Council bombshell

From Dave Renwick, Wolverine Lake:

As a village of Wolverine Lake resident it is with some concern for clarity that I read your article “Public hearing on sanitary sewer SAD scheduled” (Page 13, Jan. 25, 2012 Spinal Column Newsweekly). Curiously missing from the “happy face” information the village spoon fed to the Spinal Column is the bombshell President (John) Magee dropped at the end of the January meeting, that being that once the lake is ringed with sewers Village Council has plans to implement an as yet undesignated, “Septic Inspection Ordinance,” of their own design.

I say bombshell because I have been to nearly every regular council meeting for the past several years and do not recall council ever discussing a Septic Inspection Ordinance at it’s public meetings. I also do not recall a Septic Inspection Ordinance being mentioned at the Town Hall Meetings pushing sewers, or by the petitioners who went door-to-door pushing sewers in our village. This seems a really huge omission of important information that likely would have affected many homeowners’ decisions on sewers.

However, President Magee has flatly stated (quote), “I think this council has long said that once we have the sewers in place around the lake we’re going to take a hard look at doing inspections.”

I’d like to know when, where, and by who was this was said? More, I’d like to know when this was publicly discussed.

Further, President Magee was out of order because the item listed on their meeting agenda was for a “Septic Maintenance Ordinance,” not a “Septic Inspection Ordinance.”

In actuality, the septic maintenance ordinance was proposed back in 2002, and has pretty much sat undiscussed on pending business since that time.

Councilman (Bob) Malek at least attempted to steer Magee back to the maintenance concept on the agenda, but Magee kept pushing council’s undisclosed “inspection” concept.

The implications here are daunting. Council has supposedly held off on creating a septic inspection ordinance because, as President Magee put it (quote), “We put this on pending business when we were obviously in the process of ringing the lake with sewers.”

So what?

Is it council’s plan that now that the lake is nearly ringed with sewers this “inspection” process is going to be used to force people to hook up after everyone has been sweet-talked into sewers with no mention of implementing this so-called “long considered” inspection ordinance?

It sure sounds like it as President Magee also stated (quote), “… the inspections that were done about 15 years ago showed an awful lot of failing septics,” and offered a thinly veiled threat to the people of Oak Island, “The folks on Oak Island who think that they won’t ever need a sewer, umm …” Oak Island is an area were council has not been able to get a majority to sign the SAD petitions, so apparently council thinks the unsubtle threat of mandatory, undesignated inspections will frighten folks into signing up? I sure hope not.

And what of all the folks along the currently installed sewer lines who haven’t hooked up and were never made aware of council’s inspection plans? These people were in fact fed a line of bull by petitioners and council that they didn’t have to hook up unless their septic failed, but now face the possibility of mandatory inspections of their septic systems that could potentially force them into forking out thousands of dollars to hook up if their septic systems don’t measure up to council’s undisclosed standards.

And finally, what about the folks on the backlots? Do you think council’s inspection ordinance is going to show any mercy to residents who have flatly rejected council’s highly touted sewer system? Guess again.

And worst of all, were any of you even aware this was being considered?

If you were as unaware of this as I was, and you think this is just one more wrong-headed idea by a “Sewers By Any Means Necessary” council, then I suggest you come to council’s meeting on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. and let them know how you feel about their as yet undisclosed plan for a septic inspection ordinance.