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Stumped by Sump Pumps
Last fall when I got a telephone call from a constituent because her neighbor was dumping water from his basement onto her yard, driveway, and into the street, my first reaction was amazement. Doesn’t he realize that his problem should not become the neighbors’ problem? Why doesn’t he channel it into the catch basin? After trying unsuccessfully to settle this issue with the neighbor, she did what I would do: call my city councilor. The DPW and the Health Department both went to the site and it seemed that a legislative approach would be the best scenario. I looked into existing legislation and discovered that in Municipal Code 9-73, Litter and Refuse, waste water is addressed. Section 9-73. Litter and Refuse Whoever shall, without the license of the Board of Health, throw into, or leave in or upon any street, court, square, lane, alley, public square, public closure, private property, pond or body of water, or vacant lot where it would be offensive or injurious to public health, within the limits of the City, any dead animal, dirt, sawdust, soot, ashes, cinders, shavings, hair, shreds, manure, oyster, clam or lobster shells, waste water, rubbish, or filth of any kind, or any refuse, animal or vegetable matter whatsoever, shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) for each offense with every day the violation continues being a separate and new offense. (1973 Ord., Sec. 9.13; as further amended by Ord. #759, Eff. July 1st, 2003) This legislation is vague concerning the definition of waste water. I thought it would be anything that is not potable. According to the definition provided in Chapter 14 of the Sewer Ordinance, “Wastewater” shall mean the spent water of a community and may be a combination of liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions together with any groundwater, surface water, and storm water that may be present. We worked with the Health Department and offered an amendment that also included a qualifier where people would be exempt from compliance given the approval of the Director of Public Health and the Director of Public Works. In all cases, the goal is to get people to comply with the ordinance, not to be punitive. Fines are intended as a last resort. When the issue came up for the first time on the agenda, it passed the City Council for a first read, 8-1. If it had made it to a second read, it would have failed 8-1, so I chose to withdraw it. Withdrawing it is not something that was done as a way to escape the inevitable failed legislation. It was because of the overwhelming number of telephone calls and emails that came to the city councilors. We got “flooded” with them. While it would be reasonable to expect people who are discharging water to channel it to catch basins, it is unfortunate that many streets in the city are not equipped with catch basins. This is due to old, inherited infrastructure issues. Adding “discharge from sump pumps” to the existing legislation would have been unfair. There is not an easy remedy in every case. Councilor Joseph Leone and Councilor Phil Lahey are both extremely knowledgeable in these matters. Both should be credited with providing expertise and insight into this. Further, it is their belief that most water situations can be remedied. While there is no clear legislation pertaining to this issue, I maintain, if possible, while discharging water from your basement, that a little consideration and courtesy go a long way. You know the saying, “good fences make good neighbors.” Finally, I feel it is important that if you cannot reason with your neighbor, you should seek resolve with your City Councilors, the DPW, and the Health Department. There is a valuable lesson here to be learned. This proved to be an exercise in listening to the constituents and acknowledging that sometimes certain things don’t have a quick, legislative fix. Kathleen Corey
Rahme is the former Central District Councilor in Methuen
and was elected as a city councilor “at-large”
last year. She is also the founder of the Methuen Youth
Corps and hosts "call to Serve." You can email
her at kcoreyrahme@comcast.net *Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
A very important issue has come to
the “surface” in Methuen of late. There are a
lot of homes in Methuen that rely on sump pumps in an
effort to seek relief from water in their basements.
Apparently due to high water tables and ground and
surface water throughout the city, many homes are faced
with this difficult problem.