06/18/2006

Editorial

GT county board must step in to fix septage fiasco

Commissioners must finally decide how to pay for the plant, must accept accountability for that decision and must dissolve for good the twisted chain of command that created this mess.

Since part of the month-old plant collapsed a year ago today, it has become clear that its faulty planning and construction are a direct reflection of the zero-accountability bureaucracy that is at the heart of the scandal.

And scandal it is.

The problem lies with the Board of Public Works/Water and Sewer Committee spider web that has left no one accountable — except taxpayers.

Under that system, the Water and Sewer committee, made up of the supervisors of the five urban townships around Traverse City, had the responsibility to make decisions about the plant, but no authority to make them official.

The committee accepted estimates from Board of Public Works attorney Michael Houlihan and the BPW's engineering firm, Gourdie-Fraser, Inc., of septic tank use and used them to justify the plant and suggest a way to pay for it. Those estimates later proved greatly inflated, leaving the county well short of the fees it would need to pay for the plant.

The committee then chose Gourdie-Fraser/Christman Co. — yes, the same Gourdie-Fraser — to design and build the plant, even though they weren't the low bidder and had never done a similar job.

Committee members then essentially pledged their townships would pay for the plant.

While the Board of Public Works actually had the authority to sign the design/build contract and levy fees to pay for the plant, its members acted like a rubber stamp for the Water and Sewer committee. If the committee wanted it, they approved it.

Finally, it was the county board that issued the bonds — based on the BPW recommendation which was based on the water and sewer recommendation that was based on project manager Michael Houlihan's estimates.

It was a perfect circle. Committee members can say they didn't sign any contracts for anything, the Board of Public Works can say it didn't make any design or payment decisions, Houlihan and Gourdie-Fraser can say they were simply providing estimates and projections. The county board just accepted the whole pile.

It's a sorry mess. And it's getting sorrier.

Last week, everyone else involved blasted a water and sewer committee recommendation to levy an additional fee of up to $1,625 on every new septic tank in the county to pay for the plant, bringing us back to square one: no working plant and no way to pay for it.

To top it off, the township supervisors are beginning to squirm at the thought of picking up the tab and the BPW is lashing back. Acme Township Supervisor Bill Kurtz has rightly complained that this is a countywide issue and it's unfair to put the burden on five townships, contract or not.

But county administrator Dennis Aloia replied that the county could take money for the plant "out of your treasury."

At this point, a few issues seem clear:

n The county could consider a suit against Gourdie-Fraser and Houlihan for providing inflated septic estimates of plant usage and fee income, but it would likely be a useless exercise. Gourdie-Fraser/Christman is already paying for repairs.

n The decision on how to pay for this must ultimately end with the county board, so they may as well act now.

The county has the authority to declare a 15-mile user zone and levy an assessment on Grand Traverse septic owners, and should do so. Just as those hooked to sewer lines pay for the service, septic tank owners must bear their share of the burden. A relatively modest assessment of $30 a year would do the job. Owners would be responsible for their own pumping fees.

n The county must dismantle the DPW/BPW/water and sewer committee system and replace it with a transparent process that stresses accountability, checks and balances. The people who make the decisions must be the people who sign the contracts and decide who pays.

The septage plant has become a symbol for a good old boy system that is past its day. Cronyism appears to have overtaken common sense, and it's going to be costly. Enough is enough.

County commissioners won't like the political heat they'll take if they levy an assessment and fees, but they signed on to the job and now it needs doing.