City to estimate cost of ending septic system use

FINDLAY — Findlay officials are still debating eliminating the use of septic systems within city limits. Council's Water and Sewer Committee has recommended that cost estimates and benefits be developed. The committee report was approved by council at its June 17 meeting. The vote by council to approve the committee report is enough to allow planning to move forward. It was a 9-1 vote, with Councilwoman Holly Frische, R-1, opposed. Frische criticized the report for not including more information from the June 9 committee meeting, specifically the locations. Members of the committee include Grant Russel, R-at-large, chairman; Randy Greeno, R-at-large; Josh Palmer, R-7; Dan DeArment, R-4; and Brian Bauman, R-5. Both Bauman and Greeno were absent from the committee meeting on June 9. Russel, DeArment and Palmer all voted in favor of collecting more information for future discussion. The committee meeting was livestreamed on the city's YouTube channel, Findlay Ohio, and can still be viewed. City officials have identified five neighborhood areas in Findlay with homes that are still connected to septic systems, but so far, those addresses have been withheld. On Monday, City Engineer Jeremy Kalb said there is still a lot of information that needs to be collected before any further information is released to the public. "We do not know if their home systems are working correctly or not, and if they are functioning properly, I do not want those homeowners to be called out in a public forum without them knowing," said Kalb. "In general, there is one location on the southeast corner of town, one on the east side, two on the south end and one on the southwest corner of town." Kalb said city employees will develop the cost estimates, and they will be presented to the Water & Sewer Committee at a future meeting. The committee first questioned the number of homes still relying on septic systems in June of last year, during the debate over infrastructure improvements to the West Park subdivision. At a rough estimate in 2024, only about 30, according to utility billing records showing "water only" users, but the number would need a closer look. Some could be sprinkler systems, which wouldn't require sanitary sewer, and there could be other exceptions. Russel was first prompted to ask the question, he said, after being approached by a Findlay resident asking when access to a sanitary sewer would be made available for his new residence. The resident said the home, which is located in an established neighborhood, was bought under the assumption that it was connected to a sanitary sewer. It wasn't. In another case, Service-Safety Director Rob Martin said a neighborhood with access to sanitary sewer was "built around" an older home that is still on a septic system. The septic system has been maintained and is healthy. Connecting to the sanitary sewer would be an "extremely expensive project" for the homeowner, he said. City officials were careful not to mention addresses during discussions last year and asked that the addresses not be included in any future reports to avoid making them part of the public record. Russel said the specific addresses aren't relevant to council's decision as to whether the city should make abandoning the use of septic systems a priority. However, they would be relevant to Hancock Public Health. Once new sewer lines are available, homeowners must make the tap within two years, switching their homes off of septic systems. Refusing to make the connection could result in court action and fines. Ohio law charges local health departments with enforcing the rules.