Friday, September 01, 2000

Mobile home residents can stay

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Judge orders park's owner to clean up water

By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        BURLINGTON — Residents will not have to immediately move from a Boone County mobile home park, but a judge ordered the park's owner Thursday to begin the process of providing the park with clean drinking water.

        Boone Circuit Judge Jay Bamberger also said residents of the Hillside Mobile Home Park should first boil the park's water before drinking it — as the Northern Kentucky Independent Health District has directed — or purchase bottled water.

        “It does not sound to me like the residents of the park are getting water under sanitary conditions,” Judge Bamberger said.

Residents of this mobile home park won't have to move; the owner will have to provide clean water. (Enquirer photo) | ZOOM |

        On Aug. 1, Judge Bamberger ordered the park to be closed today. He issued the order at the request of the health district.

        Residents feared they would be forced to move even though many said they wanted to stay in the park or were unable to move because they had no place to go or could not afford to relocate.
       

Immediate changes
        Thursday, Judge Bamberger allowed the park to remain open after its owner — James Hicks of Kenton County — agreed to make immediate changes to the water system as well as plan for a longer-term solution.

        But the cost of the longer-term solution makes the residents' reprieve a brief one — and the state has indicated it would buy the property to extend the adjacent Big Bone Lick State Park.

        Judge Bamberger said he will monitor, most likely on a monthly basis, the progress Mr. Hicks is making toward providing the 100 or so residents with clean drinking water.

        Studies conducted by local health officials had found natural contaminants and occasional sanitary sewer overflow in the water, prompting the request for the water to be turned off, effectively closing the park.

COURT ORDER

The agreement, which Judge Jay Bamberger accepted as a formal court order, will be finalized in two weeks and will stipulate that James Hicks must:   • Hire a certified operator to monitor the park's water and wastewater treatment facilities.   • Hire a civil engineer to come with a long-term plan to comply with state and local laws and regulations dealing with drinking water. That plan will likely include construction of a water treatment facility or plant.   • Inform residents that the health district has ordered that water should be boiled before it is consumed.

        “We're dancing with joy down here,” said park manager Rachel Klette, one of the residents who does not want to leave. “This is our home. We want to stay.”

        During a 90-minute recess in a court hearing Thursday, Mr. Hicks' attorney, William Knoebel of Florence, negotiated a preliminary agreement with the health district.

        John Patten, the health district's lawyer, said the agreement will become official in two weeks, when Judge Bamberger signs it. Mr. Patten said he will also include in the agreement a directive for Mr. Hicks to address problems with the parks' sanitary sewer system, which at times leaks sewage into a creek.

        “This park has an 11-year history of problems,” Mr. Patten said. “These problems just didn't happen down there. And it needs to be cleaned up.”

        It could be as long as six months before all the plans for the water treatment plant are completed and approved by the state, Mr. Knoebel said.

        He added it's possible that construction of a new plant could cost more than $100,000, and in that case Mr. Hicks may not be able to afford to have the plant built.

        “At that point, we'll see what happens,” Mr. Knoebel said. “We acknowledge there are problems, and we want to try to correct them. But, until we get a little farther along, we won't know the outcome for sure.”

        That means the park could eventually be closed if Mr. Hicks does not or can not satisfy the judge's order to provide the residents with clean drinking water.

        “So I don't have to move out right now, but I might have to move out in six months,” said resident Lenny Haynes, 40, when told about Thursday's court hearing.

        “I feel a little better, but it sounds like eventually I'm going to have to find somewhere to live.”

        About a dozen residents have already been approved for subsidized housing at various locations around Northern Kentucky.

        Park resident Herbert Vaughn, who attended Thursday's court hearing, said he has found a new place to live in Ludlow.

        “There should be a big sign out front that says, "Beware,'” Mr. Vaughn said. “I don't want to live there with that kind of water problem.”

        Also on Thursday, State Parks Commissioner Kenny Rapier said the state has in no way been involved in initiating or supporting the action against the park.

        A rumor has been going through the park that the state is trying to force out the residents so it can buy the land and expand the adjacent Big Bone Lick State Park.

        “We have had nothing to do with that,” Mr. Rapier said from Frankfort. “But if the land does become available, we would like to buy it.”

        Earlier this year the Kentucky General Assembly approved spending $1 million to expand Big Bone by buying adjacent property.
       

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