When Johnson County Waste Water (JCWW) presented to the Johnson County (JC) Board Of County Commissioners (BOCC) the concept of a grinder pump as an alternative to gravity sewers (in some circumstances), the Board was very supportive. However, the County's Chief Counsel brought up the need to change the charter of JCWW for grinder pumps to be used in place of sewers. This will result in at least a 60 day delay before the first informational meetings on the grinder pump system for Oxford Township, Section S17 and other neighborhoods will be held.
JCWW is a separate municipal agency with its own taxing authority and its own charter. The Board Of Directors for JCWW is in fact the JC Board Of County Commissioners.
A change in the Charter must be approved by the BOCC. If the BOCC approves the changes, there is then a 60 day period during which residents of Johnson County may petition to have a vote on the charter changes. If the petition has enough signatures, Johnson County must then hold a vote. If the vote is not held, the charter changes are automatically rescinded.
Now that the Legal Department has reached the conclusion that the charter must be changed for grinder pump installation, changes to the charter are being drafted, both for the grinder pump and for other relatively minor changes. There are a total of 8 changes. An example of another change is to give JCWW the right to grant a release of easement administratively, rather than have the BOCC approve each one separately. As things currently stand, if JCWW decides that an easement is no longer needed, it must be brought before the BOCC for approval.
The BOCC will consider these changes and probably vote on them on June 5. If approved, the 60 day public notice period begins. If no valid petition to hold a vote is submitted, the charter changes would then go into effect and the sewer districts could move forward with the grinder pumps.
All of the residents of one small neighborhood had requested the grinder pump system. In the case where all residents had requested them, informational hearings were not needed and the installation of the grinder pump system could have moved forward immediately. Now the neighborhood will have to wait until the charter changes take effect.
The reason some neighborhoods had requested them is that the neighborhoods smelled because of the failure of the septic tank systems. In fact, one house had been declared unoccupiable. The drainage fields were saturated and there was insufficient space to create new ones.