Amid the many concerns brought before the county executive at a recent community forum, sewage has risen to the surface.

County Executive Kenneth Ulman told residents of the Villas at Cattail Creek in Glenwood that fixing the problem fouling their neighborhood has become his top priority.

That's as it should be.

More importantly, however, he and County Council member Greg Fox have both proposed legislation to head off similar problems in other neighborhoods in the future.

Cattail Creek, a development of nearly 100 pricey condos, lies outside the area of the county served by public water and sewer and so required its own system for treatment and removal of waste. What the developer gave it instead is, in essence, a holding tank from which noisy trucks must haul the smelly stuff several times a day, county officials say.

A spokesman for the state's Department of the Environment confirms it is requiring the developer to replace the system, but, according to county spokesman Kevin Enright, that work won't begin until the fall.

In addition, Ulman told the residents who descended on the forum that county officials are investigating possible breaches of local consumer-protection laws in connection with the matter.

So governments are responding appropriately, but they are certainly moving more slowly than the afflicted residents would like.

Meanwhile, officials are taking some steps to avoid similar incidents in the future.

The County Council is to vote Monday on a bill, proposed by council member Greg Fox, a Fulton Republican, that would prohibit residential multi-user sewage systems. The council will also vote on a bill from Ulman, a Democrat, that would give the county's Department of Public Works greater oversight and regulatory power over such systems built in the future.

Few problems can affect a neighborhood's quality of life and property values the way sewage problems can. These two measures should head off future problems to the extent possible.

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