County deals with another wastewater issue

It was another week and another issue with county residents installing their own wastewater systems at the Nov. 15 meeting of the Custer County Commission.
Issues with residents installing their own systems—which is allowed by the county provided they pass an open-book exam—has recently become a recurring theme at county commission meetings, as county planning director Terri Kester continues to bring the issues forward to commissioners at meetings, seeking answers to the growing problem.
At the Nov. 15 meeting the commission heard of the case of resident Dane Shuman, who lives in a new subdivision south of Custer. Shuman attended the meeting via telephone, and sought a variance from the county’s Ordinance No. 2, and, more specifically, the part of the ordinance that deals with the size of wastewater systems.
Custer County does not have zoning, but its Ordinance No. 2 states that drain fields for septic tanks must be built to handle the occupancy of a three bedroom home.
Kester said at the commission meeting that Shuman was told he had to build the drain field for a three bedroom home, was agreeable to that, but instead built for one bedroom and then said he did not want to dig anymore.
Shuman said on the phone there was no criteria for the county based on what he was advised, and referred to state statute regarding wastewater systems that states flows under a certain amount for things such as cottages, seasonal cabins, etc., do not have to be built for a three bedroom home, despite what county ordinance states.
“We don’t have zoning, so we don’t have seasonal cottages and all that in Custer County,” commissioner Mike Busskohl said, saying the ordinance had only residential or commercial, adding he doubted Shuman wanted to build a commercial system.
The size of the systems required by state statute is a complicated mathematical process that requires factoring in maximum daily gallons per person, per day, or an alternative method which takes a perc rate (a percolation test is a test to determine the water absorption rate of soil in preparation for the building of a septic drain field or infiltration basin. The results of a percolation test are required to properly design a septic system) times the square feet per bedroom of the planned home. At the end of those, you arrive with size of your drainfield, which is always a minimum of three bedrooms under normal circumstances, Kester said.
Kester argued that if the state was fine with Shuman’s drain field size he would not need a variance, which he was requesting from the county. She also said he could install a holding tank with an alarm, which could be periodically pumped.
At the end of the discussion, the commission voted to deny Shuman’s request for the variance.
The commission also heard from Doug Wessel of Brosz Engineering and county highway superintendent Jess Doyle, who discussed Brosz’s engineering report on the condition of the county bridges.
Wessel handed out reports to the commission, which included repair recommendations. Among the bridges discussed was the 1971 bridge over Beaver Creek in the Buffalo Gap area that the county has begun the process of replacing due to its deteriorating condition.
Wessel said the bridge does have a load posting of 12 tons and 20 tons due to deterioration of timber abutments. A single unit (regular vehicle, UPS truck, etc.) is not supposed to be over 12 tons on the bridge, with a combination vehicle (something that can be disconnected, such as a semi, truck with cattle trailer, etc.) cannot be over 20 tons.
In March 2023 the county received a Bridge Improvement Grant (BIG) from the state to do preliminary engineering for the replacement bridge, which Doyle would like to see be a box culvert, which he said would last longer and require less maintenance.
The preliminary engineering on the project will calculate the size and type of structures that would work to replace the bridge, after which the county will be eligible to apply for a BIG replacement grant.
Among the work that needs done on the current bridge is replacing the timber and planks, patching spall, covering exposed rebar and installing load posting signs at the nearest intersections to the bridge. Wessel said that bridge is by far the one in the worst condition in the county.
Finally, the county heard from a representative of Golden West, who addressed issues brought up at the previous meeting regarding what the commission says is slipshod work by contractors installing fiber optic cable for Golden West around the county. The commission has raised issue with the contractor installing the cable within the county’s driving surface instead of the outermost portion of the right of way, which the county requires. The commission has also taken issue with work being done before permits to occupy county rights of way are procured.
The representative said the company would ramp up its efforts to be more proactive with Doyle and go out on some of the routes before work is done to show where it would like to lay the cable and find a workable solution for all involved.
“We don’t want to be in the roadway if we can help it,” he said. “It’s not preferable.”
The representative said staying at the outermost part of the right of way can prove challenging in the Black Hills due to topography.
The representative also encouraged Doyle to take part in the weekly meeting it has with its contractor to discuss the issue.
Commissioner Mike Linde said it was the same contractor over and over the county was having the issue with.
“We have talked with them two or three times,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to do any good. Maybe if you talk to them (it will).”
“We are kind of getting tired of it being a recurring topic,” Busskohl said. “We appreciate you working with us.”