Independence Township trustees hope to have seen the last of illegal Cheshire Park sewage discharges after their Oct. 20 meeting.
Attorney Charles Dunn of Giarmarco, Mullins and Horton finished a report, revealing the need for closer inspection by the Department of Public Works.
Out of 35 water and sewer connection applications for Cheshire development, five included field-report forms for DPW inspectors, three of which are incomplete and/or improperly identify conditions at the property, he wrote in his report.
Dunn and environmental consultant company August Mack were brought upon request of Supervisor Dave Wagner in August.
‘I think it was important for the township to have an outside party investigate this matter, especially as to how serious the situation was and frankly at a very minimal cost to the township,? Treasurer Curt Carson said.
However, Trustee Neil Wallace felt the report “added nothing? to what they already knew.
‘Perhaps the most telling phrase in the report is that the DPW staff properly followed protocol,?? Wallace said. ‘I think in the future we should start with assumption that our DPW knows what they’re doing because that’s what both of these reports show.?
Wagner said the paperwork items need to be addressed.
‘As far as internal controls go, nobody is questioning the ability of somebody to do that job, but what it has shown is we have some areas that we need to tighten up on and I think Linda (Richardson, DPW director) has seen that.?
Richardson said they changed standard inspection reports about two years ago to make them ‘more in depth.? She admitted reports were filed away without full review.
‘Now there is going to be a review process and a review signature on there saying this person has reviewed it, and it’s going to be my assistant, Dave Zeigler,? she said. ‘If there are questions, he will call the guys in and get the information so we don’t have incomplete documentation.?
Trustee David Lohmeier struggled with Dunn’s conclusion about the DPW.
‘They should have caught it, but I have a hard time saying they’re part of the cause. To me, that’s a little bit like calling a police officer partly responsible for a homicide because they should have prevented it,? he said. ‘The person who caused it was the contractor that connected it wrong.?
Dunn said proper inspections would have prevented four years of illicit discharges.
‘The inspection process is to catch these mistakes. We didn’t catch them, and we didn’t catch them on two occasions,? he said. ‘From a legal standpoint, it’s a partial cause.?
Lohmeier was still was unconvinced there was an ’emergency? reason to hire Dunn.
‘What makes an emergency to me here is potential litigation against you ? here’s a risk assessment of where we see you relative to the law and here is your opportunity for recovery,? he said. ‘This is good information, but no reason we had to do this on an emergency basis.?
After having the topic brought up four times before, Clerk Shelagh VanderVeen she hadn’t ‘found anything different since day one.?
‘For us to keep bringing this back to the board, going through this, rehashing it, it’s futile,? VanderVeen said. ‘We all have differences of opinion as to whether it was an emergency, whether it wasn’t an emergency and I don’t think we’re going to change each others minds. It’s over, it’s done, let’s put it to bed, don’t bring it back for a fifth time.?