09/10/1998 BOARD OF HEALTH Minutes

Home Browse Search

MINUTES September 10, 1998 3 BOARD OF HEALTH recently." "When they came in they determined that the water table was 6' and there was no leaching field." "This problem is compounded a little bit over the fact that back in 1976 when the dwelling was constructed Roy Wilson!signed an application for Disposal System Construction Permit and allowed the actual system to go in." "In 1981 the Miller's purchased the property through Farmers Home Administration." "They required the town to give them a certification from the local health board that the septic system had been installed properly and is functioning in a satisfactory manner." "In essence, they were forced to put in flow diffuser's because of the situation of it." "We're not here accusing this Board of anything, it's been a situation that should never have come about." "I don't know how the town certified this plan when in fact things weren't even there and it wasn't accurate however, we have the Miller's on the other hand incurring a lot of costs as a result of these nuances." Mr. Doherty stated, "Most systems have a finite life." "I wouldn't agree with Mr. McQuaid's estimation of the life of a system, I would agree with twenty years." "Would it be unreasonable to assume that a system would fail after twenty years and need to be replaced?" "Probably not." "As far as making demand on the town, none of us were here then, we certainly don't take this personally." "The engineer's seal is on the plan and he is the one who certifies that the system was installed correctly." "As far as asking the Board for compensation for an allegedly premature failure of the system." "I would be inclined not to vote in favor of that only because I don't think the system failed prematurely, it was twenty or more years and I think that is reasonable for a septic system." Attorney Carter stated, "I don't think it's the system that is the issue." Mrs. Miller stated, "The system was certified in 1982." Mr. McQuaid stated, "We certified it in failure on June 20, 1997." "I certified the failure because of excessive pumping which allowed the Millers to bypass the engineering costs and ABCO drew up a repair plan which I approved and was subsequently installed according to the repair plan." "What Mr. Carter's getting at is it shouldn't have been approved originally because of the soil conditions which are not documented and the high groundwater." Mr. Doherty stated, "There is a soil log here." Mr. Cram stated, "The percolation test states that is was less than 2" per minute_" "Relating that to our current standards what is the variation?" Mr. McQuaid responded, "It would have passed." "Most of their yard is fill."