Hughson church stuck without working toilets for two months after city sewer project misfires
For nearly two months, the members of the Hughson Church of Christ have had to use portable bathrooms and the minister and his wife have not been able to live in their home on the church grounds because of a city sewer project that went awry.
A city contractor inadvertently pumped cement slurry into the sewer lines of the church and home as it was filling in an old, failing clay sewer line underneath nearby Tully Road.
City Manager Merry Mayhew said the project called for United Pavement Maintenance to first connect sewer customers on the sewer line to a newer, nearby line before filling in the old one, which had been there for decades. Mayhew said United Pavement missed the connection for the Church of Christ and the minister’s home before pumping the slurry.
The mishap has been a major frustration and expense for the church and its minister, Nathan House, and his wife, Dara, said Sheila Parnell, the principal of Hughson Christian School. Dara House teaches fifth grade at the school, which has about 100 prekindergartners through eighth-graders and sits on the church grounds. It has its own sewer connection, so it was unaffected.
Parnell said that on the advice of their attorney, Hughson Church of Christ board members would not comment. The board includes Nathan House. Dara House also declined to comment, and the attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Parnell said the church has spent $61,000 — nearly all of its savings — just on removing the slurry and wastewater from the house and church. That does not include the repairs, which have not been done. The wastewater and slurry damaged carpeting, sinks, toilets and drywall.
“Our members keep giving, but at what point do the people responsible take action for what they have done?” she asked in an email ”... Our church isn’t asking for any money from the community. We are asking for our community to rally around us and the city to do the right thing!”
Parnell, who also is the children’s educational director for the church, said the church’s insurance company has said the church’s policy does not cover this incident.
Mayhew said United Pavement removed as much of the slurry as it could from the sewer connections and put in new connections for the church and house. Parnell said the sinks and toilets started backing up after a couple of days of use and cannot be used until the plumbing is fixed.
Stuck in the middle
Parnell said the church and its families feel they are stuck in the middle between the city and United Pavement as the two decide who is responsible. The contractor, Hughson-based United Pavement Maintenance, declined to comment and referred questions to the city.
Mayhew said United Pavement’s contract with the city requires it to have insurance as well as indemnify the city, or hold it harmless and defend it from mishaps that arise from the project. United Pavement’s insurer did not respond to a request for comment.
When asked who was responsible for knowing about the laterals or connections on the old sewer line, Mayhew said in an email that Hughson “provided the information known; however, on all pages of the plans and specifications, it states that the contractor is responsible for ensuring the information in the plans.”
Mayhew said she understands this has been frustrating for the church and its families, and the city is trying to find a quick resolution. “I’m sure this is very difficult for the church,” she said. “We are trying to work with them. We don’t want to leave them hanging out there.”
Mayhew added the city cannot give taxpayer money to the church for the repairs, especially when this was United Pavement’s error and it has insurance for such incidents.
She said the city has provided portable bathrooms since Dec. 6 and will continue to do so. They were placed just outside the church.
Services back in sanctuary
Parnell said this has been a trying time for the church and its family. She said about 125 people typically attend the Sunday service, but that number has dropped by a third. She said some church members are older and fear getting sick after wastewater filled part of the church.
Services have been moved from the sanctuary to the fellowship hall. But after the carpets were cleaned after last Sunday’s service, the church service will return to the sanctuary this Sunday, Parnell said.
The Houses now live in a furnished house the church is renting for $3,500 a month, according to Parnell. The Houses have two sons who attend college and do no live at home, but they were home on break when the ordeal began.
Parnell said there have been blessings in this difficulty. She said the parents of House’s students replaced her brand new boots and other shoes that were ruined by wastewater and slurry.
Parnell said she wrote about the family’s plight on Facebook and the community raised about $1,200 in cash and gift cards for the Houses. But Parnell said a bigger blessing will be for “the repairs to be done as quickly as possible.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2023 at 6:27 AM.
