Overton County Commission approved a motion to cover any additional expenses required to install a septic system and connect water services at the Monroe Community Center after the project exceeded its original budget.
Officials said the project has already surpassed its initial budget by $40,000 due to engineering changes and unapproved change orders. Commissioner Roger Carr said the building cannot open for public use until the septic system is finalized and approved by state regulators.
“According to what T-DEC’s regulations are,” Carr said, “Is that it’s 10 gallon per person to calculate the number of footage that you have for your field lines. So at 70, it was going to have to we were going to have to have 800 feet of field line that we didn’t have the space for 800 feet.”
Carr said the county is working with the state fire marshal to potentially reduce the occupancy rating to 35 people. Carr said if the capacity is lowered, the county may have enough footage on the existing site to complete the system without acquiring additional land.
“Understand that people build houses all day long and they they go over budget because of problems they run into, blasting for septic system instead of just running a field line,” Commissioner Gregg Nivens said. “Things come up. What came up on a county level.”
Carr said the total cost for the septic tanks and field lines should not exceed $10,000. Carr said the county previously used funds from different accounts to cover the $40,000 overage that resulted from architectural fees and construction changes made without commission approval.
“Was that not in the original contract?” Commissioner Geraldine Walker said. “So are we voting to approve a contract that we’ve not even seen yet?”
Carr said the county is currently waiting for final confirmation from the fire marshal regarding the reduced footage requirements. Carr said once the septic system is installed and the water is hooked up, the building will finally be ready for the community to use.
“I’m glad they got a community center,” Allen said. “I mean, every community deserves one, you know?”
The next Overton County Commission meeting is scheduled for September 14.
