Homeowner and local health pause appeal while septic repairs proceed

A homeowner who appealed a local health department order over a septic-related public nuisance agreed on a temporary pause in the appeal while she pursues repairs, the hearing officer said at a conference that set a Sept. 30 status check.

The agreement matters because the hearing officer said she must ultimately decide whether the department’s original order complied with statutory requirements and whether it should stand; the parties asked the hearing officer to delay issuing a final decision while repairs proceed and the department and homeowner coordinate on revised order language.

At the conference, the hearing officer invited the homeowner, identified in the record as Miss Stacy, to summarize progress on repairs. Miss Stacy said a contractor from Hilltop Septic had pumped her tank, inspected the leach field and found the system “very, very full,” and that the contractor is drawing plans and will submit NDDH paperwork and permit forms next week. "He did say that it is functioning properly, and there was nothing that needed to be done aside from pumping it," she said.

Mister Sartori, a registered sanitarian with the local health department, said department staff consider the property a nuisance condition based on prior observations and an initial complaint but described the current posture as facilitation of compliance. "Our goal is really facilitating compliance, minimizing the public health nuisance," Sartori said, adding staff are willing to amend the wording in the department’s order so long as it remains consistent with statute.

Christy, a participant in the conference, objected to the order’s language and said the discharge is not sewage but excess groundwater. Miss Stacy said she would complete repairs regardless of the wording; the hearing officer repeatedly asked whether Miss Stacy would withdraw the appeal if the department amended the order’s language, and Miss Stacy said she preferred withdrawal but would continue repairs either way. "I'm appealing the fact that it's not sewage," Miss Stacy said.

The hearing officer outlined options: issue a final decision on the appeal now; extend the deadline for issuing a decision if both parties request a pause; or have local health withdraw its order. The group agreed to pause issuance of the final decision while repairs are completed, to communicate that agreement by email, and to reconvene at a status conference at 10 a.m. on Sept. 30. The hearing officer asked Loreen Walker (staff) to send an email to both parties asking them to confirm that they request the hearing officer forego issuing the final decision while they work to resolve outstanding issues.

On timing, Miss Stacy said the contractor is on vacation this week but expects to provide permit paperwork the next week; she said financing was in place. A staff participant provided an industry ballpark that similar projects typically take “under 60 days but over 30 days,” but the contractor did not provide a firm schedule during the conference.

The hearing officer and Sartori noted a legal concern to be checked with counsel: whether facilitating repairs and then withdrawing an order poses any legal or financial liability compared with an order being marked satisfied. The hearing officer asked the parties to raise that question with their counsel and to bring it up at the Sept. 30 status conference if necessary.

No formal vote was taken. The operative outcome from the conference was a procedural agreement to pause the hearing officer’s final decision pending completion of repairs, to confirm that pause by email, and to hold a status conference at 10 a.m. on Sept. 30 to evaluate progress.

Background: participants referred to NDDH paperwork and to a Plainfield town ordinance regarding sump-pump discharge; Sartori said town sewer maps did not reflect actual sewer availability at the property and that a sewer tie-in was not a current option. The homeowner said the property has experienced repeated complaints over several years, and the department confirmed recurring complaint history in prior files.