The Hot Springs Village POA (HSVPOA) Board of Directors voted to pass an amendment to Chapter 4, Article 1, Wastewater Collection Policy, at the August 16, 2023 Board Meeting. This issue, which relates to privately owned wastewater collection systems, also known as grinder systems, has been an ongoing hot topic on the internet for several months.
At the Wednesday meeting, Hot Springs Village POA Public Services Director Ken Unger discussed the proposed amendment of the Wastewater Collection Policy. Unger said that some changes were made in 2022 to move the responsibility of installing grinder tanks for new builds over to property owners. The POA also instituted an inspection fee at that time.
Soon after these changes were made, a grinder system malfunctioned, causing flooding in a home. “From that situation, it became obvious to me (and I have been a homeowner here 11 years), there was definitely some misunderstanding about the status of grinder systems – how they relate to the owners versus POA,” stated Unger. Unger said the policy documents were not clear.
Unger said his efforts were to clarify what is currently happening, and it doesn’t change anything as far as who owns the grinder system, who is responsible for maintenance, and who is responsible for repair.
“If you have an issue with your grinder system, you call us, and we come out, and we fix it at our [POA] expense. That is not going to change.”
Ken Unger, Public Services Director
Repeated Damage Due to Negligent Acts of Property Owner
An addition was added to the policy related to intentional damage to the system. The addition reads, ” The property owner of any privately owned residential wastewater collection system shall be responsible for any repair costs as a result of repeated damage done to the wastewater collection system due to the negligent acts of the property owner. Negligent acts include but are not limited to repeated flushing of non-soluble wipes, rags, or excess grease into their privately owned residential wastewater collection system after receiving a written warning from the POA.”
A fee for this type of negligent damage was already in the fee schedule, but the policy guide did not discuss repeated damage due to negligent actions of property owners. Unger said he is attempting to clarify the purpose of the fee. If you cause intentional damage to the grinder tank system after the POA notified you of the damage you caused, you will probably be charged for repeated failures in your grinder system. “We are not going to continue to replace pumps that are around $1,100 a piece if you continue to stick rags down your drains, causing the pump to fail,” Unger declared.
The Public Services Director stated, “Before 2016, the POA would install and repair these systems, all at the resident’s expense. The reason for that is that the residents owned these systems. They still own them today.”
“Commercial entities are still responsible for all costs of installing and repairing these systems. Only the residential side changed in 2016, which was changed by eliminating [from the fee schedule] the grinder pump maintenance and repair fee. There was not a subsequent [corresponding] policy change. In effect, the POA took on responsibility for replacing pumps in these grinder systems. But in reality, we [the POA] took over the replacement of the entire system. We have been doing that since 2016. I am not advocating that we change that this morning,” detailed Unger.
Unger continued, “‘People ask, who owns these?'”
“Because residents were responsible for paying for the installation and repairs, before 2016, it was pretty clear to me that they [grinder systems] were not part of the common sewer system that the POA owns,” Unger said.
Unger said the POA consulted with its attorneys to confirm that “in fact, the grinder systems, themselves, that are located on our [privately owned properties] are owned by the residents. That still doesn’t change the fact that the POA has agreed to repair them and will replace them if they fail. But the residents do own them,” explained Unger.
The Director asked, “Why is that important.”
“That is important because part of the policy language deals with the alarming and testing of these systems,” said Unger.
Unger said he could not find a document stating the POA agreed to take over the maintenance of the grinder systems or validation of the grinder system alarms. “What that means for residents owning one of the grinder systems is there is no guarantee that the alarm is working.”
“The POA is not in a position to test every system… We never took on that obligation.”
Ken Unger, Public Services Director
Unger stated he is trying to clarify that residents “own the systems, and if we have concerns whether they are working properly, we should go out and get them tested to ensure that they work.”
Unger again stressed that if the alarm is broken, the POA will fix it. “This is one of the policy clarifications I am trying to establish,” voiced Unger.
“To provide some background history, the following timeline has been assembled explaining the evolution of the installation and repair of privately-owned wastewater collection systems in Hot Springs Village.”
For new homes, the property owner [builder] is responsible for installing the grinder system, which the POA will inspect. Unger said that on brand-new homes, the POA would assume repair after one year for the overall system and three years on the pump. Unger said that your contract with the builder hopefully contains a warranty.
“Last but not least, and this is not part of the policy, I plan to publish a testing regime. That is included in this document [2nd pdf from the bottom of this article] but is incomplete. We had some input from knowledgeable residents; it is not an end-to-end system test. I hope we can put this out there for residents to look at, and they can provide it to their electrician or plumber to help them do a full end-to-end system test. I will update it after this meeting once the motion is approved.” Residents can provide this testing regime to their licensed contractors. NOTE: The suggested revised testing procedure is included at the end of this article.
In conclusion, Unger said they are “trying to clean up the policies to clarify who owns what, what the POA is responsible for, and what the homeowner is responsible for. It doesn’t change anything that has been going on since 2016…My goal is to help residents understand that to avoid a [wastewater] backup into their home [due to a failure of the system] and ensure their systems are working,” it is advised that residents get their systems tested by a licensed contractor.
After Unger’s presentation, Board Member Larry Siener moved forward with a motion to modify Chapter 4, Article 1 of the Policy Guide regarding the HSV Wastewater Collection Policy, as updated in the Board Packet.” Board Member Bruce Caverly seconded the motion.
