|
|
Friday, July 30, 2010 |
Serving Seguin and Guadalupe County since 1888
|
|
|
Marketplace
Sections
Services
Service Center
|
|
 |
|
County clears way to help residents
Published August 27, 2008
SEGUIN — County commissioners Tuesday voted to use federal grant money to repair the septic systems of a third group of homes in the county’s northernmost reaches.
The unanimous vote, on a motion by Precinct 2 Commissioner Cesareo Guadarrama III seconded by Precinct 1 Commissioner Roger Baenziger, means that failed septic systems at six homes on Aspen, Pine, Ash, Poplar and Cypress streets in the Rancho Vista subdivision will soon be replaced.
The vote came after commissioners voted one week ago to seek a second $250,000 grant for a second series of upgrades for failing septic systems in the Redwood and Rancho Vista subdivisions — and after two public hearings on the issue.
For more than two years, the county has wrestled with the problem of failed septic systems among an estimated up to 80 percent of the 300 or so residents in the region. Sewage-related complaints in the area over the last several years total 57, including 19 for leaks and 19 for two or more homes on a single system.
Officials have learned that the problems date back to when the area began to build up in the 1980s. Many of the septic systems built in the area were either poorly designed or installed and have since failed.
More than two years ago, residents visited commissioners court, and Guadarrama took the lead on an effort to get them some help.
“It’s a health and safety issue. People in Redwood have had a lot of trouble with septic tanks overflowing, and they don’t have the money to bring septic systems up to grade,” Guadarrama said. “This has been a problem for many, many years — long before I came into office.”
The residents involved live in mobile homes and in most cases are on fixed incomes, Guadarrama said. Generally, they cannot qualify for home improvement loans.
“This is a very poor area, and the septic tank problems have continued, so we came up with the grant idea,” Guadarrama said. “It’s very difficult to get funding or any type of financial help for these residents who need to replace their septic systems. In some cases, there is raw sewage on the ground where children play.”
Guadarrama credited former county sanitarian Stan Berrier for his work in researching conditions in Redwood.
“Even after he left the county, he continued this work and contacted the University of Texas’s Environmental Law Clinic and got them working on this, and they were able to locate potential grant funding,” Guadarrama said.
“They did an outstanding job,” the commissioner said. “They and our consultant, Grantworks, deserve credit.”
Commissioners conducted a public hearing before unanimously passing a resolution committing the county to $12,500 in waived fees and county services to meet the local match requirements for the second grant, which the county is applying for under the Texas Community Development Block Grant program.
In 2007, a first grant secured through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s CDBG program earmarked to help upgrade colonias more than 150 miles from the Mexico border and anticipated to help about 40 residents, ran out at about 22 systems.
Further grants would be required for any additional work, said Regan Lenehan of GrantWorks, the county’s consultant on CDBG applications, and a continuing public health and safety issue remained in the county’s northern reaches even with the first.
“This is similar to your 2007 project,” Lenehan told commissioners. “This is a big need out there, and the target area is essentially the same.”
The CDBG program has changed a little since the original application, Lenehan said, and the second application would be designed to meet the new criteria.
“This was chosen because it was closer because of the needs of the community and its character,” Lenehan said. “This area of the county has a high degree of community distress based on poverty and other issues.”
County Judge Mike Wiggins said he felt it was important to move forward with the application.
“This is a very critical project,” Wiggins said. “The continues to be a need for repairs out there, and we know the people in the area are very appreciative.”
Guadarrama asked Lenehan if everyone who’d applied for help had received it, and she told him they had not — at least not yet.
In all, so far only 34 of as many as 240 residences possibly affected have applied for help.
The first grant didn’t go as far as officials hoped it would, Guadarrama told the other commissioners, because of conditions in Redwood.
“There’s tight, poor soil, and the installers are having to remove two feet of soil, the tanks and laterals themselves and haul it off and bring in sandy loam,” Guadarrama explained. “It’s a nasty, nasty job, and that’s why costs are coming in as high as they are. Even the lowest bids were not cheap.”
The county’s grant match, Guadarrama said, would be met through forgiving fees for inspections and other in-kind services.
Ultimately, Guadarrama said, he would like to see the city of San Marcos run sewer service to the area.
“They do have service close by,” Guadarrama said. “Hopefully, that will happen. Maybe not right away, but that is the goal.”
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print |
Comment
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|