by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — There’s a change proposed for septic tank owners and Jim Gibson is warning as many people as he can about it.
Mr. Gibson is the mayor of the United Townships of Head, Clara and Maria, which is the northern tip of Renfrew County. He spoke at last night’s building and planning committee meeting for the Township of Whitewater Region.
“Information I received is that the change is a simple addition that all septic tanks and other treatment units shall be cleaned whenever sludge occupies one-third of the working capacity of the tank or every five years from the last pump-out or whichever occurs first,” he stated.
The records are to be kept by the operator and to be submitted to the chief building official when requested, he continued. This means the municipality will have to set up a system for these records, he said.
“I am fighting this with everything that I can do,” Mr. Gibson said. “I realize that resolutions don’t mean anything when they get to the ministry.”
However, he is contacting people and has a resolution to submit to the rural mayors’ association of Ontario.
“I just want to enlist this municipality’s support when it comes your way,” Mr. Gibson said.
He expects this proposal will come into effect late this summer, but it will take him time to get all the documentation required to fight it.
“This document is so flawed,” Mr. Gibson said. “The rationale for the change listed is so that they are maintained correctly; the justification is that the proposed change will enhance the maintenance of conventional systems.”
The change will add a cost to home owners who have not done regular maintenance, he said.
“There is zero mention of the cost to municipalities to create the data base, enforce the data base and have your chief building official trot around to every septic tank every five years,” he said.
There are enforceable implications for principal authorities for managing this program across their jurisdiction, he said.
Mr. Gibson said unless people receive the building code news, they would not be aware of this new information, because it has not been sent to chief administrative officers or mayors.
“I need your support on this issue,” he said, adding, “I’ll be fighting it until either I die or they take it out, one or the other.”
Mayor Hal Johnson said this issue will be discussed at the Wednesday, February 15 council meeting.
