| Jun 26, 2014


Mandatory septic inspections on the Central Frontenac agenda

Since February a committee of volunteers, Councilor Jeff Matson, and staff from the septic office of Kingston Frontenac Public Health have been meeting regularly to talk about how to set up a program to inspect all 4,000 or so private septic systems in Central Frontenac over a 10-year period.

John Duchene, retired township Chief Administrative Officer and Kennebec Lake resident, presented an interim report from the committee at the council meeting this week (June 24).

Duchene said that the committee looked at a number of other jurisdictions who have implemented similar programs, which have become permissible with changed in provincial legislation in recent years.

Currently the township employs the Mississippi-Rideau septic office to conduct voluntary inspections, and Duchene said, “Really we see this as an extension of that process.”

The first step in establishing a program would be an information gathering process, updating information about systems that are over 15 years old.

“Public Health has good data for those systems that were installed in the last 15 years, but the data deteriorates for the period before that," said Duchene, “so finding out what is out there is a big first step.”

Even though the program, as envisioned by the committee, would include all systems in the township, priority would be given to those systems over 20 years old, systems within the vicinity of lakes, and systems in built up areas where contamination of the groundwater could have the greatest effect on neighbours.

Inspections will likely cost $140 on average and Duchene said there are many ways to finance them, either through a direct charge to ratepayers, through a septic levy on the tax bill, or by some other means.

Duchene suggested that the committee will bring more details to council about what they will be proposing in the coming months.

In response to the report, a number of councillors raised issues.

Councilor John Purdon said that in Tay Valley, only properties on highly sensitive lakes are included.

Councilor Tom Dewey suggested that the septic pumping contractors could also have the job of inspecting systems.

Councilor Norman Guntensperger then said, “I have to say I am sitting here wondering if anybody else is feeling uncomfortable about a lot of what is happening today … enforcement is not a minor thing. We are talking about families potentially losing their homes.”

Gord Mitchell, from KFL&A Public Health said, “In 29 years that I’ve been involved with this, not one person has been forced out of their home. There are ways to mitigate the impacts and to work with people. That is normally how it is handled.”

“For myself I am also concerned about the vulnerable people but I am also concerned that we must find a way to ensure that the systems are all safe,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski.

“Are we required by any law to do this?” asked Guntensperger.

“Not at this point,” said Gutowski.

The report from the committee was received for information.

Kids of Steel a go despite council concerns

Greg Kealey of the Ottawa Triathlon Club came to council seeking permission for intermittent road closures of Road 38 during the cycling portion of a planned Kids of Steel Triathlon in Shabot Lake on Sunday morning, July 27.

The Triathlon is to be part of a five-race competitive series called the Triathlon Ontario Youth Cup. The Sharbot Lake site was used last year by the same group, and is well known in Ontario Triathlon circles for Kids of Steel races that took place there in the 1980s and 1990s.

One hundred and fifty kids between the age of 6 and 15 took part last year and Kealey expects more in 2014.

“We made mistakes last year by going to the County, which we thought was the right place to go, but now we know we need to come to the township for permission.”

The primary objective of the triathlon is to promote physical activity among children, and efforts will be made to recruit local children for the event, Kealey added.

A number of councilors expressed concerns about the road closure, and made suggestions about seeking an alternative route, for the cycling to be done on trails, etc.

Greg Kealey said that he is willing to look at alternatives, but if none can be found he did need to know if the road closure would be permitted because if not he would seek a new site.

“I can’t take a chance on finding out we can’t hold it here once we get close to race day and I will have to cancel the race entirely, cutting the race series down from five to four at the last minute,” he said. “Overall I felt we had a good response last year from the local community.”

Other races in the series are scheduled for Ottawa, Guelph, Dunrobin, and Lakeside.

“Given the history of this location, and the ideal layout, we are keen to hold this one here,” Kealey said.

Mayor Janet Gutowski said, “I feel I have to point out I did receive complaints last year, including from the restaurant at the beach about access being closed off for customers, and the township was never informed. I also heard from people who loved it, I should point out.”

In the end the road closure was approved, with Kealey promising to seek an alternative route if possible and committing to putting up signage about the road closing well in advance of the race.

For more information about the race, go to www.bytowntriathlon.com or call Greg at 613-323-5255.

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