By Michael Howell
On Tuesday August 9, the Ravalli County Board of Health finally reached a written compliance agreement with Florence property owners Tim and Elaine Burt after discussions and delays lasting over a year and a half concerning a violation of sanitation laws on their rental property. The Burts agreed to meet a list of requirements concerning the management of the buildings on the property and to pay a fine of $8,400.
Issues first arose when the Department of Environmental Health found the property to be out of compliance with sanitation laws in 2015. They found the property contained a two-story house permitted as a two-bedroom single-family residence for septic purposes that was being rented as a duplex. There were also two trailers on the property being rented out and each had an approved septic. But a garage apartment had been built and was illegally attached to the septic serving one of the trailers on the property. The county also claims that the state requires any property with more than one trailer to get a trailer court permit and these have not been permitted.
A verbal agreement was reached with the county that required the removal of one of the trailers, a proper permitting of the garage apartment septic and a limit on the use of the house as a single-family, two-bedroom residence, but nothing was done. After several delays and excuses over several months, including changing attorneys, the Burts were finally sent a letter demanding compliance on April 7, 2016. Commissioner Jeff Burrows noted at the meeting that if the $200 per day fine for being out of compliance was calculated from that date it would come to a total of $24,000.
The Burts offered to pay $4,000 and offered to disconnect one trailer from the septic and use it as a storage unit.
The board found the offer unacceptable and board member Dr. Michael Turner expressed exasperation at the continual attempt by the Burts to change the deal. But he suggested that, since one delay had to do with a meeting that the commissioners cancelled, the fine could be figured from April 7, 2016 through July 7, 2016, which would be 13 weeks and equates to $18,200.
Burrows thought that was too steep. He suggested a fine based on a period from April 7, 2016 to the date that the Burts’ current attorney, Rachel Parkin, contacted him on May 18, 2016, which would total $8,400.
Katherine Scholl also expressed dissatisfaction and suggested nothing under $10,000 should be accepted.
But in the end the board approved a preliminary fine assessment of $8,400 on a 3 to 1 vote with Turner casting the dissenting vote.
The Burts also agreed that the two-story home would be rented as a single family residence with two bedrooms and the county would be allowed to inspect during business hours with a 24-hour notice being given. They agreed that the northern trailer would be used only for storage and be disconnected from septic and water and that all water fixtures and appliances would be taken out and the county allowed to inspect at any time without notice. The north trailer lease will be terminated, but tenants will be allowed to move into the garage apartment and the Burts will work with RCEH to get the garage apartment properly permitted.
A payment plan for the fine was also negotiated separately. The Burts suggested a payment plan of $400 per month for 21 months. But the county did not want to “drag it out” so long. The Burts agreed to pay off the fines starting in October 2016 through June 2017, which equates to nine installments of $933.33 paid monthly and paid in full by June 1, 2017.