PART 1: I just learned yesterday, after two interviews with Orenco engineers out of Sutherlin, Oregon, that Canterwood is the only system in the United States managed by residents. Since Orenco is by far the dominant company in the world, this brings Canterwood STEP from unusual to unique. They cover the US (Lacey, Olympia, Camas, Florida, California) using the systems and thousands of individual users inside and outside of the city limits, but every municipality manages and maintains its own system. Refer to the City of Lacey and the STEP maintenance analysis provided by Orenco.
They (Orenco) were unaware of the Washington Statute, mandating that STEPS be managed by a public entity, but they offered that in California it is simply forbidden for a private community to manage their system. If you read the Lacey analysis (We hope to have it in the annex Canterwood site fairly soon) you will understand how, without the trucks, equipment, and trained personnel, it is impossible to do the correct job. We pretend by hiring a series of tech firms in the septic field. Orenco came up last year and checked things out. They talked to one resident and asked if the maintenance firm reported if they had changed the filter. She replied yes, so they double checked and found the filter was enclosed in a hard pipe, making it impossible to change. If the filters are not changed timely, your systems plugs up, alarms go off and help, that you pay for, is needed. Just like what happened two weeks ago.
I am no advocate for enlarging government, but I think you can see, in systems that are by their nature public and expensive, continuous maintenance is essential, there is no alternative to a good department of public works. Private contractors in the septic world are the most profitable businesses in construction because they work on the one area where no handy man can compete. I offer an example of how naive I was about sewer contractors . I have an apartment in Fircrest and for 20 years two of the lower units had a problem with toilets backing up. We employed the largest company in the field (FH) to clear the line once a month for a few hundred dollars a visit and we asked them to put the camera in the line (500 dollars). They reported that a bow in the line that was causing the blockage was about 35 feet from the building and would cost around $20,000 to replace, plus the asphalt repair. We could not justify the outlay, so we paid the charges for clean out. Last summer, my son, Matt, knew a plumber with the camera scope, so we had another opinion ($300) which showed the bow to be about 30 inches from the building. It wound up being a two guys digging problem taking about 3 hours and costing less than 400 dollars for everything. My background is in construction and development (lots of sewer pipe) but I trusted the big reputation and I did not want to get in the muck. I wasted $25,000 dollars and irritated a nice couple over 20 years. I have met many former fine STEP Board members and they have no option other than the trust avenue that I walked down. Why do STEP Board members take on this impossible job and really assume a liability, instead of pushing for annexation? It is baffling. If you are on STEP you need to pay attention.
The last point STEP members need to ponder is, in addition to the $30 monthly surcharge as an incentive for annexation, you also get billed a maintenance fee. The maintenance charge would already be factored in, if the bill was the regular city bill. STEP members pay the fee twice. You would avoid paying the surcharge and the maintenance assessment if you were in Gig Harbor. I really wonder if the various Boards have explained this clearly to their members.
In the next week I will post Part 2 and 3. You may contact me personally with questions or if you want the whole STEP analysis in one pdf. johnmorrison1086@gmail.com
Part 2 : I estimate (no one from either STEP Board offers to help in this task) the Canterwood charge is between 9 and 10 dollars for maintaining the internal system and chemicals for partial treatment. Doesn’t seem like a big deal for Canterwood even though it is over $3000 per
month, but it takes the $120,000 up another $40,000 to $160,000 annually. If we annex we could spend months deciding which worthwhile charity we could fund. Or we could simply save the money individually.
What you never are told is that all the other STEP systems in Washington besides Canterwood are municipal responsibilities. They include maintenance in your bill and they maintain everything, filters, pumping, tank problems. They have the equipment and know how to do it for under $30 a month. See the Lacey Orenco site. In Canterwood you pay for everything on site, even if it is due to incompetent service contractors. (This site had several Canterwood examples two weeks ago). One Canterwood lady talked about a $500 bill she paid as a result of a mistake done on the system. She talked about small claims action when she would be better served for the end of days if she helped us promote annexation.
The HOA Board really wants nothing to do with the STEP associations . The deal was, when the Development Company dissolved (it has), the HOA was to have assumed the responsibility. The same HOA Board was indifferent to the STEPs in 08 by not getting expertise to push the city to finish the deal they made years before. You have wasted over $1.3 million dollars, plus you paid another substantial accumulated fee for maintenance that was half baked at best. Maybe my sewer story wasn’t that dumb.
Recently, I checked Big STEP’s financial statements. They show around $350,000 in two accounts offset by some payables. If you annex, this could serve as a dowry. Or if you have leadership, your position is justified by pointing out you are not asking for the improperly charged $1,300,000 which should have been cancelled in 08 when the City tried to con us with the consultants report.
My next post will cover my original promised relationship between the STEPS and the HOA and glaring omissions by real state brokers and the two STEP Boards
Part 3
Imagine your two STEP systems are tiny utility companies. Together you service 750 acres with 374 individual homes. You have no one in charge who knows much about the forces and mechanics involved in the system. You rely 100% on contractors. Your supervision is cursory because if you do not know how to do something, it has to be superficial. The only basis for survival is to force all costs on to individual homes. But, where are you if a line breaks due to construction, earth tremors, or water caused settling? I spent well over a million dollars bringing the STEP to Canterwood in the late 80’s so your cost construct today would be
over $2,500,000. Clearly, if we decide not to annex, the $325,000 amount of cash reserves is no where near a prudent amount.
Now, this was not my original plan. My plan was that after the Development Company ended, STEP would be absorbed by the Canterwood HOA with its much larger reserves. This shares the risk with a larger pool, thereby reducing the individuals risk of getting a large assessment. My guess is, based on the Board’s resistance to take on responsibility for the two STEPS, this is not going to happen. This undercuts the very idea of an HOA.
As I really think about the situation we have created in Canterwood, if I were on the Board of the two STEPS, I would push for complete disclosure that we are a stand alone island in a sea of municipal STEP systems and, in innocent, but still violation of Washington Statute, that all STEP type systems be maintained by a public entity. I would reveal that we are paying, and have for 25 years, a 30 dollar monthly penalty to encourage annexation, that the City and Canterwood ostensively do not want to see happen. We could darkly add that, in the event of problems, we are left to assessments.
If I were a Realtor selling in Canterwood, I would at least make sure failure to fully disclose STEP requirements and the novelty of Canterwood in the United States was not another basis for a brokers lawsuit. Currently, I hear there is nothing pejorative about being on STEP that would affect home values. After we start telling prospective buyers the truth, maybe it will be an incentive for people who really want to go it alone, free of local government?