Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, September 21, 2010,
Item 10
10 is to consider and take appropriate action on a request for variance to chapter 48 of the travis county code and title 30 texas administrative code chapter 285 to install the supply line to the septic drain field closer than five feet to the house foundation at 608 red bud trail.
>> (indiscernible). The purpose of this variance, there's an existing home built in compliance with the rules in place when it was built in 1973. They have a failed septic system. It's backing up into their home. The septic designer has determined an entirely new testimony will have to be installed. Because of sizing issues on the lot, she's proposing to use the backyard as the drain field, and in order to do so she has to bring the water tide supply line within five foot of the foundation. They are proposing to sleeve the line to mitigate for any adverse impact. They have agreed to indemnify or release county and staff recommends this variance.
>> so when we say sleeve the line, that's just in case the line --
>> in case the line breaks, it will take the effluent away from the slab.
>> okay. So the difference between this one and the next three compare to three more that we may see next week is what?
>> basically they're all existing construction. All the ones on today's agenda are existing construction. Lot constraint, size constraints where you couldn't put a system on that meets all the technical requirements. They're all agreeing to indemnify and release the county. The very last one, 13, is actually a better way to treat the effluent than what the state requires. The ones that the court will be hearing in a couple of weeks are basically the folks have room to upgrade the system and bring it in compliance with various regulations, they just do not wish to do so because it will be expensive.
>> okay. I second commissioner huber's motion to approve number 10.
>> and let me ask --
>> you do move it, right?
>> sure.
>> just from a procedural standpoint because we will see a lot of these, we're going to start seeing a lot more i anticipate. Am i on the beam on that?
>> there are aging systems within the county. This system, particularly on number 10, was done in 1973. It's nearing the end of its design life. And we're typically on smaller lots where there are size constraints and yes, we will be seeing more of that. Other complicating factor is the rule change that happened in 2008, specifically with drainage easements. Where systems used to be right up next to a drainage easement, they are now required to be as much as 25 feet away.
>> so we're going to see a lot of retrofit circumstances that can't fit inside what we now know to be the safest way to do on-site septic?
>> exactly.
>> because the lots are smaller.
>> right. And because people have moved in around them. There's no option to buy additional land to have enough of a drain field. And i'm thinking of the gilliland creek watershed issue with 2,000 or more on-site septic and having a little bit of a melt down about it. All right. We'll keep working on centralized sewer systems for some of these folks. I know some of them are just not going to be anywhere in the realm of possibility of being able to replace their system.
>> any more discussion?
>> no.
>> all in favor?
>> i got the hook and i deserved it.
>> that passes by unanimous vote.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 7:57 PM
