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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999/03/25 - Board of HealthMason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road Mardi 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 1 of 13 MASON COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road March 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers ATTENDANCE: Dr. Mark Trucksess, Health Officer Brad Banner, Director Health Services Andrea Unger, Environmental Health Specialist Bill Petty, Appellant Nancy Plews, Clerk Sonja Rau, Transcriptionist The Bill Petty, Schoolhouse hill Road, Appeal Hearing was opened by Dr. Mark Trucksess, Health Officer, at 10:04 a.m.. Dr. Mark Trucksess: Give us the chronology and... Andrea Unger: Is there.. just up to the microphones and to the (garbled). Nancy Flews: The microphones there. Yes, please! If you would use that. Andrea Unger: I just wanted to check on it and see if it was working. Nancy Flews: Sure. Andrea Unger: My name is Andrea Unger and I work for Mason County Health Department and I work in the Solid Waste Code Enforcement Section. And a...we're meeting here today for appeal here for Mr. William Petty on the solid waste violations located at N. 461 Schoolhouse Hill Road in Mason County. And ah...the case history I have handed out but I will read through it. The first complaint that the Health Department received was 2/14/92. And the complaint investigation found at that time a large amount of refuge: car hulks, bum piles, with Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road March 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 2 of 13 garbage. On 9/9/92 a notice of violation was sent to the residence, that live at that time...not Mr. Petty...at the time. Just the residence that live there. And they were warned not to a... burn garbage or...and to store garbage properly. Ah...there is a complete history of these...ar...in the a...attached file. So if you want to read the whole thing you can. Ah... on 2/4/94 another complaint was called in and a... a... the complaint investigation, the results are found ah... solid waste covered most of the half acre site and hulk, and in- operable vehicles were onsite. And 2/1 or...I'm sorry...2/17/94 Notice and Order to abate all the solid waste violations was mailed to Mr. Petty. In the Notice and Order was listed the violations: garbage burning, lack of garbage containment, burial of solid waste, condemned trailers, appliances, vehicle tires, lumber, hulk and inoperable vehicles. On 2/28/94 Mr. Petty responded to Notice and Order, denying responsibility for solid waste. There is a copy in there. On 3/1/94 a non-compliance order was sent to Mr. Petty, he had not submitted a written cleanup plan for his property. That was part of the original Notice and Order, that a clean up plan would occur. On 3/9/94 a Solid Waste Notice and Order Compliance Schedule was mailed to Mr. Petty on 3/9/94. There is a copy of that also. On 5/27/94 Notice of Penalty was sent to Mr. Petty for being out of compliance. He had not followed the directions in the Notice and Order, so he got compliance. On 9/27/94 the case was turned over to Mason County Prosecutor. Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road March 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 3 of 13 On 9/25/94 the case history of the mobile home onsite were also turned over to the County Prosecutor. There is a case history in there. On 1/13/99 I received most of the f (garbled) attorney's back and so, on 1/13/99 I did a site inspection myself to see where it was. And at this time I would like to submit some pictures ah... on the violations that I found up there. Dr. Mark Trucksess: Ok! Andrea Unger: And then Mr. Petty can look at them also when your done. (She hands them to Dr. Trucksess.) You'll notice that there is a large pile of either construction debris or demolition debris. There were...with out having the pictures in front of me, I think there was three or four junk vehicles that were just smashed, and unr...almost unrecogn...almost no recognition. There were two cars there that were hard to tell if they were inoperable or... or hulk vehicles. Ah...the two trailers there, did not look like they've been occupied and still not quite sure if they even, ever got full building permit on them. With out it...seriously, that is protection on being able to take any act to the property to tell whether they are in any fixable shape or not. It would be considered -a solid waste issue. I also have the definition of solid waste in our Notice and Order. I think it is the fourth page? So we can work them out. There is also things like appliances, ah...I mean...those pictures kind of represent (garbled) . Mr. Petty would you like to see them still? Bill Petty: Yes! Andrea Unger: Due to the solid waste violations I found on the site, I sent a Notice and Order on 2/10/99 to Mr. Petty to abate this solid waste violation. That is the first Notice and Order I...behind the summary. And this hearing is ah...appeal that Mr. Petty filed regarding the Notice I sent him. And his appeal...I think I forgot to get a copy of that. I do apologize! Since Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road Mardi 