RELATED ARTICLES:
Part I of series
Part II of series
Part III of series
Part IV of series
I really don’t mean to ‘beat a dead horse’ here, but there is just such a wealth of information in this DCR report. Beginning on page 24 is a series of pages that provide an evaluation of the Inspection/Enforcement Documentation. Granted, this would only mean the documents were or were not available, but based upon my history testifying in Court, I can pretty well assure you that if the paper doesn’t exist, then you have no proof it was ever done!
Unlike the other sections, this is not score on yes/no. Instead the presence and frequency of required documents is noted:
- AEP Tech Drive Station
- Inspections documented every 2 weeks
- No discrepencies found on the report.
- Christiansburg Aquatic Center
- While inspections were done in a timely manner (every 2 weeks) and contained appropriate information,there was this comment found:
- Comments: Repeat violations for slope erosion should necessitate Notice to Comply issuance.
- Harley Davidson Commercial Site
- Inspections occurred at least every 3 weeks
- Kensington Phase I Residential Subdivision
- Average inspection frequency = at least every three weeks
- Comments: Notice to Comply issued for ESC violations. Delivered via Certified USPS Mail.
- AGILOP Lot 108 Wind Mill Hills Subdivision
- Average inspection frequency = greater than every 4 weeks
- Inspection document includes: NOTHING!
- Enforcement was NOT pursued when needed.
- No enforcement documentation was found.
- Little or no inspection documentation was found.
- Comments: No inspection records found in any Agreement in Lieu of a Plan single family residences reviewed
- AGILOP Lot 2A Ashton Court Subdivision
- Average inspection frequency = greater than once every 4 weeks.
- Little or no inspection documentation was found.
- Comments: No inspection records found in any Agreement in Lieu of a Plan single family residences reviewed
- AGILOP Lot 34 Falling Branch subdivision
- Average inspection frequency = greater than once every 4 weeks.
- Little or no inspection documentation was found.
- Comments: No inspection records found in any Agreement in Lieu of a Plan single family residences reviewed
Again, the absence of documentation does not mean the necessary actions were not taken. It does mean that there is no proof that they occurred or that they were followed up in the manner and style required, or that they were managed in a timely fashion. Good record keeping is essential to any type of business (and you have to admit, government is a type of business). In particular, good record keeping is essential to open government because these are all documents that belong to the PUBLIC! These are the very types of things that we are paying government (through taxes) to do…to say nothing of the fact that it is a legal requirement to keep such records.
Some may argue that “it has always been done this way”, but that does not make it right. Doing something wrong for 30 plus years does NOT make it right! I think that the Town Council needs to do a better job of oversight. Heck! Since it involves public documents, get a committee together, of citizens and have them review documents for their presence. It doesn’t require a lot of knowledge about the subject to simply determine if required documents are on hand. It does require that one or more people know what is required to be filed. Hmmm…I wonder if DCR would put together a citizen training package to enable citizens to be more proactive.
I am also sure that there will be a thousand and one excuses provided for why the documents were not there….however, the fact remains that the audit by DCR shows that the necessary documentation was not found via their audit. The DCR is mandated to perform functions that affect a lot more people and jurisdictions than just Christiansburg. Their finding should be of note to everyone down stream of Christiansburg. After all, the effects of erosion & sediment, stormwater control do NOT stop at the boundary of Christiansburg. It is in your backyard, Montgomery County and beyond.
