Church ordered to stop using water hose for RV park
After agreeing in May to disconnect its illegal RV park from Norris city water, and passing an inspection in June that showed it had complied with the city’s order, Covenant Life Church last week received another demand from Norris that it stop providing city water to RV park customers through a “temporary garden hose.”
Norris said in an Aug. 10 letter to Covenant Life: “Since that time [of the June 22 inspection], the city has become aware of continued water use from the Covenant Life Church to the Solid Rock RV Park.
“A garden hose has been observed to repetitively serve as an alternative water supply to some residing in the nonconforming/illegal RV Park, perpetuating its noncomforming/illegal use,” it continued.”
The city’s letter again threatens the church with disconnection of the city water line to the church property, which is meant to serve the main church building.
“The City requires active assurance that Covenant Life Church is not using and will not use or allow use of a temporary garden hose or other devices to circumvent the stop work order released June 22, 2023,” the city wrote in the letter, which was signed by Norris Building Inspector Lisa Crumply and sent to the church by certified mail.
“Failure to comply within 7 days will result in metered water services being disconnected and the single water meter serving the property will be locked,” the letter continued.
“Due to the unauthorized installation, alteration, enlargement and/or connection, water services will terminate to the entire property.”
Covenant Life opened the RV park, with 16 spaces to the rear and side of the church building, about two years ago and began marketing it over the internet, through its own website and some RV community websites.
But the church never applied to the city of Norris for a change in zoning that would have allowed an RV park on the property, at Andersonville Highway (Tenn. 61) and Norris Freeway (U.S. 441), and without ever getting the required building permits and a state Health Department license to operate the park.
The church had previously extended city water service to the RV park from the line feeding the church’s main building, but had done so without getting the permits and inspections required by the city.
Norris City Manager Adam Ledford said in July that the church had notified the city in mid-June that it had disconnected the RV park from the city water supply, and the subsequent inspection by the Norris building inspector confirmed that.
But beginning on July 19, city officials observed and photographed use of a long garden hose stretching from a spigot on the side of the church building to the parked RVs, with people apparently filling the water tanks on the trailers from the hose.
After cutting off the city water in June, the church reconnected the campground to a well the church had dug at the rear of the property to serve the RV park.
Pastor Tony McAfee made note of the change in water service to the campground during his sermon on Sunday, July 2, noting: “I’m excited about the campground; I’m excited that we got our well all serviced.”
But on June 27, the church handed out a “Boil Water” notice to all RV park residents, stating that the well water had tested positive for “a fecal indicator,” specifically “Total coliform and E. coliform.”
“Fecal indicators are microbes whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes,” the notice said. “Microbes in these wastes can cause short term health effects … [and] They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems.”
The residents were warned: “DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST.”
Unless the water is boiled for at least one minute, it should not be used “for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation,” the notice said.
City officials have said they don’t know exactly when the church extended the city water service to the RV/campsites and bathhouse, but they do know there was never any application to the city for the proper permits to do so. It apparently was about a year after the RV park opened for business in 2021.
Some former residents have said that the RV park was connected to a well on the property for a long time before the connection was made to the city water line. They reported that the well water was muddy-looking and had an odor, and that they were warned by church officials not to drink the water.
Action to force the church to shut down the RV park is still being pursued by the city.