In the 1980s, a pipe burst on Karen and Gary Hogan's property in Ravenna Township's Chinn allotment and carried raw sewage from 19 neighboring homes into their yard. A child fell into a sinkhole that opened in their yard as a result of the broken pipe.
The Hogans worked with their neighbors, who all chipped in $125 to repair the damage. Since then, stormwater has flooded their property, and sewage has resurfaced every time it has rained.
They say a "revolving door of county employees" has stopped by to assess the problem, promised to help, but ultimately nothing has been done.
"They all said, 'It's terrible, you shouldn't have to live this way,'" Karen Hogan said. "And two months later, they were gone."
Now, the Hogans and their neighbors are being forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a septic system coming to their neighborhood. Numerous residents have filed appeals with Portage County, and the Hogans say they've also been "vilified" by their neighbors for filing the initial complaint that brought the project to the neighborhood.
And, worst of all, when the costly sewer is finally built, it will solve the sanitary sewer problem, not the stormwater issue, which makes the problem worse.
Long history of complaints
According to an EPA order, the agency received a complaint in 2015 alleging failing septic and raw sewage entering "waters of the state" in the area of the Chinn Allotment, which contains nearly 300 homes in Ravenna Township. Gary Hogan said the neighborhood's plight only caught the attention of the EPA after the state agency learned the sewage was leaking into Breakneck Creek, which feeds the Cuyahoga River and ultimately Lake Rockwell − the water supply for the city of Akron.
The EPA's Northeast Ohio District Office collected bacteria samples that found E. coli levels "in exceedance of the public health nuisance standard," and discussed the findings with the Portage County Health District in 2016. The health district sent a formal complaint to the EPA in 2018, alleging that unsanitary conditions exist in the neighborhood.
"Residential lots in the Chinn Allotment exhibit characteristics unsuitable for, or detrimental to, new or upgraded on-lot individual sewage disposal systems due to their respective size and soil conditions," states the EPA's order, issued in 2019.
That order required the county to design, build and install a sewer system to serve the Chinn Allotment, and submit a plan to fund the improvements.
Pandemic delay
Portage County Commissioner Sabrina Christian-Bennett said the board obeyed the order and directed Portage County Water Resources to design the system. But when initial designs first came back, the cost of the project, and the amount each resident would pay, was much higher − starting at $40,000 per lot. Commissioners directed Water Resources to go back to the drawing board to come up to a more affordable design.
The project also was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Christian-Bennett noted.
The new, lower cost of $16,000 per lot reflects the new design, Christian-Bennett said. It also reflects grants the county obtained that offset the cost of the project and that lowered the cost to each "benefit user."
"It's never a good time to do something like this," Christian-Bennett said. "But we obtained grants and we'll continue to look for them. We're not here to drive people out of their homes."
Dan Blakely, director of Portage County Water Resources, said the engineer's estimate is just over $11 million. The county was able to offset nearly $6.5 million of that cost through grants, with the remaining cost split among the residents.
"We understand assessments are never a pleasant process, especially for low-income people," he said. "This is not something we want to do."
But he said the project is major, and in addition to the sinkhole that opened in the Hogan's yard, other properties have raw sewage in their yard.
"It really is a huge crisis," he said. "In many cases, they couldn't figure out where the septic was going to."
Blakely said the county wants to proceed with the project because if it isn't started soon, the county could lose grant funding, which would drive up residents' costs even more.
The already expensive project impacts many of the residents even more because they're on double or triple lots, which means their cost doubles or triples, even if they have no intention of building on their property.
Many residents at a recent neighborhood meeting said they're pursuing having their property replatted to lower their costs, which could increase the cost for the rest of the neighborhood.
The Hogans, own three lots, and the price tag for them would be $48,000, plus fees to tap into the new line and crush their existing septic system. Their lots include a parcel where their pole barn sits and a parcel where the stormwater accumulates. They're among the residents looking into replat.
Vilified by their neighbors
The Hogans, who filed the initial complaint, say they did so after trying to solve the problem by working with their neighbors.
In 1979, the Hogans moved into what they thought was their dream house on Genevieve Drive. A few years later, a young trick-or-treater fell into a hole that had opened in their yard. That's when Gary Hogan discovered that a broken tile pipeline was being used to carry sewage from surrounding homes.
Gary Hogan said he suspects a contractor took advantage of some of his neighboring residents, offering to fix their septic problems but then tying their downspouts into the pipe that leads to the Hogans' yard.
"There's so many innocent people who had no idea," Gary Hogan said.
A lawyer they hired advised them to close off the pipe, but Gary Hogan decided to instead to work with his neighbors and split the cost of the repair. The homeowners each paid $125 toward the $2,000 bill to fix the pipe.
Except it didn't fix the problem.
The sinkhole was gone, but stormwater still flooded their property whenever it rained. The septic line underground still would be overwhelmed, causing raw sewage and toilet paper to bubble up from the ground.
People test their septic systems by flushing a blue or pink dye packet down their toilet. After 24 hours, if no dye washes up, the system is declared functional. But the Hogans say they've found numerous dye packs in their backyard.
At a public hearing on the sewer project, one resident stood up and blamed the Hogans for the project.
The Hogans blame the county and the township for not fixing the problem when they complained years ago.
"We're just tired of fighting," Gary Hogan said. "I'm just tired of getting the runaround."
Neighbors submit petition
After an April 30 public hearing, residents in the allotment had five days to submit written objections to commissioners. Chris and Tiffani Hawkins hosted a meeting at their Woodlawn Avenue home so residents could strategize their objections.
Dan Dobrilovic, who lives on Woodlawn Drive, passed a petition around to his neighbors objecting to the project, and got more than 70 signatures. He said he could have obtained more if he'd had more time.
The petition asks for a new public hearing, because many property owners didn't receive notice of the April 30 hearing, or didn't receive it in time to review the material. The petition also states that the system is too shallow, shifting the cost burden to residents because of the grinder pumps needed. The petition also calls for the waiver of fees, such as the county's sewer capacity fees. It also questions the definition of "benefitting units."
"I don't oppose the system, and I don't think most people do," Dobrilovic said. However, he said, he thinks it can be done in a way that costs residents far less money.
Many residents said they blame the county Health Department for allowing homes to be built with faulty septic systems, and questioned why Health Department and EPA officials didn't attend the April 30 meeting.
"The health department shouldn't have allowed Chinn to build without the proper septic," said resident Marco Condos. "Let them pay for the thing."
At one point, an attendee asked senior citizen to raise their hands. The residents said about 75% of those in the room raised their hands.
Grants available?
Ravenna Township Trustee Jim DiPaola said the Health Department was ordered by the EPA to provide sewers.
"There's nothing we can do but encourage people to apply for grants," he said.
DiPaola said he's heard about grant funding available for tap-in fees, but those grants can't be pursued until the sewer is constructed.
He said trustees will "keep an eye on things" and "see what happens with grants."
"People out there may have some options," he said.
Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.
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