Cleaning up the Creekwood Mess....

Creekwood Homeowners got a raw deal.  Together with the County and ECUA--they are in the process of cleaning up this mess.....

What happened at Creekwood?

The Creekwood Home Owners Association (HOA) got a raw deal:  They bought nice homes in what appeared to be a nice community in a nice part of Escambia County’s District 1.

But back in the early 2000’s when Creekwood was being developed, a very common community wastewater amenity was permitted by the county to be constructed and operated by the builder rather than the utility that manages wastewater.  This was the first step in a series of events that turned into a huge mess for these homeowners over the past few years.

This amenity in question is a sewage lift station.  What is a sewage lift station?  That’s what many of the homeowners in Creekwood wondered I’m sure—many did not even know what a lift station was--let alone the fact that they would eventually OWN one!  Here is a brief primer and video on sewer lift stations (just in case you were wondering :)  ).

So the problem was that after this sewage lift station was initially constructed in the early 2000’s by the builder and deemed a “private lift station” (no longer permitted under updated county ordinances--thank GOD)—as the years went by the system became obsolete, it broke down, and in 2012—when the company that constructed Creekwood declared bankruptcy and went insolvent (until they quickly re-emerged under a new corporate name and began building houses again in Escambia County)—it (the old lift station) became property of the Creekwood Home Owners Association!  

Congratulations Creekwood homeowners--you're now the owners of a wastewater pumping system (and guess what, it's failing)!!!!

What?!?.

Yes, they were quit claim deeded the failing lift station...And the problem became that the system was aging, and the utility that manages wastewater, ECUA, refused to take ownership of this lift station because it didn’t meet current, revised, “standards."  And it was/is deemed to be a “private” lift station.  So the HOA got slammed with ownership of a failing system and began to pay to keep it running. Not popular.  These owners simply wanted what made sense, they wanted ECUA to take the lift station off their hands before it totally and completely failed.  If the system failed—no toilets would work, drains would not function properly, and the neighborhood would have a major sewage spill on their hands. If that worst case scenario happened—not only would it be expensive, it would be messy and a potential health hazard.

The ECUA would only agree to take ownership and responsibility for this lift station if it was rebuilt to be in compliance with current (very high-tech, high dollar) standards---at the homeowners’ expense.

Naturally, this idea did not sit well with many of the homeowners…..but the HOA agreed to meet

My Issue with the Creekwood Agreement...

The ECUA crafted agreement with Creekwood smells worse than a fetid garbage dump.  I don't blame the homeowners for not wanting to sign this garbage.

Yes, I ripped up that garbage agreement at the meeting.

I ripped it to shreds and called it what it is----Garbage.  It smells worse than an ECUA sewage spill....

The County and the Homeowners have been working to get the ailing lift-station at Creekwood fixed; a majority of Creekwood residents have grudgingly agreed to take on a special tax assessment to the tune of $625,000 to get this done.

Nobody is happy about the language that keeps the HOA on the hook for any problems with the repairs and construction of the new, ECUA approved lift station, in their subdivision----but the language that forces the HOA to indemnify the County, ECUA, and the contractor during the construction (which may take as long as 18 months to complete) is just too much....

I was under the apparently mistaken impression that the contractor, once engaged in the construction, would be responsible for this lift station and the homeowners could finally breath a sigh of relief.  Wrong.  Why won't ECUA see that the homeowners are acting in good faith, they have secured the financing to fix the lift station, and they are prepared to move forward.  Why must the ECUA keep their boot on the collective necks of these homeowners, rubbing salt in the wound?  Why?

The garbage rhetoric I have heard is "It would not be fair to our ratepayers to take responsibility for this lift station before it is brought up to our standards"  But wait---these residents are ratepayers!  How about a little compassion for their plight!

Initially, I felt that the least I could do to keep this process going to get this lift station fixed was to get the County on board with the badly flawed agreement, which would allow ECUA to take action on it next, and ultimately it would allow for the HOA to sign it/not sign it--because ultimately the ECUA is controlling this process; they won't take the lift station until it meets their standards.

But when the attorney read some of the most onerous language that keeps the homeowners on the hook through the entire process--I just couldn't support it.

I have a new strategy I am formulating that I will soon be discussing with the HOA.

I think we can do better than that garbage agreement.