The City of Olathe has a responsibility to protect the integrity of their public wastewater and sewage system not only for the current residents experiencing a problem but everyone who lives in Olathe. The most current article can be found here.
The result of a poor outcome is a serious degradation of trust that the city can provide the services they are entrusted to provide and further that they have to competence to be trusted when considering many people's largest investment. I would think that people would want to feel comfortable when buying a home in Olathe that the planning was appropriate to insure things like this wouldn't happen and that they wouldn't rely on a design that requires water to move uphill. Right now that is in question.
I'm thinking if I'm buying a new home in Olathe where do I begin asking questions? Why would someone even think to ask a question like, "Was my city government smart enough to design and approve a reliable wastewater system that will prevent my basement from flooding if the power goes out?" You can't expect people to go that deep because we presumably have standards and policies regarding development. The issue is confidence and credibility and Olathe is losing it quickly and worse they are thinking of the short term cost of fixing their original mistake rather than the long term damage to the city's reputation by people considering living there. Mike Copeland's comments about it only happening twice in more than a decade are not only wrong but unacceptable. That boy has put on some weight since he first became mayor....wow......check out that triple chin!
I hate to be a simpleton. The city should immediately do the right thing and commit to fix the problem by getting the waste to move by gravity and not requiring a pump OR offer to buy these houses from the current owners. They need to stop covering their asses and look to direct blame somewhere else. I'm also not an expert but if I was the owner I'd install a back flow preventer to move it from my home to somebody else's. What the city does with the homes would be up to them but selling them to somebody who knows and understands the risk at a discounted price would help them recoup some of the money. The homes would certainly have some value even without a usable basement. If I was the city I'd figure out which option is cheaper and run with it. There......look at all the lawyers and consultants I just screwed out of tons and tons of money.
With this problem getting lots of local media attention the City is losing integrity by the minute and if they don't come clean..he he and dry up....he he he..... this problem they'll have more to lose than a few residents. Come on Copeland......clean it up. This isn't Wyandotte County afterall. We have standards here in JoCo....even Olathe.
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