KINGWOOD — Members of the Kingwood Sewer Board met with Joe Seese, CEO and executive officer of Pine Ridge Nursing Home, on Monday.
Seese attended the meeting to discuss a solution about rags, gloves and grease from the facility going into the sewer system and causing problems.
“We get 80 pounds of grease a week,” Sewer Department Supervisor Nick Wolfe told Seese. Wolfe said previously there was a problem with gloves and rags going into the sewer but that problem has decreased.
Seese said he didn’t know where the grease was coming from. He said Pine Ridge does not cook with grease. He said it uses steamers for all the cooking.
“We clean out our pit every six months,” he told board members. “The company said we no longer have to do it quarterly.”
He said Pine Ridge has a 1,200-gallon tank and its line has only been flushed out once by sewer board employees.
“We put $38,000 in it to fix this,” board member Randy Plum said. “Once a week we go in and clean it up. Just one of our pumps cost $17,000. They are really pricey and they don’t handle diapers and rags.”
He suggested Pine Ridge put a restrictor valve on its system so the flow into the sewer trap will be slower.
Seese showed board members a schematic of the Pine Ridge sewer system. He said the company will install the valve and see if it alleviates the problem.
Board members also discussed a ditch on Old Tunnelton Pike that recently overflowed during heavy rains, sending water into a garage used by the sewer board.
Board chairman and Kingwood Mayor Jean Guillot said flooding washed away all of the gravel the board put in the parking lot.
When ditching was done by the State Department of Highways over the summer, the ditch wasn’t tied into a culvert.
“It (the water) comes off the old railroad bed,” Guillot said. He said he contacted Preston County Parks and Recreation about the problem but it has not responded.
“Write a letter. If they want to flip their nose up at us maybe we need our attorney to contact them,” Plum said. “We have a new facility down at the plant, why don’t we move our stuff down there?”
Guillot said the sewer board does not own the building on the Old Tunnelton Pike. He said attorney Sheila Williams drew up a paper about the use of the building and it was signed by both the water and sewer boards.
According to the Preston County Assessor’s office, the City of Kingwood owns the building.
Wolfe said if the board decides to move to the plant, it will have to build another tool room for storage.
“We might not own the building, but I don’t believe it’s appropriate for Parks and Recreation to let water run like that,” Guillot said.
No further action was taken.
Sewer line problem
In other business, Wolfe said his crew flushed the sewer line at Hillsview Floral to keep it from spilling onto the road.
Mike Graham, owner of Hillsview Floral, “wouldn’t sign for the line to be flushed,” Wolfe said. “I turned in a bill but it hasn’t been paid.”
In a letter to the board, Graham said his line was crushed when a storm line was put down the alley. He said it gets clogged when there are heavy rains or when the nearby clinic plows snow.
Wolfe said his crew camera inspected the sewer board’s line and it was fine. He said he believed Graham’s line is plugged and he should check it with a camera.
“Talk to him one-on-one. We can put a new tap in but it will cost him $500,” Guillot said.
Plum said if Graham doesn’t pay the $127 bill for the line being flushed, it shouldn’t be flushed again.
“It’s a public hazard if we don’t flush it,” board member Chuck Miller said. “Flush it and if they don’t pay their bill, cut off their water.”
Plum suggested the board check with its attorney about legalities. “He can camera his line and if we broke it, that’s an entirely different story,” he said.
Miller said his crew could check the line with a camera for Graham but it will cost him $100 per hour plus $150 for the camera.
No further action was taken.
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