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Septic-system inspections planned in Orange
(by Sali McSherry - October 08, 2008)
Septic-system inspections planned in Orange
By SALI McSHERRY
Orange Village Council is scheduled to vote next month on an amended version of an ordinance requiring point-of-sale inspections.
Council received a draft from village Law Director Stephen Byron last week. The legislation would require a certificate of septic system evaluation prior to the transfer of property by the Cuyahoga County General Health District. The ordinance also addresses procedures for vacant dwellings.
The village's building department would collect a $50 fee for coordinating the point-of-sale inspection and defray the cost of the fire department's inspection of the dwelling.
Resident Edward Bonk said point-of-sale inspections for rental houses, including corporate-owned houses, should be done, and the issue needs to be addressed. He said he's concerned that failing septic systems could affect the health of village residents. He said there 91 septic systems failed out of 629 licensed systems in the village.
Building Inspector Louis Hovancsek made the request to council, because there had been several cases in which the county board of health did not perform inspections on septic systems at the point of sale, and buyers had to bear the brunt of dealing with the failed systems.
It's only fair that, when a person purchases a home, the septic system should be in working order, he said. The ordinance is a way of protecting buyers, he said.
While the village requires owners of dwellings to maintain functional septic tanks and septic systems, there are no teeth to it, Mr. Byron said. The new ordinance spells it out -- that the septic system must be functioning properly before the property transfers, he said.
The ordinance would require money to be put into escrow if the septic system needs to be replaced.
Mr. Byron said, if the legislation is approved, the building department would serve as the clearinghouse for the county board of health and for the fire department.
Mayor Kathy U. Mulcahy said the legislation could be amended in the future to include other issues that come up, but it's important to get something on the books now.
The county does not typically perform point-of-sale inspections, Mr. Hovancsek said, because it routinely performs septic-system inspections by the quadrant on a five-year rotation.
A second proposed ordinance would require point-of-sale verification by the village's fire department that the house has smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors and that they are located in required areas of the home.
Councilman Mark Bram made a motion last week to eliminate those inspections, but there was no second.
New home construction is required to have hard-wired smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors in Orange.
Council members Carmen Centanni and Frances Kluter previously said the inspections would be overkill and unnecessary.
Mrs. Kluter, who chairs the safety committee, which voted 5-2 against the ordinances, said educating residents about septic-system inspections and the importance of using smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors is the best way to handle the issue.
Mr. Bram had said most buyers want their own house inspections before making the purchase.
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