Property owners press township on septic inspection

Aug 23, 2017

If it were up to the majority of those who attended an open house on a proposed mandatory septic maintenance program for the township, the program would be instituted immediately and the timelines would be much tighter than the township is proposing.
It was more or less a case of preaching to the converted, as the panel at the front of the hall included Victor Heese, the chair of the committee proposing the new program, Chief Building Inspector Shawn Merriman, Eric Kohlsmith of the Rideau Mississippi septic office, and a rep from the Kingston Frontenac Health Unit inspection office. The meeting was moderated by Terry Kennedy, another member of the committee.

Audience members introduced themselves using Sharbot Lake Property Owner’s shorthand, saying the were from the “East Basin” or “West Basin”. The tenor of most of the comments was that the water quality in Sharbot Lake, the east basin in particular, is not acceptable. Water quality issues are complex and cannot be easily pinned on the outflow of nutrients from faulty septic systems, of which phosphorous is the major concern. However in comment after comment, the argument was made that mitigating the impact of lakefront homes on the lake is something that can be done now.

One audience member, Bob Wilkinson, took a contrary view. He said that research shows the quality of water on lakes in Central Frontenac is very good, and that an onerous system requiring inspections and pump outs at a maximum of five year intervals on all property owners in the township, those on water, in hamlets, or on rural properties far from the water, will add an unnecessary burden.

“We should be sending a message to the world that we have clean water in our lakes and rivers, because we do, not talking about how bad the water is. That will only make the township less attractive,” he said. “I have the studies that show this, you can look at them”.

Wilkinson’s point was contrasted by a Sharbot Lake property owner who said that when he was asked by an acquaintance if it would be a good idea to buy a property on Sharbot Lake, “I had to say no, the water is not clean.”
Ken Waller, the President of the Sharbot Lake Property Owners’ Association, pointed to the results reported by the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority in their State of the Lake Environment Reports, the last of which was done in 2011. It measured phosphorous levels near the surface and near the bottom of each of the basins of Sharbot Lake in 2001, 2006 and 2011.

“In the East basin, the reading near the surface was 6 [micrograms per litre] in 2001, 6.4 in 2006 and 12 in 2011. 15 is the safe level, and they tested the lake this summer so we will see where we are at pretty soon.”
In their report, Mississppi Valley Conservations says that under 10 mcg/litre is considered an un-enriched lake, between 10 and 20 is a moderately enriched, and 20 or over is highly enriched. The report also lists 9 measures waterfront property owners can take to mitigate phosphorous levels, one of them being pumping septic systems out every 3-5 years.

In a hand-out at the meeting, the proposed septic maintenance and assessment program was outlined. The first phase of the program will involve licensing and training pumpers and haulers to do assessments on septic systems whenever they are engaged to pump out a system. Systems will be assessed as green (no issues) yellow (some issues to be addressed) and red (system failed or failing and Health Unit to be notified).
The report said that engaging the pumper/haulers to do the assessments is the cheapest method because it can be done when pump-outs are already occurring and will add only $25 to $100 to the cost of a pump-out according to information gathered by the committee from septic contractors working in the township.

Phase two of the program will begin in five years. Homeowners who have not had an assessment done on their system by then, “will be contacted by the township and encouraged to have their tanks pumped and/or an assessment made. Failure to do so within a reasonable time will result in a mandatory inspection authorised under the Ontario Building Code Act.”
It was the five-year delay that caused consternation among members of the audience.

“We have already been talking about this for five years. That would make ten years if it was passed today and you are no where near passing it, are you,” said one audience member.
Mayor Frances Smith, who was at the meeting as were most of the members of council, said that a proposal will come back to council from the committee, and if it is approved by a vote of council, then staff will get to work designing the program and they will bring back a bylaw for council to consider.
“Is that going to take years,” one person asked.

Shawn Merriman, the Chief Building Official, said that “if this is approved in principle, we will put the program together as quickly as possible. I don’t see it taking a year.”
The proposal, as it stands, makes no distinction between different types of properties.
Shawn Merriman said that while all the attention has been on waterfront properties, “properties within hamlets with undersized lots are as much of a concern as waterfront properties.”