Grand Traverse County is moving closer to adopting a new septic tank ordinance — one that could require septic system inspections when certain properties are sold or transferred. Commissioners are considering starting with properties located on or near the water, with the goal of potentially expanding the program in the future as more inspectors are trained and/or new state regulations take effect.
Michigan is the only state that does not have a statewide septic tank code – a situation that could soon change under upcoming legislation that would require periodic inspections and create an inspection database and certification system. Many health departments fear the legislation would require so many inspections at once — the bills propose inspecting all wastewater systems every five years — that it would overwhelm municipalities that would be unable to find or fund enough inspectors to comply with the regulations the regulations.
The proposed legislation provides a provision that would allow municipalities several years to transition to state regulations if they have an existing local septic tank ordinance. That's motivation enough for many municipalities to adopt an ordinance that buys them time and allows them to train inspectors over a period of years in anticipation of later having to increase inspections in accordance with state regulations.
An ad hoc committee of county commissioners met this fall with staff and local representatives — including various township officials as well as stakeholders such as real estate agent groups and The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay — about a possible new septic tank ordinance. Chairman Rob Hentschel said the committee was working on a “balanced” policy that could be realistically implemented. “We don’t want to hold up real estate transactions any more than necessary,” he said. “We also want to protect the environment as much as possible.”
The ad hoc committee will meet again on December 2nd to examine the latest draft, which has been fleshed out so that it can now be subject to legal scrutiny. The proposed ordinance would require a septic system when certain properties in Grand Traverse County are sold, transferred or transferred. The property owner would be responsible for having the facility inspected by a certified inspector. Instead of applying the ordinance to all real estate sales — of which there are nearly 2,000 annually, members of a threshold committee said that would be very difficult to achieve at the county's current capacity — commissioners are focusing on the highest priority properties: those on or near water where septic leaks or failures pose the greatest risk.
Grand Traverse County Deputy Health Officer Mike Lahey said the committee will decide between “two really good options,” which could be either to apply the septic inspection requirement to parcels immediately adjacent to a surface body of water or, alternatively, to properties within 500 feet of a body of water. The ad hoc committee first considered additional parameters, such as requiring inspections for all parcels that do not have approval documentation from the health department for an on-site wastewater treatment plant. While Commissioner TJ Andrews, who sits on the ad hoc council, said it is important for the county to “get to grips” with unpermitted septic systems present throughout the region, documenting those systems will likely take time and additional administrative effort , which stalled could delay the introduction of a new regulation.
“How do we narrow down the starting point?” Andrews asked. She said the county could “take a smaller slice of the apple” by starting with a manageable number of annual inspections and perhaps expanding the parameters over time. The draft ordinance calls for working with outside private inspectors — rather than adding to county staff — and imposing fines for violations of the ordinance. Lahey agreed with Andrews that starting with a smaller focus on inspections would allow the health department to slowly expand the program over time. While state legislation tells health departments to “jump out of the gate,” Lahey said, “the county order gives us the opportunity to walk before we run.”
“This gives us an opportunity to build capacity and then increase awareness within our community of what the landscape of these systems looks like,” Lahey said, “so that if we need to broaden the criteria, we have started to prepare for that.” “To be properly positioned for this.”
There are approximately 25,000 wastewater treatment plants in Grand Traverse County. Inspections can typically cost up to $750. Historically, in Michigan – where there was no statewide code – it was up to local governments and their health departments to determine how wastewater systems should be regulated, although approaches can vary significantly from county to county. The Grand Traverse County code was first adopted in 1964 and was last updated in 1994. Despite its age, Lahey previously said the existing code is “robust” and “provides more protections” than other counties. It includes a required 50 feet of isolation from surface waters and wells and 48 inches of vertical separation from the infiltrative surface to groundwater.
However, once a septic system is installed in Grand Traverse County, no inspections or maintenance schedules are required thereafter. Inspections usually only take place due to defects, complaints or a change in use – such as the construction of an extension to a house, said Lahey. The average lifespan of a wastewater treatment plant in Grand Traverse County is 30 years, although systems can last longer or fail sooner depending on usage. Other counties surrounding Grand Traverse County – such as Benzie, Kalkaska, Manistee and Leelanau – already have regulations requiring septic inspections when a property is either sold or transferred. Long Lake Township has a similar ordinance. Lahey previously said it would be far better to have a uniform policy for Grand Traverse County rather than having numerous individual communities adopt their own septic tank rules.
Comments are closed.