| Andover family upset over septic system problems |
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| Thursday, 17 January 2008 | ||
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Staff writer An Andover family believes a city inspector should have been more vigilant in catching a non-compliant septic system that was installed on their property before they owned it. When the ground thaws this spring, Eric and Toni Kohnke will have to install a new septic system for their home at 921 158th Ave. N.W. What apparently happened, according to Eric Kohnke, is that in 1999, a private inspector, Charlie Magnuson, discovered a cesspool in the northwest corner of their property. Cesspools are illegal because they could collapse. Magnuson stated in his report that the system could be brought into compliance with a sealed septic tank. This report came to Allison and Scott Genz, who brought the property in January 2001. The Genzes moved in but did not install the tank until April 2003. They hired Tiger Excavating, which installed the tank on the south side of the property. The Kohnkes bought the property in September 2005 and started noticing problems several months after that. They had back-ups in the home and it would take a long time to fill the septic tank. When they purchased the home, the Kohnkes received a drawing that showed the existence of a septic system in the northwest and south corners of their property. Both were noted with the word “septic.” Eric Kohnke found out about the cesspool in the northwest corner of the property in 1999 and that there is a septic tank in the south portion of the property. The Kohnkes assumed there is a necessary drainfield in the south portion of their property close to the tank, but they and other inspectors have not been able to confirm that. An appraiser from Lindblade Appraisals in a Jan. 24, 2001, report noted a drainfield in the southeast corner of the property. The Kohnkes believe if this were true, they would have no problems today. However, a private inspector that the Kohnkes hired, Vic Hagnah, during a June 6, 2007, inspection found no drainfield, although he found pipes coming from the septic tank. He assumed a drainfield exists though because the effluent has been disbursed. The soil in the southeast corner of the property is mottled (saturated) less than two feet above the water table, so a drainfield could not legally be in the southeast corner of the property, according to Hagnah. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) requires a minimum of three feet separation between the bottom of a drainfield and saturated soils so contaminants in the human waste can be treated in the gravel and dry soil before they reach the water table or seep to the surface. Andover Building Official Don Olson said the city inspector’s job is not to design systems. Tiger Excavating said it was installing a septic tank and the inspector watched it do so, he said. Septic system designers and installers are licensed by the MPCA so their careers are on the line if they put in a faulty system. The Kohnkes brought the Genzes, the realtor and her company to arbitration last fall. During this hearing, the Kohnkes received a copy of the private sewer disclosure form that identifies the location of septic and well systems on a property. The form notes a drainfield on the west side of the property and a septic tank on the south side. The Genzes signed this disclosure agreement, but the Kohnkes did not. Eric Kohnke said they never saw this document and if they did, they would have questioned how sewage from a septic tank on the south side of the property could have got to a drainfield on the west side. The Genzes argued that they were not septic system experts and relied on Tiger Excavating to bring the system into compliance. They told the arbitrator that they had experienced no problems during the time they lived there. The arbitrator ruled against the Kohnkes so they received no money to bring the system into compliance. According to the arbitrator in his summary, the Kohnkes had received all the necessary documents under the state’s septic system disclosure statute. The MPCA is investigating Magnuson because he said a septic tank would only bring the system into compliance back in 1999. However, Magnuson has retired so a penalty from the MPCA may be non-existent. The Kohnkes cannot take any of the companies to civil court because they did not own the home at the time the work was done. This leaves the city of Andover. The Kohnkes said there has to be a more stringent inspection process. “The inspections are there to protect future home buyers as well,” Eric Kohnke said. Andover City Administrator Jim Dickinson said the Kohnkes first contacted the city in August 2006. He has over 200 points of contact in his e-mail in box. Some of those are e-mails he was copied on when a council member, state legislator or the MPCA commissioner were responding to the questions. Dickinson said he is frustrated by the amount of staff time this has taken and hopes this can come to a conclusion soon. “We’ve attempted to work with him and we’re willing to work with him,” Dickinson said. “We just need cooperation on the other side.” Dickinson said this points out that the system was functional since 2003 when Tiger Excavating installed the septic tank. The previous homeowners reported no problems during an arbitration hearing with the Kohnkes that also included the realtor and her company. “There’s no guarantee these systems will keep working,” Olson said. “They can fail at any time.” The cesspool septic system that was on the property was installed in 1971, according to Magnuson’s report. Magnuson said in his report that there was no imminent health threat. Olson, who was not with the city at that time, said if there is no imminent health threat, the city, county or state does not require the systems to be brought into compliance. One reason is a septic system may work fine for a smaller family but not work for a larger family that produces more human waste. The Genzes had a baby and the Kohnkes have two children. Mortgage companies would typically want the system in compliance if they offer a loan, so that could trigger repair or replacement of the septic system. If there is an imminent health threat, Olson said the city requires a homeowner to have a new system installed within 30 days. An imminent threat would be sewage seeping from a system. The Kohnkes have told the city about sewage backing into their home. Eric Kohnke said their 8-year-old child in March 2007, accidently used the basement toilet and there was human feces in it until the system could be pumped the following Monday. With the ground frozen, the city is not enforcing the 30-day rule but will require installation when the ground thaws this spring. Kohnke said in an e-mail correspondence with Dickinson that in hindsight, he should have hired a compliance inspector, but money was tight then because he owned another home in Iowa and the system was installed and inspected by professionals licensed through the MPCA. Olson said a prospective buyer should hire their compliance inspector and not rely on a report up to three years old because that is how often the city of Andover requires a septic system inspection and it could fail during that three-year window. Eric Kohnke said the cost to bring the septic system into compliance would be approximately $37,000. According to an estimate he received from Paulson Construction, it would cost approximately $15,000 to bring the system into compliance outside, which would include pumping the cesspool at the northwest corner of the property and filling it in with dirt because cesspools are no longer allowed by the MPCA. Kohnke would also have the septic tank that was installed at the south portion of the property moved to the northwest corner where a mound system drainfield would be installed. Renovations in the basement would cost approximately $22,000 and include re-routing the drain pipes to the new septic system and installing a lift station to lift the sewage uphill to the septic system. The city has offered a loan to the Kohnkes from the community development block grant funding the city received, but the Kohnkes said they already paid for their system when they bought the home and it should have been compliant then. They want a grant. The Kohnkes also plan to ask the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust to investigate the city to see if it has any fault in this issues. Dickinson said there have been no claims filed on this case. Eric Hagen is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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