article courtesy of The Morning Sun
Isabella County commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution to amend the Central Michigan District Health Department’s sanitary code that will require inspections of septic tanks and water supplies before the sales of homes.
A handful of residents including three realtors objected to the move – one pleading the board to go back to the drawing board – saying it will be a burden on home sellers and buyers and that it won’t address the issue of E. coli in the Chippewa River.
An ad-hoc county committee has been looking into the issue since the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe tested river water last year that contained high levels of the bacteria a year ago; it has since been traced to failing septic systems in Beal City.
Speaking to commissioners at the afternoon work session, Steve Stressman, an associate broker acting as an independent contractor operating under the Coldwell Banker Mt. Pleasant Realty and Associates brokerage license, said he hasn’t talked to anyone who was in favor of the regulation and that it was put forth under the premise of a crisis in the river.
Stressman suggested the amendment was penned to generate income for the CMDHD, which will charge $252 for septic inspections.
However, Commission Vice Chairman David Ling, who noted that he is passionate about clean water and the health of residents, said the cost is modest and that nobody he has talked to about the issue has been opposed to the amendment.
Ling also denied Stressman’s “constant” references to the amendment being a money maker for the health department, noting that “it just isn’t true.”
Most of the cost of the inspections is for the inspectors themselves, Ling said.
Although the amendment isn’t a cure for the problem, it’s a first step, Ling said.
“We know this doesn’t solve the problem,” he said. “We do know that what it does is at least a start.”
Commissioner Tobin Hope agreed with Ling, saying state lawmakers have considered six proposals to deal with bacteria leaking into waterways from failing septic tanks, none of which have made it out of committee.
At the regular meeting later Tuesday, real estate agent Jim Engler said the proposed amendment does little to address the problem, noting that there are 15,000 homes in Isabella County with septic systems and 300 of them were sold last year.
Engler said the source has been identified and that county and health officials should focus on the Beal City, Nottawa Township, Weidman and Coldwater Lake areas.
Engler and real estate broker David Zamarron, co-owner of Central Real Estate, suggested mandatory testing every three to five years for all septic systems at the expense of the homeowner.
Zamarron thanked commissioners for their work on the issue but asked them to take it a step further.
Zamarron, Engler and Stressman also said real estate officials strongly to their clients recommend septic inspections before they purchase homes.
Denver Township Supervisor John Pedjac also spoke against the proposal, saying something must be done but it was a “foot in the door” approach.
“If you’re going to do this you need to jump into the deep end of the pool,” he said, adding that point of sale inspections are not going to get to the root of the problem fast enough.
Richard Green, a resident of Coldwater Lake, spoke of lakefront lots being small and the possibility that if there are failing septic systems on some properties, there isn’t enough room to install new ones.
Commissioners said other options were explored and that the amendment in the sanitary code was the least invasive.
Commissioner Jim Horton said it was a difficult decision and that the last thing the county wanted was to force more costs on residents, but noted that some are not getting septic systems repaired and it has become a public health issue.
Horton also noted that even after the move was passed by Isabella commissioners, their counterparts in the five other counties that are in the CMDHD also must approve.
Horton said it’s shocking that in 2017 county officials are discussing E. coli in the river and that the amendment might not be a solution but it will help.
Although Horton said he is in favor of looking into mandatory septic testing, he also noted that people need to be educated about septic systems and that the amendment isn’t perfect but is positive for the county.
Ling, who said E. coli levels in parts of the river have been astronomically hazardous, pointed out that 11 other Michigan counties have the same regulation in sanitary codes.
Commissioner Jim Moreno said “the chickens have come home to roost,” and that E. coli is an issue in many Michigan rivers.
