Several times a day, a truck drives to and from Robert Mattey's Glenwood neighborhood to pump and haul away liquid waste from the community's faulty sewage treatment system.

The daily ritual, he said, is disruptive, noisy and smelly.

"This is not what I had envisioned for my retirement years," Mattey said June 16 as he related his story to members of the Howard County Council.

Mattey was among the roughly 50 county residents, mostly from the retirement community of the Villas at Cattail Creek in Glenwood, who attended the council hearing in an effort to spur local leaders to address what they characterized as a non-functioning sewage system and to prevent others like it from being constructed in the future.

Mattey's comments relate to a pair of bills under consideration by the council. One of the bills, sponsored by council member Greg Fox, a Fulton Republican, would prohibit the installation of certain types of residential multi-user sewage systems in the future, while the other, proposed by County Executive Kenneth Ulman, a Democrat, would grant the county greater oversight and regulation of those already in the construction pipeline. The latter measure would apply to all such systems built in the future if the prohibition bill fails.

If the measure passes, the county's Department of Public Works would be authorized to regulate the design, construction and operation of multi-user sewage systems that have yet to be built, and review the financial management plans for the systems.

The bill also would require those constructing the systems to post a bond as a means of financial security to ensure the system is operable before the responsibility of maintaining the system is passed on to another party, usually a homeowners association.

The bill would take effect later this year, although Fox added that officials are working with the county's Office of Law to draft an amendment to the bill that would make it apply to Cattail Creek.

Fox said the issues at Cattail Creek are illustrative of problems the county could continue to encounter if stricter oversight is not established. The bills were filed as a result of enabling legislation drafted by Del. Warren Miller, a Woodbine Republican who represents western Howard, that passed the state legislature earlier this year.

Residents in western Howard rely on wells and septic systems, as they are not served by public water and sewer.

Sewage impacts resale value

Cattail Creek resident Donna Berusch told the council June 16 that in her community's current situation, their houses are not marketable, thus jeopardizing the seniors' ability to sell should they need to pay to move into a nursing home.

"We don't see any silver lining in this -- you are our only hope," she told the council, adding that she and her neighbors have yet to reach a resolution with the developer in an ongoing legal battle over the sewage system.

Lisa Heimlicher, general counsel for the developers of Cattail Creek, including BRS Developers and the Villas at Cattail Creek, did not return a telephone call from a reporter seeking comment.

James Irvin, the director of the county's Department of Public Works, said the bill would allow for greater local control over residential sewage systems, which currently fall under the sole oversight of the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Michael Harrison, who testified at the June 16 hearing on behalf of the Home Builders Association of Maryland, told the council that his trade association supports the bill granting the county greater oversight but opposes outlawing the systems altogether.

He said the latter proposal would inappropriately limit a builder's discretion and result in an unacceptable one-size-fits-all approach.

The council is slated to vote on the bills July 7.

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