28 Oct Randall County approves new on-site sewage order, names tax assessor-collector

The Randall County Commissioners’ Court voted 5-0 Tuesday to replace its on-site sewage facility regulations with an updated order, according to the Amarillo Tribune. The new order gives failed septic systems a shorter window to be repaired, puts restaurant sampling on a common schedule and requires an extra alarm in new food establishments.

On-site sewage facilities include septic systems and similar setups that treat wastewater on a property without a connection to a city sewer. Anthony Spanel, Amarillo’s environmental health director, presented the order at a public hearing. He said the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requires counties to revisit such orders every five to six years and that most of the text is language the state dictates, though local provisions are allowed.

Three local changes are included:

• Repair window: A construction authorization tied to a sanitary nuisance, such as a failed septic system, will be limited to 90 days instead of one year.
• Restaurant sampling: The yearly samples restaurants must collect under state law will be due on one common schedule instead of on varying dates.
• Alarm requirement: New food establishments must add an indoor alarm to whatever outdoor alarm state code already requires.

Spanel said the shorter repair window is meant to protect public health. A failing system can send sewage onto the ground and affect several property owners, he said, and open systems can injure people and animals and breed flies and mosquitoes. Under current rules, an owner gets 30 days, plus one 30-day extension, to apply by showing a contractor has been hired, and an approved application stays valid for a year. Spanel said local installers tend to leave those jobs for last, so sewage can sit on the surface for as long as a year and, in some cases, 14 months.

The alarm rule is aimed at pump tanks. Spanel said a restaurant whose plumbing uses a pump tank must already have a high-water alarm mounted outdoors in view of the system. An overflow could set off that alarm without the owner knowing, so the county will now require a second one inside. He estimated each alarm at a few hundred dollars, said the county has imposed the requirement on individual permits without objections, and said it would reach roughly 5% of new restaurants and construction. Restaurants already operating are exempt, and the county plans to hold off about a year to educate owners.

A proposal to require a septic inspection whenever a home is sold was dropped from the order. Spanel said the Realtors’ local association and the Texas On-Site Wastewater Association objected, and removing it meant restarting an approval process through the state agency that takes one to two years. He said the groups have no concerns about the current version.

Amarillo authorized the order in July, Canyon approved it the week before, and Potter County commissioners signed off the day before Randall County’s vote.

In other business, the court unanimously appointed Sydney Norton, a 25-year county employee, as tax assessor-collector to finish the term of Christina McMurray, who resigned after working for the county since 1998. The appointment begins Jan. 1 and lasts until the next general election. County Judge Christy Dyer said the court accepted the resignation at an earlier meeting with regret.

The court also approved an interlocal agreement with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service for a new part-time horticulture educator who will build and promote programs in the county. Randall County will help pay the salary from January through September 2027.

Commissioners also approved a short-term interlocal agreement with the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center for medical and dental services at the Randall County Jail. Sheriff Chris Forbis said the stopgap is necessary because the jail’s dentist has retired and its current mental health provider plans to retire within a couple of months. He said the county hopes to settle on a lasting arrangement early next year, possibly with Texas Tech.