Lawsuit won?t stop RUSS project

MOUNT PLEASANT (GTNS) ? Washington County Supervisor Wes Rich, the county?s member of the Regional Utility Service Systems board said Friday that a lawsuit filed last week in Washington County court will not halt a project to install a new sewer system in Richmond.

With the possibility of being fined up to $5,000 per day by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources due to Richmond not being in compliance with sewer requirements, Rich said the project would have to continue. He said the county and RUSS are still working to get property easements for the construction of the project. He was unsure how many easements have not been acquired, but said there is a group holding off signing easements to see the outcome of the lawsuit. He said the county is continuing to try to work with property owners, but soon will have to resort to eminent domain to acquire the easements.

?The lawsuit is stressing one policy RUSS has,? Rich said. ?The county is required by the DNR to comply with the clean air and water act. We are moving forward to comply with that. We don?t have a choice not to. There is a group out there who thinks that if they resist long enough that they won?t have to comply. That is not the case.?

Rich believes as long as the county is progressing on a project to come into compliance, the DNR won?t enforce the fines. He hopes the project will be ready to bid next spring.

Last week, the group Residents for a Better Richmond filed suit against RUSS, the Washington County Board of Supervisors and Washington County to attempt to have fees levied for not allowing easements onto property declared illegal. Rich estimates that about 10 percent of the residents of Richmond are in the group.

During a special meeting of the RUSS Board held at the Emergency Management Office in Mount Pleasant Friday morning, board chairman Henry ?Willie? Van Wheelden told the board that RUSS was being sued. He said the information had gone to the group?s legal department.

A general mailing sent last month by the Washington County Board of Supervisors requested people to sign easements. The letter stated that there could be a $2,000 refusal fee levied for refusing sewer easements. The letter gives residents 15 days to respond. Whether RUSS has the authority to levy this is the basis of the lawsuit.

?We think we do,? Van Wheelden said, when asked if RUSS has the authority to levy the fee. ?It?s never been tested, but it is in the state code that if your property line is within 200 feet of a public sewer you are required by state code to hook up. There are people who like to test us and say they aren?t going to hook up. You have to have that enforcement factor.?

Van Wheelden said RUSS hasn?t been directly sued before over the code.

Rich explained the fee was set because of the inconvenience that happens when someone refuses an easement. He said RUSS doesn?t go on people?s property without permission, leaving the options to use eminent domain or go around the property.

?If you have to go around everyone?s property, pretty soon you can?t service other properties,? he said. ?That is an added expense.?

He said the property owner retains ownership of the property and the easement is to allow a sewer line to run across and for service.

Rich believes here should be public outcry, both for health reasons and for the fines that would affect everyone in Washington County. He also said he is surprised Washington County Public Health Department hasn?t become more involved, saying it is a public health issue.

Rich said that the county was required by the DNR to install a communitywide system in Richmond. The supervisors had determined to go with a lagoon system. He said it might cost more to build initially, but had the least maintenance costs. He also said about 75 percent of the $1.8 million project would be paid for with grants and loans.

?No one has to pay anything upfront if they get on board,? Rich said. ?This group is already behind a deadline which will probably be extended.?

Rich said RUSS is a service organization established by the DNR and designed to help communities come into compliance with rural sewage requirements. He said RUSS gives service for sanitation and isn?t the enforcement arm of the deal. He said it is up to Washington County to get its people to agree, because Washington County will pay the fines if the community isn?t brought into compliance.

?We are really doing the DNR?s and Rural Development?s dirty work,? Van Wheelden said. ?If the towns get cited for a bubbling up sewer someone has to put the system in. That is why we started ? to be a go between. The city of Richmond would never get this built if the citizens were doing it. I really feel that way. You have to have someone coordinating the whole thing and there are so many steps in building a system from start to finish. There are always those few who don?t want it, and that is generally where you run into problems.?