ABOUT THIS SITE
I am a resident of Hamilton County, residing in Green Township at 4230 Boomer Rd, Cincinnati Ohio 45247. I have created this website to establish an access point for the information gathered from research I conducted on the sewer projects initiated by the county following the erection of Mercy Health on North Bend Rd. The construction of Mercy Hospital required the purchase and construction of a new sewer line one mile long running from the east side of Boomer down North Bend Rd and tying into an existing location at Edgewood drive near Rackacres. This necessity initiated a slew of sewer projects perpetrated by the Hamilton County Public Health Department (the people that inspect your system each year);advantageously aimed at neighborhoods with the greatest number of "benefiting" property owners (or greatest concentration of HSTS to generate the greatest amount of revenue). Each beneficiary stands to produce a generous $20K-35K profit for Hamilton County (for the easement and sewer lateral) not to mention the annual assessment for maintenance of the sewer line. This cost does not include the work done on the private part of your property--some estimates are as high as $50K total cost to the home owner to tie into an existing sewer.
The economic impact of these targeted projects is substantial; I am just one of many of my neighbors to fall victim to this very concerted effort by the County. I am not accusing the County of unethical practices, however; there is a preponderance of evidence that is far too coincidental to ignore or deem typical...:
MY STORY
In April of 2011 I received a notice for a failed inspection on my septic tank [despite bi-annual pumping and no previous failed inspections]. I was told that my septic was allowing discharge to taint a nearby water supply (a creek at the edge of my property, which is more of a puddle at the bottom of a hill). I inquired about my options and was told to obtain an estimate for repair from a list of Hamilton County approved septic companies. I did as requested: I got three estimates for a complete repair/replacement of my existing septic tank; they ranged between $14K-17K--quite an investment considering my home, like the majority in my zip code recently suffered a loss of 50% of its value between the auditor's triennial audit: I was 100% upside down on my loan to value ratio and as a single parent of two children (the other parent is not living)--the cost was nearly implausible. I contacted the county to inquire about financial assistance/loans for this purpose. I was directed to apply to several County endorsed loan providers--a very taxing and tedious process that I completed. I qualified for a loan of $15K so I contacted the Hamilton County Department of Public Health to determine the next step.
After nearly 6 weeks of obtaining estimates and filling out applications and submitting red tape paperwork, the County informed me that I was unable to have my system repaired; according to Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 6117.51 (New public sewer construction projects) I would have to tie into the existing sewer line within 200 feet of my existing septic. I don't know why I was not informed of this at the time of the failed inspection, or during the time frame within which I had made multiple inquiries during the application for the loan to which I was referred--by the County to boot.
The new estimate was in excess of $25K. I couldn't qualify for the additional funds. I contacted the County to make them aware of the fact that I had exhausted every avenue for financial assistance and was unable to procure the additional funds required to tap into the sewer. I inquired about a property tax assessment to have the additional amount assessed against my home in the form of a lien or to pay them off over a number of years with my property taxes. I was told that this was NOT an option; I was told my only option was to abandon the home and that would remedy the nuisance issue my property had become to the County. I was taken aback by the complete lack of compassion for my position and the lack of options available to waylay a resident from losing their home and credit; the place their children grew up--everything.
Over the next year I continued to seek out options to avoid losing my home. I maintained contact with Hamilton County to ensure no new policies had been established to provide relief for those in situations similar to mine. They offered no guidance whatsoever and insisted that property tax assessment was impossible, that the men that run the sewer lateral are contracted by the County and would NOT begin work without money in hand--in full.
Discoveries
During my desperate attempt to mitigate what seemed to be an impossible situation, I continued to contact septic companies for estimates or advice. I spoke with one septic company that informed me that within the first 4 months of 2011 they had tied in 6 failing systems on Boomer to the sewer and that Hamilton County was targeting homes on Boomer because it posed a large profit.
I searched online and found a petition initiated by Hamilton County aiming to convert a large portion (31%) of Boomer Road (house numbers 5049-5765) to sewer by extending the sewer line at the property owners' expense--I mean, the benefited residents' expense. It failed (a copy of the responses from each property owner is contained under the "Township Documentation" tab at the top of this page). 6 of those homes addressed by the petition have been foreclosed on, undergone short sale or been otherwise sold by the owners since the date of the petition- at least two property owners were forced to purchase a new system --one of these property owners replaced their system twice in one year (permit applied for 6/3/11 and 9/26/12) another property was forcibly converted to sewer following the foreclosure (because then it is the responsbility of the County to convert since they deemed the HSTS as failing.) See below.
3707.02 Proceedings when order of board is neglected or disregarded.
When an order of the board of health of a city or general health district, made pursuant to section 3707.01 of the Revised Code, is neglected or disregarded, in whole or in part, the board may elect to cause the arrest and prosecution of all persons offending, or to perform, by its officers and employees, what the offending parties should have done. If the latter course is chosen, before the execution of the order is begun, the board shall cause a citation to issue and be served upon the persons responsible, if residing within the jurisdiction of the board, but if not, such citation shall be mailed to such persons by registered letter, if the address is known or can be found by ordinary diligence. If the address cannot be found, the board shall cause the citation to be left upon the premises, in charge of any person residing thereon, otherwise it shall be posted conspicuously thereon. The citation shall briefly recite the cause of complaint, and require the owner or other persons responsible to appear before the board at a time and place stated, or as soon thereafter as a hearing can be had, and show cause why the board should not proceed and furnish the material and labor necessary and remove the cause of complaint.
