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