Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council notified agencies and limits occupancy after soil consultant flags distillery septic capacity; owner disputes findings
Summary
A soil-consultant review concluded Bogue Sound Distillery's septic is rated 500 gpd but should be about 4,000 gpd given the facility's stated occupancy; town staff said allowable occupancy was reduced from 200 to 20 pending system upgrades and notified county health, fire marshal and ALE; owner Chapman disputed the consultant’s conclusions at the meeting.
The Bogue Town Council reviewed a soil-consultant report and related permits for Bogue Sound Distillery at its Oct. 20 meeting, and town staff notified regulatory agencies that the site’s allowable occupancy would be reduced pending septic upgrades.
Mayor Robert O’Chat directed council attention to a soil-science evaluation from Haywood Pittman of Pittman Soil Consulting reviewing a 2015 septic permit for the distillery. The consultant’s review concluded the installed system is permitted for 500 gallons per day (gpd). Using a 20 gpd-per-person planning assumption, Pittman concluded the facility would require approximately 4,000 gpd to support a 200-person occupancy; the existing 500-gpd system would support about 20 people and eight employees under that metric.
Town staff said they had contacted Carteret County Environmental Health and that notifications were sent to the Western Carteret Fire Marshal and Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE). Mayor O’Chat said, based on the consultant’s findings, the allowable occupancy "will be dropped from two hundred down to twenty until a new septic system is put in place." The council did not record a formal vote on this change at the Oct. 20 meeting; staff characterized the change as an administrative compliance action and referrals to program agencies for enforcement and follow-up.
The distillery owner, identified as Chapman in the council packet, disputed the consultant’s conclusions in person and in a letter left with the town clerk. Chapman told the council the tanks referenced in the materials were "not yet" in the ground and said the system has been "functioning six or seven years with no problem." He told the council, "Mr. Pittman is wrong," and left Town Hall after making those comments. Attorney Donna Boggs noted that Chapman represented the current state of the septic in his letter to the clerk and that Chapman could answer questions about the system.
The packet shown to the council included the 2015 county permit and a subsequent soil-scientist evaluation; the Pittman review amended employee counts from five to eight but did not reference a bar area, mixed-drink service or a stated 200-person capacity. Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about on-site tanks and whether existing tanks were connected; Chapman said tanks were not yet in the ground but also said certain components were "hooked up." The town did not provide documentation at the meeting showing a completed replacement permit from Carteret County Environmental Health.
Next steps recorded in the meeting: the town has referred the matter to county environmental health and to public-safety and beverage-enforcement agencies; any change in occupancy or required engineering will depend on those agencies’ determinations and on whether the owner obtains an appropriate septic permit and installs a system with sufficient capacity.