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 4 of 13 Dr. Mark Trucksess: Andrea Unger: Dr. Mark Trucksess: Andrea Unger: Dr. Mark Trucksess: Andrea Unger: Dr. Mark Trucksess: Andrea Unger: there was one junk vehicle on the site and there was no construction debris. And that is the summary. Is there any question or...anything I need to make clear? Uh...this has been a problem that has been unchanged since February `92? Well, some of it has changed because a number of people were living on the site. I do have pictures of those. I just did not...had not taken those pictures. Ah...so it is hard for me to actually, legally say...but you know it is pretty obvious that they were the same site. These are pictures from '92 and '93, and they are just ah...that show the people on site. There were more actual household garbage, not just the appliances and construction debris. Um! I did not take these pictures, since I was not working here, so... So... There is some abatement then in ah... The abatement I think that it... ...between '94 and '99? I am sorry, Dr. Trucksess! The abatement that has occurred has been mostly just...I think, is when people are not living there anymore. Some ah...local homes, just not motor homes and trailer homes go on, but those really weren't part of the original abatement order. But it looks like the same junk pile was there with the appliances and ah.... (Long silence - looking at the pictures.) Andrea Unger: We can kind of compare them with the newer ones and see Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road Mardi 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 5of13 what is still left there. It is kind of hard to see through the garage somewhat. Would you like to see these too? (Long silence as they look at the pictures.) Bill Petty: Andrea Unger: Dr. Mark Trucksess: Andrea Unger: Dr. Mark Trucksess: Andrea Unger: Dr. Mark Trucksess: Andrea Unger: What are these? Um...I think those were from 19... `92. Well, it looks like there are some of the same vehicles there. It is hard to tell for sure from the pictures. Ok... And so after the first Notice and Order was sent back in `92, there was another Notice and Order sent in '94, um...you don't know whether there was any compliance ah... after those initial orders were sent? I personally do not know, but according to what I can find in the file, it was turned over to the prosecutor in 9/27/94. So, ah...my guess is that there was not any compliance that occurred. Or if there was, there was a small amount and there again... Uh... it wasn't adequate. Because that is when they turned it over to the Prosecuting Attorney, when they didn't get any action on this. Notice and Orders and a... And the...the Prosecutor, did they do anything with this? Not that I am aware of. The files that I received back, I think they wrote letters. I think they wrote a letter to Mr. Petty. Ah...I know that we turned the case over to them, but... the file they turned back to me - they did not have a whole lot of evidence that they observed much less progress on them. (Long period of silence and paper shuffling.) Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road March 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 6 of 13 Andrea Unger: Dr. Mark Trucksess: Bill Petty: Just for information purposes only. A lot...ah, Mr. Petty owns six properties that we have had ah... solid waste issues on, so a lot of these things are on all properties... I've tried to highlight it where it says Schoolhouse Hill Road. Um...Ok. And...don't see the...Ok, I guess I'll.... Mr. Petty do you want to present your appeal? One of the things, (clear throat) that is not obvious here is that, if a person stands back or is driving past the property it is almost impossible to look back on the property in question, and to identify.... I think it was one of the pictures, very...00ps! Here is as if your standing still, looking in, you can see a little bit. But if your driving by, because of this slatted fence, it is much more difficult. And I think, some of the pictures had to be a taken from a neighbor's property...so forth. And basically, you know I don't mind complying if they were not out for a witch hunt and making a big issue of, you know, one particular person. And I know for a fact, one of the neighbors in the vicinity has maybe, hundreds of tires. And I don't know in those pictures, how many tires you can count, but I would assume it is extremely few. And one of the other...call it problem, but...a couple of vehicles on that property, I do not have tittle to. And as you know, it is...in fact it is impossible to get rid of a vehicle without having the tittle. And so...ah...that is one of the difficulties that I am finding. Slowly, but surely happening, we're getting arrangements made to get tittles and things like that so they can be removed. And I think, as some of the pictures indicate there - it is showing more than one property owner...one of those adjourning pieces of property is not mine, that some of that material is on. Then there is other pictures of other places that I...I am not sure...that don't relate to this at all. And one of the complaints I would sense there was four or five junk mobile homes on the property. Well, there is only