Central Frontenac Council votes down septic re-inspection plan

Craig Bakay | Oct 26, 2017

“No septic re-inspection program for Central Frontenac,” was Mayor Frances Smith’s comment following the vote at Tuesday’s regular meeting in which a proposal to accept the septic re-inspection committee’s report and direct staff to begin work on a draft bylaw to begin mandatory inspections was defeated 5-3.
The Mayor, Councillor Bill MacDonald and committee chair Councillor Victor Heese voted in favour of the proposal. Deputy Mayor Brent Cameron, Councillors Phillip Smith, Jamie Riddell, Sherry Whan and Tom Dewey voted against. Cindy Kelsey was absent from the meeting.
Cameron, Riddell, Whan and Phillip Smith voted for an earlier proposal that would have resulted in a phased-in approach, whereby lakefront properties would have been subject to mandatory inspection with other properties being phased in after five years, but that amendment was defeated in a 4-4 vote (ties result in a defeated motion in municipal council meetings).

In fact, all members of Council expressed support for some measure of septic system attention but the devil being in the details, the committee’s report involved several deal breakers.
Cameron, arguably the most outspoken opponent to the proposal, reiterated his concerns that the plan was likely to create financial hardships for those least capable of dealing with them, and would likely leave the township holding the bag for costs in the end.

“My concern is financial,” Cameron said. “Look at the number of people who use the Food Bank and government assistance programs for things like Hydro.
“There are a lot of people for whom this would be an onerous burden and if they can’t fix it, the Township will step in and fix it for them.
“And the people doing the work won’t do it for free and then we’ll have to chase the money.”
“My concern is people walking away from their homes,” said Phillip Smith. “I also have concerns with numbers.”
“South Frontenac had information that this would take a full-time person to administer.”

Riddell was also concerned with administration wanting to see conservation authorities and/or the health unit involved to a much greater extent.
Dewey said “I think a lot of tweaking needs to happen to this (potential) bylaw.”
MacDonald though was fine with proposal.

“We’ve chewed on this rag a long time,” he said. “It’s time to act.
“I look at my septic system the same way I look at my furnace or my roof.
“It’s my responsibility to make sure it’s in good working order.”

Before the discussion, Sharbot Lake Property Owners Association webmaster Bill Wilson presented a petition to Council with 353 names in favour of the proposal. He said of that number, 274 can vote in Central Frontenac elections and “the vast number are lakefront owners.”