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Huron-Kinloss an early innovator with septic re-inspection program
By Liz Dadson

 

Huron-Kinloss Council

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Huron-Kinloss council is blazing a trail with its septic re-inspection program.

Matt Pearson (Left) of B.M. Ross and Associates brought an update to council at its general committee meeting Monday morning (Jan. 11), noting that the township has just completed its third year and has almost 1,000 septic systems inspected. Of those, four per cent are high risk, meaning the property owners each received an order from the Grey Bruce Health Unit to get those systems fixed; about one-third were medium risk, meaning there are deficiencies; and the rest are low risk.

"You're ahead of the curve," said Pearson. "We've developed this program as a model for other municipalities."

"Can we get it copyrighted and get some royalties off this?" joked councillor Anne Eadie.

"You'll get credit for being an 'early innovator'," said Pearson.

He said there are 21 municipalities in Ontario with septic inspection programs in place but few cover the entire municipality and most generally target just high-risk areas.

"In 2007, Huron-Kinloss began its program for the whole township and made it mandatory, but sort of voluntary," said Pearson. "You applied community-based social marketing techniques to educate the public and move ahead with the septic inspections."

Initially, the township expected it would take nine years to inspect all 2,800 systems in the municipality. Pearson said that was based on 300 systems per year. The figures generated show about 360 systems per year, so the entire township can be done in seven to eight years, he said.

"A septic system should last 25 years," he said. "Unfortunately, there are a lot of systems out there that are more than 40 years old. They're not failing, necessarily, but they need to be inspected."

Chief building official Matt Farrell administers the program which is done over eight months - April to November - with the majority of inspections done in July and August, Pearson said. It is a non-invasive visual inspection, with 98 per cent of the owners getting their systems pumped out prior to the inspection. The inspector documents the location of the buildings, well, septic bed, and property line and any vegetation around the drainfield. It's preferable to have the landowner present so he can receive the inspection results and any notice of follow-up work required.
 
A flat rate of $55/property is added to the taxes of everyone who is on septic systems in order to pay for the cost of the program, said Pearson. That has worked well over the past three years, he said, with total revenue of $461,835 and total expenses at $447,505. Of those costs, 47 per cent ($70,000/year) goes to the Grey Bruce Health Unit, and 53 per cent ($80,000/year) goes to B.M. Ross for general project management, database development, reporting, project administration, and expenses.

Pearson admitted there are property owners who know their septic systems have a problem and must be fixed. "They know it's going to cost $15,000 for a new system, so in some cases, it's going to take a little more arm-twisting, to get the inspection done and get those systems replaced," he said. "There are others who don't know there's a problem at all."

He said the Program Demonstration Days have been successful, held in target areas, such as Bruce Beach, Boiler Beach and Point Clark. "Residents come and watch an inspection being done and they ask a lot of questions. It's like a community event and it helps increase participation in the program."

A variety of information is provided to the homeowner following the inspection, said Pearson. Information about the septic re-inspection program is also available on the Huron-Kinloss website.

"Once we introduced the program, we were hoping it could be reduced to a five-year cycle," said councillor Anne Eadie. "Could we speed it up a little?"

"I'm not sure," said Pearson. "The inspector is working full-out. In order to do more inspections, you would have to hire another inspector and that would cost more money. We tried for 400 systems this year, and did 363 - that was pretty aggressive."

In order to have an inspection done, the property owner calls the township to book an appointment, said Pearson. Once the inspection is done, all the information is sent to B.M. Ross. "Following up with the stragglers is a huge job," he said. "Phoning property owners takes time. We also have to follow up on the deficiencies in the high risk and medium risk systems, to make sure they are fixed."

Farrell said the cost of the program will increase once the township must start forcing landowners to comply with the septic re-inspection. "We could be looking at legal costs down the road," he said.
 
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010