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Livingston County will continue to pay a fee to Chillicothe Municipal Utilities in lieu of installing drains to separate storm water from sanity sewer lines at the courthouse. After hours of discussion which have spanned several weeks and tours of the courthouse, City Council members took no action on a proposal to repeal a 2003 ordinance which allowed the county to pay for costs associated with the treatment of storm water at the city’s waste water treatment plant, instead of installing a separate drainage system at the courthouse.

County commissioners had argued that creating a separate drainage system could jeopardize the stability of the structure and/or its architectural appearance. The courthouse, built in 1914, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. CMU General Manager Steve Svec said the courthouse is the only known structure in town without a plan in place for handling storm water separate from sanitary sewer lines.

When this issue was last discussed at a council meeting, the council had asked the county commission to solicit cost estimates for installing drains. Since that time, three local contractors — Case Contracting, David Copeland Construction and Irvinbilt — had each inspected the courthouse. They were present at Monday’s council meeting and, when asked, none of them would recommend that the county install such a system.

East District Commissioner Ken Lauhoff presented the council with letters from an architect, the Department of Natural Resources and an engineering firm relating the separation of sanitary and storm drainage piping, all of them recommending that alterations of the existing system not be made. Svec told the council that members of the board of public works also toured the court6house; however, they did not make any recommendations.

With the 2003 ordinance still in effect, the county will continue to pay a fee for water treatment based on the amount of runoff of each building to the wastewater drain, and charging the standard fees for such treatment, based on an average rainfall of 36 inches per year. Lauhoff questioned whether the issue would arise again in a few years, but was told that ordinances can be reviewed by future councils at any time.

County Drainage System Reviewed Chillicothe City Council Meeting Published: Thursday June 11, 2009, C-T

Chillicothe Municipal Utilities wants Livingston County officials to take steps to separate storm water drainage from sanitary sewer drainage at the Livingston County Courthouse. County officials are hesitant to take that step. CMU General Manager Steve Svec told Chillicothe City Council members this week that the separation is needed, in part, to help ensure an effective storm water drainage system. Additionally, the Livingston County Courthouse is the last remaining structure known by CMU to have its storm water draining and sanitary sewer lines combined.

County officials told council members that reconfiguring the drainage system would be costly, difficult to do and would disrupt the architectural character of the 96-year-old landmark building. Additionally, such work could lead to unforeseen problems. After an hour-long discussion during Monday night’s regular council meeting at City Hall, the council decided to table talks pending results of further research by both CMU and the county.

The matter was brought to the council’s attention as the result of a mid-1980s ordinance which had stated that all properties within the city limits must separate storm water drainage from sanitary sewers. No longer could roof drains be connected into the sanitary sewer. Homes and businesses were inspected to make sure they were compliant, Svec said. The issue was revisited in the mid-1990s and it was found that four larger entities still needed to comply.

By 2003, the Livingston County Courthouse, Chillicothe Middle School/High School, and Bishop Hogan Memorial School were the only structures in non-compliance, Svec said. Due to the architecture of these buildings and the cost of dividing the rainwater drains and the sewer drains these entities wished to continue to use the wastewater drainage system for their storm water runoff. In lieu of making these entities comply with the mandate, CMU imposed a fee against them for water treatment based on the amount of runoff of the buildings to the wastewater drain, based on an average rainfall of 36 inches per year. Since that time, the high school and Bishop Hogan School have complied and the middle school has committed to compliance once the old high school is demolished.

What was considered Monday night was rescinding that 2003 ordinance which allowed the fee alternative and making the courthouse comply with the separation. Svec said the infiltration of storm water into the sanitary sewers has a financial impact on its operation. He added that if there is an overflow problem, CMU could be fined. Svec said he also had concerns about certain actions that may have been required as a special condition of receiving funding to help pay for the storm water separation system years ago. He expressed concerns about how other entities would react if the county courthouse would become exempt from separating the storm water from the sanitary sewers.

County Commissioners Eva Danner, Ken Lauhoff and Todd Rodenberg told council members they would have strong concerns about putting in a separation system. The courthouse, they said, has an eight-inch pipe which is 12 to 14 feet below the basement floor and the storm water and sewer drains are in the courthouse walls and go down to that pipe. The commissioners said that the county had addressed this issue many times in the last 15 years and that plumbers who looked at the facility and the possibility of installing a separation system would not provide a solution.

"Everyone we have talked to said it is cost prohibitive," Lauhoff said. The commissioners said the courthouse was built with both systems combined so that the storm water could help flush out the sanitary sewers. "In the 96 years of the courthouse's existence, there has not been one sewer problem," Lauhoff said, noting that creating a separation could produce unforeseen problems. "Are we willing to risk the unknown," he questioned. "This would be a waste of taxpayers' money."

The commissioners also stated that the runoff from the courthouse would be equivalent to the runoff of three houses. "If our system is so delicate that we can't handle three more new homes, I think there is a problem," Danner said. Danner also stated that the courthouse is the centerpiece of Chillicothe and Livingston County. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. She feared that in addition to unforeseen problems, installation of separate drainage would negatively impact the building's aesthetics.

Father Tom Hermes, priest of St. Columban Catholic Church and principal of Bishop Hogan School, said that he was attending the meeting because of what happened when the school installed the necessary pipes for the storm water separation. What was installed, he said, was the only thing that the roofing contractors could come up with the meet the city's requirement. "It looks trashy," he told council members. He continued to say that problems are erupting now that the water is draining near the building. "In my opinion, this ordinance should not be passed," he told council members. He went on to state that the school would not complain of the city wants to issue a waiver exempting the county from this ordinance.