Central Frontenac Considers Taking Septic Re-Inspection In-House

Jeff Green | Jan 31, 2024

As part of his presentation to Central Frontenac Council during their 2024 budget deliberations last week, township Chief Building Official Andy Dillon talked about the mandatory septic re-inspection program that the township contracts out the Mississippi Rideau Septic System Office (MRSSO).

He said that the program, which was commenced in 2019, and was set back by COVID for a couple of years, has a target of 300 inspections per year, at a cost of $100 per inspection for property owners. That money is paid to MRSSO to conduct the inspections.

“I think the $30,000 in revenue from the program can be better spent by hiring an employee in Central Frontenac,” he said.

He also made a further pronouncement.

“I think that if the township is serious about making this program work, council should consider hiring a full time employee to administer it. If the decision is not to hire a full time employee, then my recommendation would be to cancel the program,” he said.

The main failing of the program so far, in Dillon's view, is the there has been no enforcement of orders stemming from the inspections.

In 2022, 259 inspections were completed by MRSSO, and of those 94 required some remediation, and 43 required replacement.

“We've identified the issues, but we just don't have the resources to attend to them all,” he said. “I also think that if we had a dedicated staff member working on this, they might be able to do more than 300 inspections per year.”

He also pointed out that most of those 43 systems that require replacement are were not septic tank, and leaching bed systems, but are less concerning grey water systems, outdoor showers, and outhouses on waterfront and island properties that are non-compliant, some installed before there were rules in place.

“From what I've seen from the 2022 inspections. I don't feel they were contributing to the detriment of the lakes,” he said. “Things like outdoor sinks and outdoor showers may not meet the building code, but I don't see them causing a problem. And removing them, just means water being dumped directly in the lake instead of into a sink on land.”

Councillor Duncan McGregor said it might be an idea to suspend the program for 2024 and consider hiring a part-time employee to administer it in 2025.

Deputy Mayor Susan Irwin, who chairs the township septic re-inspection committee, said among lakefront property owners, there is strong support for the program continuing. When I go to the association AGM's, their number one concern is water quality. The committee is certainly aware of the enforcement issues, hence the recommendation to hire a staff member is understood.”

Mayor Frances Smith wondered if hiring a bylaw enforcement officer to deal with enforcement of all bylaw infringements might be a way to improve the situation.

Councillor Nicki Gowdy said that reverting to a voluntary system, which the township had in place before 2019, might address the enforcement issue.

“That way the property owners who do want to know the issues with their systems, are much more likely to comply with orders,” she said. “North Frontenac has a voluntary system and it appears to be working well.

Frances Smith pointed out that the property owners with old, non compliant systems are not likely to participate in a voluntary system.

“The people who put in a gravel pit or a barrel 40 years ago, are not going to volunteer for an inspection,” she said.

The MRSSO runs the North Frontenac voluntary system as well as the mandatory system in Central Frontenac, and at least in terms of the rate of response to letters to property owners seeking their permssion to conduct an inspection, Frances Smith's position is supported.

“During the 2022 sewage system re-inspection program, 11 re-inspections were conducted on 3 lakes – Big Gull, Millers, and Sunday Lake. Three hundred and fifty (350) Property Owner Information packages were mailed,” according to the MRSSO report to North Frontenac Council for 2022.

In Central Frontenac, however, the mandatory nature of those information packages had an impact.

“With a goal of up to 300 property inspections, 319 property owner packages were mailed out. Nine properties had more than one sewage system onsite resulting in 257 sewage systems inspected on 248 properties between Crow, Eagle and Sharbot (west Basin) Lakes” said the 2022 MRSSO report to Central Frontenac Council.

And of those 71 properties that were not inspected in Central Frontenac, 60 were removed from the list because they were not eligible for inspection, leaving only 11 properties un-inspected out of 259.

In 2022, when comparing compliance rates, the compliance rate in North Frontenac's voluntary program of 11 out of 350 approaches (3.1%), corresponds to 248 out of 259 in Central Frontenac (96%) - a stark difference.

Susan Irwin said that the lake associations, who “pay the highest share of municipal taxation, have no appetite for a voluntary system.”

In the face of a number of options, ranging from; hiring a full time inspector/compliance officer, investing in a bylaw officer, maintaining the contract with the MRSSO, pausing or cancelling the program, Township Chief Administrative Officer Cathy MacMunn said that council should take the time to look at all the options at a later date, outside of the budget process.

“Let's park this for now, but get back to it once we are done with the budget,” said Mayor Smith.

Andy Dillon made another recommendation for hiring before he was done his presentation.

“I think with the volume of planning applications coming to the township now, we would be well served by hiring our own planner to work at the township 5 days a week” he said.

Central Frontenac currently contracts planning services out to Frontenac County.

“I think that was a good idea back when there was less development in Central Frontenac,” said Dillon, but that has changed.”