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Zoning administrator reports slow manual migration to Catalyst and spotty septic records; interns suggested
Summary
Richland County zoning staff said legacy permits could not be electronically migrated into the new Catalyst permitting system; staff are manually entering records, prioritizing recent permits and sanitary records, and suggested hiring interns to accelerate the process.
Zoning staff told the Richland County Natural Resources Committee they have begun manually entering legacy land-use and sanitary permit records into the county’s new permitting system, Catalyst, after being told automatic data transfer would corrupt old records.
Staff said the earliest sanitary records go back to 2013 and land-use permits to 2020; they reported a low percentage of septic permits have been migrated so far and estimated septic entries are only about 1–5% complete. Staff explained septic permit entries require multiple fields and attachments (system type, replacement/new, in-ground vs. holding tank, soil-test reports, payment method and history), which lengthens manual entry time.
The administrator said attached historical documents—prior system records and old attachments—are important for troubleshooting failed systems and for locating replacement-system footprints on constrained lots. One recently inspected failed system traced to a design-size mismatch; staff are coordinating with the landowner, the state, and the plumber to determine remedial steps.
Staff asked the committee for permission to pursue temporary help—interns or short-term data-entry assistance—to speed the migration. The committee discussed staff workload and training opportunities; staff also described planned certified-soil-testing and county-code-administrator trainings for personnel.
No formal committee vote was required on the database work, but members acknowledged the migration will be lengthy and supported exploring staffing options to accelerate records transfer.
