By Richard Crawford

The Waconia Event Center septic system fails to comply with septic codes, according to a follow-up inspection received by Carver County.

According to Robert Whitmyer, a septic inspector and soil specialist from Duluth, the system fails to meet required separation from the periodically saturated soil.

Whitmyer spent more than four hours at the site Nov. 13, taking measurements and drilling holes in the ground to determine whether the system, built in 1980, was properly constructed. (His findings are included in the attachment below).

In an effort to determine whether the septic system serving the Waconia ballroom meets codes, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency recommended that Carver County bring in outside inspectors to do a thorough review.

History

The Waconia ballroom, purchased for $2.5 million by the county last year, is located next to Lake Waconia. In the past year, questions have been raised about whether the system was built to codes. Carver County Commissioner Tom Workman, of Chanhassen, has raised questions about whether the system met septic codes and called for a new inspection, but the majority of the County Board voted to rely on a previous inspection provided by a licensed septic inspector who built the system. In June, Workman on his own took the lid off the system and calculated that the system didn't have adequate separation from the groundwater to meet septic codes. After the rest of the County Board chose not to review the matter further, Workman filed a complaint with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which recommended that the outside inspectors be brought in. In addition to county staff, Workman and Commissioner Gayle Degler were at the site Nov. 13 while Whitmyer was surveying the property. Remodeling work is also taking place inside Waconia Event Center. The county has a contract with Lancer Hospitality to continue operating the ballroom.

More details will be in next week's print edition.

Related story:

http://www.chanvillager.com/news/county/commissioner-takes-cover-ballroom-septic-system-106