Maumee Mayor James MacDonald affirmed his confidence in embattled city Administrator Patrick Burtch and vowed to rethink how the city can comply with an Ohio EPA order that mandates reducing inflows of storm water into the sanitary sewers, he said in an interview with The Blade.
The city’s sewer dilemmas stem from the discovery that for 25 years, Maumee employees had illegally discharged sewage into the Maumee River and falsified reports to the EPA about the city’s practices.
The mayor said he could have handled the introduction and rollout of the sewer inspection and remediation ordinance differently. He acknowledged that he was “not completely in the know” that an order issued by the Ohio EPA on July 21, 2021, required the city to submit a Sewer System Evaluation Study by July 21, 2024.
That order required the city in its report to identify “all feasible cost-effective actions needed to minimize or eliminate” clear water infiltration into the sanitary sewers.
The mayor took office on Jan. 2. He said that when he realized that the study deadline was fast coming due, it was necessary to move quickly.
“Longer planning in advance would have benefitted us for sure,” he said.
The mayor also defended Mr. Burtch, who has borne the brunt of much of the popular discontent over Maumee’s sewer situation.
Yard signs saying “Give Burtch the boot” have popped up around town.
Mr. MacDonald stoutly defended Mr. Burtch in the interview on Wednesday.
“Our city administrator is very up on what the EPA requires. I’m not sure whether the past administrators were. He has a lot of wisdom about what needs to be done to keep us in line with what’s required on the environmental side. I have total confidence that that’s being taken care of.”
The mayor acknowledged that Mr. Burtch’s approach was not popular in the city.
“He knows the laws we need to adhere to,” he said. “Sometimes when they are followed to the letter, it edges people a little bit.
"I personally think the 'Give Burtch the boot' signs have a very negative connotation for our community. I don’t think it’s helping solve the problem. I think Patrick’s doing a great job. He’s leading in the way we need him to lead, especially in time of crisis."
Margo Puffenberger, a member of Maumee’s city council, echoed the mayor’s assessment.
“I agree with the mayor,” she said. “I’ve been taught so much by Patrick Burtch about the sewer situation. He’s one of the people who is trying to do what needs to be done. Everything he does is well thought out and done with a reason. I can’t imagine going through these sewer issues without his knowledge and experience.”
Asked to comment on the mayor’s vote of confidence, Mr. Burtch said, “As the chief administrative official of the city of Maumee, I am obligated to consult staff and outside experienced consultants and recommend such measures as are necessary to remediate illegal dumping. The mayor, city council, and I must follow the law, even if it proves unpopular. That doesn’t mean I am uncaring. I care very deeply about the residents of Maumee, and although it was not rolled out as well as it could have been, the sewer conveyance ordinance was intended to address this very complicated problem and reduce future costs to our citizens.”
Although Mr. Burtch has drawn much of the ire of Maumee residents, Mayor MacDonald affirmed that as chief executive officer of the city, “the buck stops here” when it comes to controversial actions and decisions.
Regarding the attitude of Maumee’s residents with regard to the city’s sewer issues, the mayor said, “I think you have a couple different groups. There’s a group that’s basically in their own network with a pushback narrative. Then there’s another group, which I think is in the majority of our people, who are just trying to learn and understand what the problem is. I don’t feel that the anger and frustration is city-wide.”
Chelsea Ziss, a member of the Citizens of Maumee Action Committee, an organization that was formed in response to the city’s sewer issues, believes that the root cause of popular frustration is the way people believe they’ve been kept in the dark by their government.
“The original ordinance, passed by emergency at a special 7 a.m. council meeting, caused an enormous uproar,” she said. “When council members were asked why they would pass something that could literally bankrupt people without discussion or forethought, they said they were just following along with what the administrator proposed.”
Ms. Ziss also disagrees with the way the city has framed Maumee’s sewer problems as the responsibility of individual homeowners, rather than as a single community issue.
“We want to adhere to the EPA rules, fix our residential sewer connections, and follow the laws; that has never been in question,” she said. “But every step of the way, we are told that solving this issue collaboratively is not an option.”
Mr. MacDonald spoke several times about the popular misconceptions he’s encountered about Maumee’s sewer issues.
“I don’t think [some Maumee residents] understand the complexity of the problem. And it is complex. The main problem is water separation on our residential properties. Some people have a hard time accepting that. And I don’t think they feel that they should be the ones to fix it. They don’t feel it’s part of their problem. Some don’t even think they have the responsibility to maintain what’s under their property; they think that the city should do it. That’s been the biggest alligator we have to wrestle with.”
Mr. MacDonald believes there are several reasons for the popular frustration with the original sewer inspection and remediation ordinance, which council repealed in July. Some people were put off by the perceived intrusiveness of an inspection. Others felt that the 90-day time frame that people had to fix their sewer problems was burdensome.
Still, others were incensed by the ordinance’s requirement that private property sewer issues be remediated before the property could be conveyed.
“We felt that that was the least intrusive method, that we wouldn’t require everyone to make a fix,” Mr. MacDonald said. “Then in a real estate transaction, it becomes a negotiable piece between the buyer and the seller.”
Mayor MacDonald also took aim at sewer contractors who gave repair estimates to residents that contained “exaggerated numbers, numbers that weren’t fair.”
The mayor discussed the city’s claim that Lucas County owes Maumee $2.1 million for processing rainwater runoff from the parking lot of the old Lucas County Recreation Center — money the city could use as it works to fix its ongoing sewer problems.
“Several million gallons a year come off the rec center property every year, but the county commissioners refuse to do anything about it,” Mr. MacDonald said. “The biggest priority for me is to stop the water from coming into our system. That would benefit our community most.”
The mayor went on to say that since the county is not paying the costs of processing the water from the Rec Center, Maumee’s taxpayers are footing the bill.
“That needs to be rectified,” he said.
The dispute between the county and Maumee was the subject of a lawsuit Maumee filed in 2023. The parties agreed to dismiss the case without prejudice in April.
Pete Gerken, the president of the Board of Lucas County Commissioners, says that the dismissal was agreed upon in order to give the parties space to work out an agreement.
“We don’t think it’s a good idea for cities and counties to sue each other,” Mr. Gerken said. “We will pay what we owe, but we question the accuracy of the metering Maumee used to come up with an estimate of the flow. We’ve offered to have a third-party engineering firm look into this. We had offered $1 million to settle the case earlier. We just want to get the numbers right.”
Mr. MacDonald agrees that Maumee has to rethink its approach to its sewer issues. He’s attended some of the roundtable discussions the city has held. One idea he’s heard there is to repair the sewer system a section of the city at a time so residents can save and budget for the added expense.
“I think that’s a good idea,” he said, “but it remains to be seen what will be the best thing moving forward.”
“The people elected me to represent them,” the mayor concluded. “When I’m presented with a problem, I have to come up with an answer that’s somewhat representative of the community. It does fall to each property owner to fix what needs to be fixed, but if we do it collectively as a community, we’ll succeed.”
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