When Ray McMackin purchased his home at 1100 Yaupon Valley Road in West Lake Hills, he said he had no idea about the problem lurking beneath his front yard.

McMackin and his partner, Sarah Dwyer, were evicted from the home by the city of West Lake Hills nearly two weeks ago because of a non-compliant septic system.

“I feel like I’m being singled out,” McMackin said.

The home at 1100 Yaupon Valley Road is architecturally unique, with a long raised wooden walkway from the driveway to the front door. A branch of the Little Bee Creek runs underneath the walkway, through the front yard and right in front of McMackin’s front door. And just a few feet from what the city says is a leaking septic system.

The trouble at 1100 Yaupon Valley Road predates McMackin. The house, a 1,200 square-foot 1960s modernist structure, was previously co-owned by John Harriss, Jerry Wills and the University of Texas System. The septic system was condemned in June 2003, according to city documents. The city contacted Harriss again in February 2006 about the failed septic system.

The city provided a letter that it received from Harriss’s lawyers in February 2006 saying that the owners were trying to sell the property.

That’s where McMackin comes in. He said he purchased the property in 2006 from the University of Texas System. The home was only on the market for 24 hours and he put in the winning offer, he said. An inspection on the septic system was not completed and the seller did not disclose any problems with the septic system, McMackin said.

He first became aware of the failed septic after he moved into the home in 2007, he said.

“I didn’t know what the notice about a non-compliant system meant. I didn’t know if it was a rating system or needed to be pumped or what. I’ve never dealt with septic systems before,” McMackin said. “It didn’t seem urgent, I guess.”

City Administrator Robert Wood said that non-compliant septic systems are typically replaced within a 60-day time limit. The city has never faced a situation where it was forced to kick someone out of their home, he said.

“We felt like we didn’t have any other options,” Wood said. “As callous as it sounds, this is an environmental issue and it’s not fair to neighbors.”

According to City Inspector Christy Shull, there are no other septic systems in West Lake Hills that are facing long-term non-compliance issues. Homeowners typically make arrangements fairly quickly to have systems replaced, she said.

The septic issue really escalated last fall, when McMackin obtained a permit to move a 1930s bungalow onto his property. City officials said they had mistakenly issued the permit and the City Council later turned down a variance to move the house onto the property because they said McMackin could not adequately prove that trees would not be damaged during the move.

“Our staff screwed up and told the McMackins they could do something and they went off and had it moved,” West Lake Hills Mayor Dave Claunch said at the time.

McMackin created a PVC frame that he and Dwyer walked down the street. The city wanted a full-size wooden mock-up to be built and moved.

“I lost a lot of money because they said I could move the house and then they turned around and said I could not,” McMackin said. “This city is supposedly so pro-environmental, but they wanted me to chop trees down to build a model and move it down the street so that it wouldn’t damage any tree branches. They only care about trees if they are inside West Lake Hills.”

The city re-discovered the failed septic during the variance process to move the house and told McMackin in no uncertain terms that the system would have to be replaced. He was given deadline after deadline.

But the house-moving debacle, combined with two terminally ill parents, the death of his mother in December and a nasty divorce left McMackin without the approximately $20,000 he’d need to replace the system.

In March, McMackin was told that he had until June 1 to sell to home or move out. Because of the size of the home, McMackin was told that any potential buyer would probably tear down the house and have to install a new septic anyway, so there was no point in replacing it if he was going to sell.

Then a week before his eviction notice showed up, he received a sought-after mortgage adjustment.

“It makes it more affordable to stay here. I feel like it’s too good to give up,” he said.

Plus, his children attend Eanes schools and he loves the feel of the home. He shouldn’t have to give it up, he said.

Since the city officially revoked the certificate of occupancy for the home on June 4, labeling the home a “public nuisance…unfit for human habitation and a hazard to the public health, safety and welfare,” McMackin and Dwyer have moved to a South Austin duplex.

An inspection of the septic system by an independent company hired by the city confirmed this month that the 40-year-old system is leaking and will have to be replaced.

The city is scheduled to seek a temporary injunction in court this week to keep McMackin off the property until the septic system has been fixed.

“What we hope to get out of the court process is what we wanted all along: to make sure no one was living there until that septic system is replaced,” Wood said.

The city could spend $25,000 or more on legal costs, inspections and other expenses associated with prosecuting the case, Wood said.

For now, McMackin said, he is just hoping to hold on to his home, pay the rent on his duplex and scrape together enough money to replace his septic system. He bemoaned the lack of any kind of assistance program from the city to pay for something like this.

“In most areas there are resources available to help people do this,” McMackin said.

His experiences with the city have left a sour taste in his mouth, McMackin said.

“I have a great deal of respect for the city and the people there,” McMackin said. “They are extremely knowledgeable and very well intentioned, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And I feel that they’ve led me through hell with those good intentions.”