If the persons cited appear, they shall be fully apprised of the cause of complaint and given a fair hearing. The board shall then make such order as it deems proper, and if material or labor is necessary to satisfy the order, and the persons cited promise, within a definite and reasonable time, to furnish them, the board shall grant such time. If no promise is made, or kept, the board shall furnish the material and labor, cause the work to be done, and certify the cost and expense to the county auditor. If the material and labor are itemized and the statement is accompanied by the certificate of the president of the board, attested by the clerk, reciting the order of the board and that the amount is correct, the auditor has no discretion, but shall place such sum against the property upon which the material and labor were expended, which shall, from the date of entry, be a lien upon the property and be paid as other taxes are paid.
A Warrant For My Arrest
My short sale attempts were thwarted by the initiation of a foreclosure by my mortgage company, Bank of America, who, unbeknownst to me, had never been contacted by the real estate agent that was taking care of my short sale. I maintained contact with their attorney and explained what precipitated the failure to pay on the mortgage--including the septic tank issues, the real estate agent and eventual action taken against me by Hamilton County. Their initial promise to work with me was never fulfilled and they proceeded with not one, but two foreclosures.
OUTCOME
I fought tooth and nail against every injustice; I won a modest portion of my battles.
Eventually, at the end of 2013, the county extended the option to incorporate the majority of the expense [all but the private portion of the digging which will run around 6 thousand] as an assessment against my real estate taxes spread out over a 20 year period. This is the VERY option that ALL citizens are entitled to -this option also happened to be the very one that I was denied by multiple county officials until I created this website...which garnered the attention of some public relation folks who were "very sorry" that I had been misinformed.
The first foreclosure was dismissed at the end of 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, I signed the papers for the septic/sewer work to be done by MSD and for it to be assessed against my property taxes. Once the papers were signed, I was completely dumbfounded to learn that the work wouldn't even BEGIN for approximately one YEAR. All of the madness, the warrant, the foreclosure ......and THEIR TIMELINE was a YEAR at a minimum? A year to mitigate this nuisance that quite literally ruined my life? Not quite the critical issue that is conveyed by a bunch of police vehicles staking out your exit on your way to work.
Currently [as of March 2016]
As of today, the work has never been completed by MSD. The sewer pipe was never extended from the public line to my property. Since I was barred by county law from repairing and/or maintaining my septic, its state was arbitrarily worsening--as anything will without maintenance or repair. In the interim, I was forced from my home and another foreclosure was initiated against me by the Bank of America and continues to date.
Poetically, since my home will undoubtedly be foreclosed upon, the County will become the owner of the nuisance and financially responsible for running the sewer line. I do smile when I think that it is by the very same greedy hand that drafted the mandate upon which their actions were founded, that also makes them the accountable for the problem they created.
Lessons Learned: I keep an eye on the trending of similar situations occurring in surrounding areas and have been fortunate enough to aid others in their battle with the County/City. I hope to continue to be a source of information that may facilitate citizens' rights when it comes to septic issues in the wake of new city sewer lines. The truth is, the outcome may prove to be as unfortunate as mine--the opponent is much bigger than each of us as individuals. However, by joining together, spreading the awareness and arming ourselves with knowledge [see my research below], we can at least make them earn the money they stand to gain from their win AND make them think twice before taking advantage of the very people that pay their wages.
My Research [2011-2013]
My research revealed quite compelling results that point to an unofficial County "Project" that continues to take place in Green Township. The tabs at the top will take you to maps like the one below that depicts the number of homes on Boomer (210) of which 78% have HSTS.
The concentration of the homes currently connected to sewer are, not surprisingly, adjacent to the homes that are currently failing their annual inspections and also within 200 feet of an existing sewer.( SEE MAP AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE) Of the 164 HSTS (household treatment systems), 93 are failing in some fashion or requiring re-inspection including the majority of the homes that were solicited by the petition (house numbers 5049-5597) --perhaps to facilitate the original failed project to extend the sewer--either approve the project, incur the expense of replacing your system (sometimes twice) or be forced into foreclosure and out of your home. Approximately 35 homes on the street have been sold, gone into foreclosure/been short saled/abandoned, declared a nuisance or experienced bankruptcy (see economic impact tab).
As far as my rights as a citizen are concerned, according to Section 1216, and 1805 of the MSD Rules and Regulations—The assessment to property taxes IS an option that was intentionally obstructed by the erroneous information given to me by the woman at the HCPH office. This is also supported by the ORC 3707.02, 6117.012, 6117.05. Also ignored for more than two years is the duty outlined in the ORC 3718.022 regarding economic impact of compliance on the property owner. Furthermore, when I inquired about my options to remedy the matter outside of what I had already done—no option was provided to me-despite having specifically asked—I was not informed of my right according to the ORC 3718.11 to a hearing in front of the board. My rights were obstructed; they were willfully obstructed by the person with whom I spoke on multiple occasions who provided me with misleading, erroneous or intentionally falsified information. .
I don't know the personal experience of my neighbors, but what I could determine through public records,including the Hamilton County Public Health Department website, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, Green Township meeting minutes, and records of short sales/foreclosures from a real estate agent in the family, and published comments of county commissioners alluding to this possibility; I cannot help but wonder whether I am a victim of this conversion project and whether others have come to this same conclusion. I encourage you to look at the information I have gathered and to reach out to me via the "Contact US" tab at the top right of this page or to the Trustees of Green Township at their next meeting.
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