I was a property manager for a rental property that had a septic leach field problem. The septic pump out service company I used highly recommended Mr. Gerry Gardner dba Diamond Septic Service to make the necessary repairs. Mr. Gardner gave me an estimate of $5500 REQUIRED 50% down which I paid him on 9/1/10. Mr. Gardner worked on the repair on 9/3/10 by digging a hole, tearing the old leach field from the septic tank and flooding the yard with raw sewage, connecting a 4 pipe to the existing septic tank and leaving a 3x6 hole as the new leach field. Mr. Gardner never returned to complete the work. After several calls between 9/3/10 and 1/24/11 finally ending with me demanding he return the deposit, Mr. Gardner has never returned to complete the repair. I had to hire someone else to correct his mistakes and complete the repair, and Mr. Gardner has not returned the deposit to date.
Unfortunately I found out when I spoke to Mark Williams with Boulder County Health Department (303) 411-1143 on 3/17/11 that Mr. Gardners OWS license was revoked through Boulder County on 4/12/10 due to substandard work habits. Mr. Williams also informed me Boulder County Health Department put a notice on their website informing consumers not to use Mr. Gerry Gardners services. Go to: http://www.bouldercounty.org/find/library/environment/owsinstallerlist.pdf
Below is the official record of proceedings by the Boulder County Board of Health dated 4/12/10 with the details of Mr. Gerry Gardners OWS license being revoked:
Boulder County Board of Health (BOH)
Boulder County Public Health Auditorium
April 12, 2010
BOH Members Present: President Ed von Bleichert and Board Members Carmen Ramirez and Sonya Jaquez-Lewis. Absent: Vice President Greg Dolan and Board Member Beth Versaw.
Staff Members Present: Public Health Director Jeff Zayach, Director of Administrative Services Ste-phanie Martz; Environmental Health (EH) Division Manager Joe Malinowski, Communicable Disease Division Manager Nisha Alden, Addiction Recovery Centers (ARC) Division Manager Ann Noonan, Community Health Division Manager Kim Hills, Family Health Division Manager Don Horton, Water Quality Program Coordinator Mark Williams, Budget Coordinator Sandy OConnor, Health Communications Specialist Chana Goussetis, and Executive Assistant Tammy Golden
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER.
President von Bleichert called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
ITEM 3. ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING TO CONSIDER REVOCATION OF OWS INSTALLER LICENSE FOR GERRY GARDNER DBA DIAMOND SEPTIC.
Water Quality Program Coordinator Mark Williams presented this item and said staff had received nu-merous complaints and information about substandard work conducted by Gerry Gardner, dba Diamond Septic, on onsite wastewater systems (OWS) in the county. Mr. Gardner also conducted work without first obtaining the necessary permits, a violation of the Boulder County OWS regulations.
Mr. Williams said Mr. Gardner met with him in 2004 to introduce "Terralift," a process he was using to rehabilitate failing or dysfunctional OWS. Mr. Gardner was informed that the Colorado Water Quality Control Division had issued an opinion, based on findings from its Technical Advisory Committee, that the Terralift procedure was considered a "repair" process and was therefore subject to repair permitting requirements through the local public health agency. Staff told Mr. Gardner he would need to secure ma-jor repair permits and an installers license in order to provide such services.
Mr. Williams shared some of the interactions staff had with Mr. Gardner, as well as some of the problems or complaints that were received regarding Mr. Gardners work. Because Mr. Gardner had been operat-ing in violation of required OWS regulations and procedures for several years, staff recommended that the Board revoke Mr. Gardners OWS installers license.
Board Member Ramirez was concerned about Mr. Gardners former and future customers. She suggested that staff share concerns about Mr. Gardner with Consumer Affairs in the District Attorneys office. Re-garding known customers of Mr. Gardner, Mr. Williams said staff could contact them to let them know they needed an engineer to evaluate their systems before their OWS would be approved. That would re-quire the engineer to dig up the property in order to evaluate the OWS. The Board asked if BCPH had the authority to require Mr. Gardner to provide a list of former clients so staff could alert them about the need to have their systems evaluated for approval. Staff said they would consult with the county attorney about that.
The Board also suggested that a notice be prominently displayed on the BCPH website to alert the public about Mr. Gardners license revocation. Staff said they would consult with the county attorneys office to verify that this notice could be added to the website.
Board Member Ramirez asked what Mr. Gardner would need to do to have his license reinstated, and staff said they as long as Mr. Gardner met all OWS installer requirements, he could submit a request to have his license reactivated by the Board of Health; however, they would also verify that with the county attorneys office.
Board Member Ramirez made a motion, which was seconded by Board Member Jaquez-Lewis, to re-voke the OWS installer license for Gerry until further notice. Upon further discussion, the motion was amended to include "Gerry and Christina Gardner dba Diamond Septic" in the motion language. With all members present voting in favor of the revised motion, President von Bleichert declared the motion carried. Absent: Vice President Dolan and Board Member Versaw.
Staff said they would report back to the Board next month on their discussions with the county attorneys office.