The Citizen, 2010-02-18, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2010. PAGE 11.
The mandatory septic tank
inspection issue raised at Huron
County council earlier this year
could now be up to the lower tier
municipalities.
At council’s Feb. 10 committee of
the whole meeting, it was
recommended that each municipality
in Huron County to choose whether
they would like to participate in the
mandatory septic tank inspection
program.
This, however, came as a surprise
to several councillors who were
under the impression that the
initiative would be approved on an
“all or none” basis.
“It’s not mandatory. Unless we all
vote it in, it’s voluntary,” said Huron
East councillor Bernie MacLellan.
“I’ve got a real problem with this if
the whole county isn’t on board.”
Other councillors, while surprised,
said the entire county being enrolled
in the program wasn’t as important
to them as it was to MacLellan.
“I’d like to see everyone in the
county on board with this, but it’s not
a deal-breaker,” said Goderich
councillor Deb Shewfelt.
Huron East councillor Bill Siemon
said that with each municipality
having to approve the program, it is
likely they will have to receive a
presentation, which will eat up even
more time.
There were also some questions
about the math. Councillor John
Bezaire of Central Huron said that he
didn’t feel the numbers added up on
this program and that he would like
to see a detailed budget before
council moved forward.
The presentation by the Huron
County Health Unit’s safe water
manager Bob Worsell proposed two
options to give the municipalities a
choice for inspections every seven
years or every 12 years. This would
be accompanied by an annual cost
that would split the cost
(approximately $320 per inspection)
based on how frequently the
inspection is done.
An inspection every seven years
would cost each homeowner with a
septic system $46 per year, while if
an inspection every 12 years was
chosen, it would cost $27 per year.
This would show up on their tax bill.
With the proposed numbers,
however, Bezaire said that there
would have to be approximately
2,000 inspections per year to justify
the per inspection cost proposed by
Worsell.
With an estimated 13,269 septic
systems throughout the county, there
would be too many annual
inspections to coincide with the
seven and 12-year-cycles, Bezaire
said.
Initially, Worsell said,
undergraduate students could work
on the initiative. This was something
Siemon disagreed with, saying the
program should be carried out by a
qualified inspector so that it’s done
right the first time.
“If we don’t do this really, really
well, we’re just wasting our money,”
Siemon said.
Worsell also recommended that
the program be carried out by the
health unit, another accounting point
that Bezaire questioned, asking if the
program was a burden the health unit
was prepared and qualified to take
on.
Max Demaray, councillor from
Howick, was worried that residents
who maintain their septic systems
would be forced to pay an annual
cost for those who did not. However,
chief administrative officer Larry
Adams clarified that the inspection
initiative would be a user-pay system
where only those with septic systems
would pay annually. However, any
municipality that decides to buy into
the user-pay system, would be
entering into a legal agreement with
Huron County.
A survey, conducted by student
senators of the Avon Maitland
District School Board, aims to shed
light on the varying educational and
social experiences of Grades 7 and 8
students, depending on whether they
attend school in an elementary or
secondary environment.
In their report to the elected,
voting members of the board at a
regular meeting Tuesday, Feb. 9,
student representatives Ben Keffer
and Charlotte Anderson outlined
the planned survey – which should
be finalized this week and conducted
over the next couple of weeks.
“We want to see if coming into
high school in Grades 7 and 8 really
does affect their educational
experience,” explained Keffer, Avon
Maitland student senator for
Listowel District Secondary School.
Currently, all Avon Maitland
Grades 7 and 8 students in Stratford
and Goderich attend senior
elementary campuses that are
attached to secondary schools.
Transitions to similar models are
underway in St. Marys and
Wingham, and recommendations
being considered by an
Accommodation Review Committee
in Bluewater/South Huron include a
possible shift of Grades 7 and 8
students into South Huron District
High School (SHDHS).
Anderson, the student senator for
SHDHS, says much of the talk in her
community has hinted at possible
negative effects of such a move. But
if the decision is made to transfer
students, she’d like people to be
prepared, and open to change.
“We’re hoping to bring some kind
of positive outcome from this
(survey),” she said, adding a follow-
up project for student senators may
be videos featuring students who
have been through high school-
based Grades 7 and 8 programs.
The student senator board is made
up of one representative from each
Avon Maitland high school, selected
through a process that’s unique to
each school’s student council.
Student senators meet on their own
with assistance from an Avon
Maitland administrator. Two
members of the group are then
invited to the regular trustee board
meetings, as non-voting
participants.
Social experiencesto be surveyed bystudent senators
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Moving on
These three East Wawanosh Public School students will be moving onto the speak-off against
Wingham Public School later this month after scoring big with the judges in Belgrave at the
Feb. 11 competition. From left: Stacey Hallahan, intermediate division winner; Kendall Jardin,
junior division winner and Rylan Zimmer, primary division winner. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Septic inspections could
be up to municipalities