August 10, 2004, 10:48
Debra Mergelviolation of flood plain ordinance
Please help.Our county has a Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance (1986) that DOES NOT include a penalty clause. Last October, the commissioners court ordered a business entity to permit or remove its earthen dam. The entity has not done so. The neighbors are threatening to send FEMA out, due to flooding on their properties. Some insist that the county should bring out a bulldozer and remove the dam!! Apparently this has been done in the past at another location(oh, dear
).Without a penalty provision, I thought the only thing we could do was find the entity in contempt of commissioners court, with a WHOPPING one-time fine of $25. Now I see that in the Water Code 16.322 there is a civil penalty of not more than $100 for each act of violation and for EACH DAY of violation. Such a penalty would probably get the attention of the grass farm.
THE QUESTION IS: Does anyone have the proper petition forms? Would it be similar to my petition regarding septic violations?
THANKS!