one mobile home and it is not junk. Because someone not presently living in it doesn't declare it as being junk. And one of the problems I face is, I don't know if this...hopefully not the case with a lot of renters, is I am having people there that end up taking advantage of us. They do such Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road Mardi 25,1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 7 of 13 Dr. Mark Trucksess: Andrea Unger: things as not paying rent, not taking care of the place, and then it is a real challenge, cause...you know, there are only x hours a day. By the time I get back home to clean up anything that somebody has left - you know your working out in the dark this time of the year. So, ah...it has been a real, real challenge to get the previous people that was there, left their junk, to get back and clean it up. So, we're slowly working on it. It is being accomplished, but ah... it takes a little bit of time. And...kind of the question I have is, I realize that people have lived there who I have not had a whole lot of control over and it is impossible to get somebody out of the place if they have little children, and that has happened.a time or two...that really, really is difficult to enforce tenant/tenant act, things like that. The sheriff has been there, different things have happened. It is really difficult when your working with families with little children. But that may not be an excuse or the way things have happened. But another thought is - unless a person walks way back in this property you cannot see appliances and things like this from the road. An so, ah...at the moment I am submitting that as a... justification for things that are there and not been a problem as far as I know. In fact, I have not seen a signed complaint that someone is complaining. The other problem is that I have found that Health Department goes out there and canvasses the neighborhood saying, would you please sign a complaint against Bill Petty. And I think that is...you know, an out and out witch hunt that shouldn't be. And so... Do you have any questions? Is that true that you recruit complaints? No, ah... ah...this is Andrea speaking again. Ah... it is... ah our whole complaint system is complaint driven. Um...we do not just go out and pick properties out and keep on going. If we receive a complaint, then we go out and do a site investigation. That is all solid waste and septic complaints. Ah...building department might be a little bit different, but I don't work for the building department. I don't know. But we do not just go around and just pick Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road March 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 8of13 lots, and we do not go around to neighbors and ask them to sign complaints. Our whole thing is complaint driven. Dr. Mark Trucksess: Um, huh! Bill Petty: Andrea Unger: In this case, the reason I said that...the neighbor...who ever took the pictures on, which is next door to my place, was asked by the person taking the pictures, would you sign a complaint against Bill Petty? Ah, I am sorry. That...that is untrue because I am the one who took the pictures and I talked to the gentleman and what I asked him if it would be alright if I walked on his property to take the pictures because it is visible to public view. I do not...our whole complaint system is not based on going around and getting people to sign them. People call in...you know? Bill Petty: I know. Andrea Unger: Ah...people call them in. Ah...first of all ah...ah...that is all...the question was asked and he said it was fine if I went on the property to take pictures. Because, even if your property is screened...(garbled)...ah...that only works with hulk vehicles, not garbage. Ah...so it doesn't make a difference if your screened or not. Maybe I should ah...(garbled). You know because it says here in the regulations, that I have mailed out to you... Ok, it says, "Storing"...I think everyone has a copy of this. I think it is the fifth page of this. "Storing requirements. Storing inoperable vehicles and other solid waste from public view, shall take place at the Health Departments approval - fencing or buffer which easily remove the objects from public view." Now, its...I...have to see the picture that has this screen it. Now the only reason the Health Department has ever allowed that in the past, is when it comes to hulk and inoperable vehicles, and that is the only time it is ever allowed - fencing. Ah...the demolition debris, the appliances, ah...all that is considered solid waste. Um...and that...unless without a solid waste permit to have an actual... Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road March 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 9 of 13 you know, a solid waste collection facility, you can't store solid waste on property. The fencing, was basically, always for hulk and junk vehicles, was what it was. Ah...depending on the size of a piece of property, your only allowed one hulk vehicle and that has to be stored from public view. And I usually have the size of property...do you happen to have it off the top of your head? Is it a half acre? Bill Petty: No, it is more than that. I would say it is closer to an acre and a half. Andrea Unger: Ok, well between an acre... Bill Petty: An acre... Andrea Unger: ...acre...between an acre and a half, and lets see...it says ah... lets see...right there.... About 16...it's about .72 acre's, it looks like. Brad Banner: Do you want me to run and get anything from the grid? Andrea Unger: Ah, no! I just kinda wanting to find the regulations, so we all have an understanding of this. Between one-half acre and 10 acre's you can have one hulk vehicle, and the condition of the car are in, that would be one hulk vehicle. And that has to be stored from public view. So if you just had one of those there, that would be allowable. Now inoperable vehicles are. different. Over a half -acre you can have three or more that are in public view, but those are not inoperable vehicles, those are hulk vehicles. The hulk vehicles regulations is...as I spit it out to you, is spelled out...you know by the State of Washington... Bill Petty: I agree that there is one hulk vehicle there. Andrea Unger: There is three, basically. I mean.... There is those pictures...can I have them again? Ah...um...I am not really trying to start and argument here. I'm just...if you will look at them...this car right here has no windshield, has no tires; Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road Mardi 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 10of13 Bill Petty: Andrea Unger: this car, I mean, hasn't been running in years. It has no tires. That one has a windshield broken out. That is the to. (garbled), and that one I don't have tittle Ah...you know...I mean, those are hulk vehicles and I couldn't tell...now these kind of look like inoperable vehicles. So that's not...it is hard to tell with out an adequate view, but.... Public view is just does not mean driving down the street either. It means neighbors, people just don't...people just don't want to look at this stuff, ah...you know. It a...you know, this construction demolition debris, this is the pile I was talking about. Bill Petty: Yes, but that pile is not on my property. Andrea Unger: That is not on your property? Bill Petty: No! Andrea Unger: Ok. Then how's come it is fenced inside? I am not trying to argue with you. How... Bill Petty: You see what happened... Andrea Unger: ...come it is fenced inside your property? Bill Petty: ...you got two pieces of property on this side of the fence... Andrea Unger: Um...huh. Bill Petty: The one that is is not mine. Andrea Unger: Do you know who owns that, because there is... Bill Petty: PUD One. Andrea Unger: So the PUD left this on the property? The PUD got this stuff here? Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road Mardi 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 12 of 13 Bill Petty: Andrea Unger: Dr. Mark Trucksess: Bill Petty: Dr. Mark Trucksess: I just...this is what he told me ah...that a...he... That's fine, that's fine. I just wanted to clear up issues...you know before it escalates. Ah...if there is nothing else... Ah...any more questions...I think we actually covered everything. Do you have anything further to rebut? Ah...No, I will close. Your done? Ok! Adjourned. The Bill Petty Schoolhouse Road hearing was adjourned at 10:31 a.m. with final determination due within 30 days. Respectfully submitted by: Sonja A. %u, Transcriptionist Dr. Mark Trucksess, Health Officer Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road March 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 11 of 13 Bill Petty: No, it was left there. Andrea Unger: By the PUD? By PUD? PUD number One left this? Bill Petty: Yes. Andrea Unger: ...on the property. Ok. Well I could certainly bring that into...I could certainly talk to the PUD. Ah...until we get that figured out...you know...but there is still...you know...you know until we actually get it figured out. I will talk to the PUD tomorrow and I will go out and fight with them, if they can let me in and we can do a survey on it and make sure it is their property. And if it is there property, then they will also have to clean it up. But there is still piles of...you know this is the piles of appliances, the cars, and... And it has always been, ah...as far as I know, that all you have to do is call the sheriffs office and they will come out bring you a hulk permit. And if they do not want to give you a hulk permit...let me finish this real quick...they will not give you a hulk permit... ah... all it takes is a hundred bucks and the tow -trucks will come and tow them off and...and the tow - truck people will do a hulk permit on -site on their property. So it isn't really all that difficult to get rid of cars. Dr. Mark Trucksess: They want 100 bucks a ? Andrea Unger: You know it has been there about...well anyway, it has not...ah... Bill Petty: No problem. Andrea Unger: ...anyway, I am just trying to inform you of the options. Bill Petty: Alright. Thank you! Andrea Unger: And just to reassure yourself that we are complaint driven and we do not go and solicit complaints. Um...so, I asked the person in question if I could take pictures because it is in public view. And that was the extent of it. �� Mason County Board of Health Bill Petty Appeal Hearing Schoolhouse Hill Road Mardi 25, 1999 Commissioner's Chambers Page 13 of 13