and repair responsibility for building sewer service connections to public sanitary sewer system.

The property owner shall be responsible for maintenance and repair of building sewer service connections to the public sanitary sewer system on private property. DeKalb County shall be responsible for maintenance and repair of building sewer service connections within county street rights-of-way and sanitary sewer easements.

(Ord. No. 90-09, § 1, 5-30-90)

 

I pulled this from www.municode.com. The part I made bold is what I fight on a weekly basis recently. I also have copies in my office of the paperwork the county themselves hand you when you call them for help. Their refusal to uphold their own code. They have denied responsibility twelve different ways from Sunday. They try changing up definitions of 'main line', 'service line', 'tap'...anything it takes to wiggle out of maintaining their tap. The Watershed Management website has an actual sketch (page 5 of the PDF) denoting ownership and responsibility. It takes all the guesswork out of whose is whose; unless you're in a truck with 'Dekalb County' on the side. I know there are financial issues at the county level, but the crews are being paid the same whether they are working or driving around declining to work.

And you know what, if I didn't tell you, show you, in black and white, you'd be heading out to the bank to pay for something that just isn't your responsibility to pay for.

I've called everyone there is to call at the county...from dispatch, to construction, to the director of Watershed Management. I've now contacted our professional organization, the Plumbing and Mechanical Association of Georgia, and the news media.

I hate to tell you, while all this is going on, I have a client (yes, the 'NO' that broke the plumber's back) with an actively overflowing county tap, who's been refused service by the county at least 3 times, while living under the threat of fines, by the County, for the sewage spilling into the yard. Does it get any more ludicrous than this?  

Truth be told, part of why I'm doing this is because I'm tired of looking like an idiot to my clients. I (or my guys and girls) go over the whole process with the client, and then the County comes out and contradicts everything we've told them. I'm paid privately; they must be the objective authority; who looks like the dummy?

Another part is that I spend hours (unpaid) on the phone trying to have this resolved. (It's part of the reason I'm always on another line when you call!)

It should be real cut and dry. I shouldn't have to make phone call after phone call and try to figure out who knows who that can pull a string and get them to do what they're supposed to do anyway. (I had a client that personally knew so and so, who knew so and so, who got their tap repaired after 3 County refusals.)

The biggest part is the complete and total injustice of the situation and the potential cost to my clients...it's beyond unreasonable!

I will probably clean this up a little and submit it to some local papers as an open letter. I will forward it in its entirety to our PMA and the news media.

In the meantime, let's hope your sewers stay functional and by no means do I want you to take the County's word for it when you hear 'NO, we don't do that anymore'.

If I haven't bored you to sleep yet, take care!

~Melissa Cary