Health board considers new septic fees

EPHRATA — The Grant County Health Board is considering changes to the fees it charges landowners and developers for septic systems in multi-lot developments.

According to Jon Ness, the district’s environmental health manager, the proposed new fee structure for multiple lot developments in unincorporated land would be $400 for the first lot at $77 for each lot applied for at the same time.

Currently, the fee is $400 per lot, regardless of how many lots are in a development — something the county commissioners, all members of the health district board, have expressed concerns about at previous meetings.

“Where did you get the $77?” asked board member and County Commissioner Tom Taylor.

“We set it on our administrative and labor costs,” Ness said. “We do need to walk the ground and test the soil.”

Ness said it wasn’t simple enough to bore one test hole on a parcel, or a subdivided cluster of parcels, but the entire lay of the land — including subsoil features — also needed to be evaluated. And any easements needed to be mapped as well.

“Rocks, drainage, all of that is supposed to be mapped and recorded for future developers,” Ness said.

The health board unanimously approved a public hearing on the new septic system fees for its next meeting in April.

Ness also reported on the average number of days it took the health district to process sewage system and building permits. According to Ness, it takes about 20 days to process building permits with new or existing septic system applications, and about 13 days to approve new or changes to existing septic systems.

Currently, the health district has three pending sewage system applications and 21 pending building permit applications. And of those 21, a little more than are waiting for test well results or additional documents from applicants.

“We can take this information and hold it up for people,” Taylor said. “This is not a one-sided problem.”

Ness said some construction sites were just complex geologically and required more work than others to design good septic systems.

“Some sites are really technical, and they take a lot of work,” he said.

The health district will now provide board members monthly figures on building permits, approval times, and the number of permits that have been delayed.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.