Maumee Mayor Jim MacDonald is caught between the state and his constituents.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has issued several findings and mandates after the city dumped millions of gallons of illegal raw sewage into the Maumee River for 25 years, he said. One of the solutions is a recently enacted sewer inspection ordinance that has been hugely expensive for some Maumee residents selling their homes.
“To be clear, the choices for us are limited. I have to be brutally honest,” Mayor MacDonald said at a Tuesday informational meeting. “We must comply with what's being asked of us, and try to fix what we can.”
The mayor held the community meeting to discuss the ordinance, which requires a sanitary sewer inspection on private properties listed for sale. About 150 people filled the council chamber, with the overflow crowd watching the live stream at the adjacent police station.
Many are angry about the new ordinance as it has reportedly turned up as much as $40,000 of repairs on some of the 30 properties that have been inspected. Some property owners also are upset about how council handled the legislation, passing it without much public discussion.
“If you had been upfront when this happened, people would have a different reaction,” said Ray Garcia, of West Wayne Street.
Patrick Burtch, city administrator, said the problem dates back decades, with many Maumee houses built before 1965, and before sewers and water treatment plants.
In 1984, the city signed an agreement with the EPA that allowed it to dump 25 million gallons of sewage into the Maumee River. The city was also told to separate storm and sanitary sewers.
“In 1996, we told the EPA we were done. And we were done. What we didn’t tell them is that it didn’t fix the problem,” Mr. Burtch said, adding that they were also dumping even more sewage into the river.
Flash forward to Mr. Burtch being hired in 2020. He quickly realized that the city was still dumping sewage into the river.
“We reported ourselves to the EPA, that’s what got the criminal investigation going,” he said.
The city is still being investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, he said. The EPA issued findings and orders that the city must comply with, he said.
“They basically told us ‘you’ve got 15 years to fix this and you can no longer dump anything,’” Mr. Burtch said.
The new sewer inspection ordinance was implemented because three years of data was recently analyzed and it showed illegal connections at homes are probably the main source of overflow, Mayor MacDonald said.
“Many homes have improper connections to the sanitary service laterals, such as downspouts, sump pumps,” he said. “Those connections carry storm water — which they’re not supposed to.
“Clean water should not be going where we have to treat it,” Mayor MacDonald said.
Mr. Burtch and Mayor MacDonald said the city may be receiving retribution for the discharges into the river and related misreporting. City staff members have applied for grants and other funding, the mayor said.
“We’ve been turned down. It almost feels like we have been singled out by the state,” he said, adding that they are also researching low-interest loans.
Tuesday’s city meeting followed a Monday meeting at the Elks Lodge that was organized by private citizens who have been affected or are concerned about the new ordinance. That meeting was attended by 600 people, with another couple hundred turned away as the building filled to capacity.
The citizens group submitted a list of questions that were addressed Tuesday. One asked if the city could increase the income tax. But Mr. Burtch said Maumee is dealing with a $150 million problem.
“This is a dire situation,” he said. “A half percent of income tax won’t touch this.”
“Is the ordinance enough” was another question. Would all homes, not just those for sale, eventually be inspected.
“We’re trying to buy time,” Mayor MacDonald said, adding they are hoping the EPA will see this ordinance as progress in fixing problems.
The Bradfield family was in front row seats 90 minutes before Tuesday’s meeting started, citing the number of people who were turned away from the Monday meeting.
Their Anderson Avenue home was built in 1936. They have no intentions of selling anytime soon, but they are concerned the sewer inspections will be citywide.
“We’re not out to bash the officials,” said Kelly Bradfield. “We’re not here to crucify, we just want answers.”
She and her husband, William, said the information put out by the city has been too vague — and too fast.
“I think a lot of it would have been better handled if they wouldn’t have tried to shove it down everybody’s throats,” Mr. Bradfield said. “It’s almost as if it was done in secret.”
Their daughter, Caitlyn, 34, is house hunting — and not looking in the city.
“I’m actively avoiding Maumee because of this,” she said. “If the administration and the council is willing to do this to the citizens now, and kind of behind their backs, what’s preventing them from doing something else?”
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