County residents duck building permits

MARENGO — Though requiring building permits for construction on county properties in 2021 was supposed to make things easier on the county assessor’s office, it’s causing headaches for Iowa County Environmental Director Sherry Lutz.

Lutz told the County of Board of Supervisors this month that she knows of five illegal septic systems put in within the last month.

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Lutz said.

One incident involved a new home that was connected to an old septic system at the time of transfer, but it wasn’t done legally, said Lutz. The old system had been installed in 2000 and had been inspected but not at the time of transfer.

The property owner also did not get the proper permits.

Another illegal system was put in a large shop with two kitchens and a breakroom, said Lutz. It was hooked up to an old system.

A third incident involved a holding tank used for a shop bathroom, which is not legal.

None of these people did pre-construction applications, Lutz said.

Lutz said she finds out about the septic projects from pre-construction contracts. Contractors should know what permits they need to get, she said.

If contractors don’t get the permits and inspections required by the county, Lutz usually finds out about the violations when the assessor’s office inspects the properties and notices changes that involve septic systems.

Regulations are based on the number of people using the facility, not the size of the facility, Lutz said. If a shop doesn’t have living quarters or 10 employees, it doesn’t have the same requirements.

When the county decided to require building permits, no one wanted to put a fee on it, said Lutz. Consequently, it has no teeth.

Any construction in the county requires a permit, said Degen — for a house, a shed, a shop or a garage.

“When we did the building permits it was to make everybody’s job easier,” said Supervisor Kevin Heitshusen.

That’s not happening, said Lutz. She spends a lot of time tracking people down and trying to force them to follow code.

Lutz deals with builders all the time, she said. They know what to do, but they “forget” half the time, she said.

They can fill out a form online and be done with it, said Lutz. “They don’t even have to come into the office.”

“We thought this was going to make everything easier, and we spend more time chasing people down,” said Lutz.

“I know there’s probably a lot more out there,” said Lutz. “There has to be some kind of fine behind it.”

Supervisor Alan Schumacher said he wished the county would allow holding tanks for shops rather than requiring a septic system. He only uses the bathroom in his barn about twice a month, he said.

The county is handcuffing taxpayer when they require county residents to get septic systems for a toilet in a shop, said Schumacher. The county could require that residents have the holding tanks pumped every year.

“I dealt with this in other counties,” said Lutz. People always say they will pump holding tanks, but they don’t, she said. Even if there’s a fine for non-compliance, Lutz has to chase people down.

Heitshusen asked if Lutz wanted the county to create a fee for the permits.

“I think we need to look at something,” said Lutz.

“I think the fee should be minimal,” said Supervisor Chris Montross. He suggested a $25 fee and a $500 fine for noncompliance.

“We just started having the building permit in 2021,” said Lutz. The county needed a way to know what was being built in the county to help the assessor set property values. Instead, the assessor finds work that was completed without the proper permits.

“Makes me wonder how many more are out there,” said Lutz.