VIENNA — A sewer failure at the Maries County Courthouse on Aug. 28 caused multiple bathrooms to overflow, sent sewage into the jail and backed wastewater into a kitchen sink before a plumber was able to restore service.

Presiding Commissioner Vic Stratman updated the commissioners on the problem during their Aug. 31 meeting, saying he received an urgent call from the courthouse after the plumbing system began failing.

“Friday, I got a call, a frantic call from here, saying that all of the plumbing was screwed up,” Stratman said. “The drain was a mess.”

Stratman said he contacted plumber Jon Wegman, who was already headed toward Vienna and responded to the courthouse.

“He came and did a really good job of getting it straightened out,” Stratman said.

County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers described the problems inside the courthouse as they unfolded.

“It was a mess,” Rodgers said. “This bathroom overflowed.”

Rodgers said someone was using an employee bathroom when a toilet upstairs was flushed, causing wastewater to come down into the lower restroom.

“It was like a bidet,” Rodgers said. “Try not to picture that.”

She said another bathroom then overflowed, followed by a downstairs restroom. Problems were also reported in the jail.

“It was like coming up in the jail, and I don’t know, it was like down the walls,” Rodgers said.

She later added that sewer water was also coming up through the kitchen sink.

“It was just a mess,” Rodgers said. “Gross.”

Wegman later appeared before commissioners and said Friday’s problems appeared to involve more than one issue.

“I think Friday was a couple different things,” he said.

One courthouse toilet appeared to have simply been stopped up and overflowed through the floor into the jail below. A separate problem involved the courthouse sewer line, which Wegman said was the same area that caused problems approximately a year earlier.

The sewer line exits the courthouse and runs around the building before connecting to a standpipe intended to serve as a cleanout. According to the plumber, the sewer was connected into the side of that cleanout and the connection has broken.

“They tied that sewer into the side of that cleanout pipe, and it’s broke off there,” he said.

The broken connection creates a rough area where material can collect and eventually clog the line.

“When we cameraed it last year and located it, that’s where it keeps stopping up,” Wegman said. “It’s just a rough corner, so everything catches on it.”

Stratman said commissioners had initially been concerned that the problem could be farther out in the sewer lateral beneath the courthouse grounds, potentially requiring a much larger excavation.

Before speaking with the plumber, Stratman said he had considered whether the county might need to treat repeated cleanouts as a maintenance expense if a permanent repair proved prohibitively expensive.

“If this is going to be a recurring problem, and if it’s going to cost $50,000 or $100,000 to fix, maybe quarterly we could have him just clean it,” Stratman said.

After learning where the failure was located, however, Stratman said the repair appeared much more manageable.

“This ought to be not so bad,” Stratman said.

The proposed repair would involve excavating near the courthouse, removing the damaged connection and routing the sewer line directly toward the main drain. The standpipe would remain in place but would function only as a cleanout.

Commissioners stressed that they want a permanent repair rather than another temporary solution.

“Just as long as we don’t have to go back and touch that part ever again,” Eastern District Commissioner Rodney Southard said. “Do it once.”

Kleffner agreed.

“Got to do it right,” Kleffner said. “Do it once.”

Southard said the county should be willing to spend somewhat more if necessary to complete the repair correctly.

“We want it, even when it costs a little extra for the right size pipe or whatever,” Southard said.

Wegman said the repair will require digging near the courthouse and removing a large shrub to reach the damaged pipe. Utilities near the work area will also have to be considered during excavation.

He estimated the work could potentially be completed within the next several weeks, depending on scheduling and what is found once excavation begins.

Southard asked whether the work could be completed within approximately a month.

“Oh, I think so,” Wegman said.

Wegman will prepare an estimate after checking material and fitting prices.

“I’ll get you a price together hopefully by the end of the week,” Wegman said.

During the repair, water will not be able to run through the affected sewer line, meaning some courthouse employees may temporarily need to use other restrooms.

Despite the severity of Friday’s backup, Stratman said the diagnosis was better than what commissioners initially feared.

“Well, I count that as good news,” Stratman said.