The Lake George Park Commission is in the process of establishing one of the most far-reaching sewage plant inspection programs in the state, covering at least 3,400 properties in the most sensitive areas of the lake basin.
A committee tasked with developing an inspection program has begun working on details that include an annual fee of $ 50 for a five-year inspection requirement. Officials are months away from passing the new ordinance that could serve as a model beyond Lake George.
Commissioner Ken Parker said during the parking meeting on Thursday: “I see a regulation going forward that will be accepted by all.”
He added: “The only person who will be bothered by this will be the one who says, ‘What septic system are you talking about?'”
The question remains whether the Commission will carry out inspections with internal staff or external contractors; exactly which properties fall under which regulatory standards; and how local governments and the Parking Commission would handle an expected surge in permit applications for the installation of replacement wastewater treatment plants.
“We’re taking the time to get it right,” said Dave Wick, executive director of the commission, in an interview on Friday. “We are trying to do the right thing to protect the lake and not place undue burden on the regulated public.”
The plan comes nearly 30 years after the commission dropped its original septic ordinance after a court challenge threw the rule on trial foul. Now, New York’s smallest government agency, the only one devoted to regulating a lake and its watershed, appears closer than ever to its legal mandate to regulate the discharge of wastewater into the park.
Commissioners at their October meeting authorized staff to develop the details of a regulatory system and a committee began working on the details of the program on Thursday.
“I did not expect to be at this point so quickly,” said Commissioner Kathy LaBombard.
Committee members appeared to be banding around a program that charged septic tank owners an annual discharge fee of $ 50 per year according to early planning documents, and required a system inspection and pumpdown every five years. The fee would cover the cost of the inspection, and the annual billing process would allow commission staff to provide annual septic training and make system maintenance a priority for property owners.
The final cost of a program – and the fee passed on to septic tank owners – could change as the Commission considers whether to hire staff to carry out inspections and how to carry out the engineering reviews required for new systems.
“We’re just starting to cut the numbers, but that’s probably a fair ballpark,” Wick said of the $ 50 figure included in a “Septic Inspection Program Concepts” summary posted recently on the website published by the Commission. “We don’t know how smooth an inspection program would actually run.”
The members of the committee, made up of a mix of park officials, external experts and representatives from state and local government, emphasized the importance of ensuring that inspections are carried out consistently across the park.
More from Adirondack Explorer
A version of this story first appeared on adirondackexplorer.org. The full version and comments can be found on the website.
Comments are closed.