Before Voting, Board Members Laid Out Timeline
Caverly said, “Going back to the original document of the policy, which was developed in 1983, the policy was checkered for Public Services, Article 1, Section 5, what was the responsibility of the owner.
Responsibility of the Property Owner From 1983 Document
a. ‘Cost of materials and labor for the installation of the tank, pump, motor, electric power, and alarm system.
b. ‘Cost of repairs after one year warranty period. Repair work will be performed by the POA personnel.
c. ‘In the case of community tank, pumps, etc. where more than one townhouse is serviced by one tank, the above costs shall be divided equally among those property owners’ units connected to that pump.'”
“That was responsibility of the owner. Here is the responsibility of the POA,” continued Caverly.
Responsibility of the POA From the 1983 Document
“‘Size of pumps and motors and provide [unintelligible] service as required to maintain the integrity of the sewage treatment plant and systems.’ Again, this was adopted by the Board of Directors in August of ’83…”
Chair Joanie Corry said, “So, in 1983, the owners paid for everything – all the repairs and everything…”
Mark Quinton said, moving ahead to 2015, in the minutes of a Board Meeting, “A motion was made to eliminate the grinder pump maintenance and replacement fee. This was a year where they raised assessment fees, and this was included in the motion and approved. As of 2015, for the 2016 budget period, there were no more grinder pump maintenance or repair fees. That is where we are today.”
Board Member and Corporate Treasurer Jama Lopez shared that In 2016, in the October 21 memorandum for the Board Meeting, it was mentioned that we had a 23% increase in the wastewater and water fee in the fee schedule, which included an increase due to a rate study as well as extreme costs of repair. 2016 was also the year when we bonded to obtain additional funding to cover the rising costs. The bond was for $3.395 M. The bond is scheduled to be paid off in November of 2027. Part of the bond was to pay off the 2009 bond, and part was to pay for the cost of repairs detailed in the rate study.
Joanie said that Caverly mentioned the 1983 policy, and Quinton talked about the policy of 2016. “Now we come to the 2022 policy of last year.”
Director Bob McLeod said, That is what Ken [Unger] was talking about earlier.”
Unger changed the policy last year to define the responsibility of the owners. “‘The physical installation of any wastewater collection system shall be performed by the owner or designated agent, based on specific specifications provided by the POA. For a one-year period, the owner shall be responsible for all parts and labor (This is the warranty period.) for the entire wastewater collection system, including all lines connecting the wastewater collection to the HSVPOA wastewater system within the adjacent right-of-way.’ That was the responsibility of the owner,” stated Mcleod.
“‘The responsibility of the POA is to provide specifications for the installation of the wastewater collection system by the owner or its designated agent. Inspection and acceptance of installation by the owner or its designated agent. The installation, repair, and replacement of the wastewater collection system after a one-year warranty period from the wastewater collection system to the HSVPOA system and adjacent right-of-way. The HSV POA will not be responsible for any lines connecting from the owner’s improvement to the wastewater collection.'”
Corry asked, “What happened between ’84 and last year? The policy never changed. It was only changed for new builds. It was never changed….I look at this as one of Kelly [GM Hale’s] things of unwinding something and trying to get it right. That is what we tried to do, to the point that we also added the attorney opinion that illustrates that our HSVPOA sewer system pretty much ends at the front yard…and we [property owners] tie into that. With this new policy that we are voting on, that is stating that the POA will continue to pay for the repairs of our [property owners’] systems, which I think is great, by the way. So, I hope everyone understands this. If you don’t, let us know, but we all have a piece of it. [She meant each of the Board Directors worked on uncovering the history.] I would say over 100 hours was put into this to figure it out, doing research.”
Lopez asked Unger what the manufacturer’s warranty period is on the replacement pumps. Unger said the manufacturer’s warranty is for three years. Lopez asked if property owners of new builds should ask their builders for a three-year warranty on the pumps. Unger responded that he would ask the builder for a three-year pump warranty.
Siener said, “We now know that the property owners own the water/sewer components on our [private] property. There was some confusion on social media for a while about that. We went to the lawyers. We got briefed from the lawyer.” Siener said that what is located on privately-owned property belongs to the property owner, and that which is located on POA property is owned by the POA.
“The POA will fix your grinder pump or alarm if it breaks. Just call. There is one caveat on that…, if you abuse the system. Don’t put rags down the toilet. Don’t put wipes down the toilet. Don’t pour mass quantities of grease down your drain. As long as you are not doing something like that and quite literally gumming up the works, then the POA will come out and take care of that for you. If you are abusing the system, then you potentially put yourself into a different category,” stated Siener.
“…It really is your [property owner] responsibility because it is your stuff, to make sure that the grinder pump is working. Ken [Unger] put out a recommendation; He will put out guidance on how to make that happen. You can get a plumber in periodically to check it out if you are concerned. It is probably a good idea to check it periodically, just like having your air conditioner checked or your car taken in for ordinary service. It is a piece of mechanical equipment,” shared Siener.
The motion, which is included below, carried unanimously.
Modification of Chapter 4, Article 1 of Policy Guide (August 16, 2023 Motion)
Tank Alarm Testing Guide
Contact Information for Public Services Director
Ken Unger
Director Public Services
Hot Springs Village
501-226-9609
Kunger@hsvpoa.org
Report by Cheryl Dowden
