Lola Lauri

The following email was forwarded to me today, and it illustrates a problem in our community that the board must address:

Hi Folks:

Time for an update. As you know, our letter to the Board detailed the overuse of the respective septic systems
of the three homes in question. And sure enough, the septic system at 146 Powderhorn Drive has failed.
The septic mound is not perking. The effluent is running out of the top of the mound.

Tobyhanna Township was notified either by the homeowner or the home owners septic pumping company.
The system was inspected and a plan was presented to obtain a permit from the Township to repair and expand it to maximum size permitted.                                 The plan was approved, trees have been cut down and work is going forward.

The Township official told us that if the repair and expansion works, all well and good. He said he would periodically monitor
the system over time. He also said that if the repair and expansion partially works or fails, then he
could take certain measures including fines and require the owner to curtail the use of the system. He also noted that the area designated for expansion
is the only piece of property the owner has left for a septic mound. There are no other options for additional septic
space.

The Township official was unaware of the number of people occupying the house as well as the number of cars and SUV’s parked on
top of the septic mound periodically. Now that he is aware of the situation, he will monitor it.

On October 22, I made a presentation to the Board of Directors at its monthly public meeting. I advised  them that ten families signed
the letter but now we have fifteen families supporting this important issue. Almost every lakefront property and some lake view properties
are now involved.

The audience gasped when I described the guy yelling F… You! off the deck of 146 Powderhorn at one am for a full twenty minutes.
I noted that the rules state that a rental must be “to one family” and the Board knows this but they do not enforce it.
Our letter indicted that there was an open pit fire cauldron without a functioning fire screen on Hunter Lane along with chairs and four, six by nine foot stacked
sections of a floating dock. The rules prohibit equipment on roadways. I asked Alan Roth, the Community Manager at a Rules and Regulations
 meeting to remove this equipment. He has done nothing. I noted that 1210 and 1214 Hunter Lane had fireworks reported to Public Safety.                                       No fines were issued.
The boat launch on Hunter Lane near 1214 is being used as a bathing beach creating an annoyance for the nearby homeowners. It was further noted that the rules prohibit the use of the lake for commercial purposes. The rental homes are operating as a business. The two Hunter Lane homes charge the tenants
extra to use the rental boats.
Etc.  Etc.

Al  Leslie, the President said that he is aware of the septic situation and the large number of people still occupying these three rental properties. He further stated that they are working with an attorney on the matter.

The next meeting of the Rules and Regulations Committee is Thursday, October 11th at ten am at the Office.
The next Board of Directors Meeting is Saturday October 27 at nine thirty at the Community Center.

It would help you and all of us if you could attend one or the other to show that we are many and serious about fixing
this awful problem.

We have several standing rules in the Rules and Regulations for ELA that are being broken by the owners of these homes, and the board and the GM need to develop a plan to enforce those rules.(see personal property on roads, public nuisance, lake beach and picnic area rules and rental rules) The fines incurred will serve as a disincentive to the owners to run this disruptive “business”, and without the financial motive, the misuse of the property should stop.  Our rules are only useful if they are enforced consistently, and here is a case where they are not.  This is not a case of an owner having an occasional party, it is a consistent disruption to the lives of the people living nearby.

Please consider attending the BOD meeting on October 27th, or write to the BOD at elaboarddirects@yahoo.com, to express your thoughts on this issue.

Related articles

• Septic tank management: A fragrant problem (draindoctor.wordpress.com)