Septic/Well Mapping
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January Septic Committee update 2026
The Septic Committee met on January 6, 13 and 27 last month.
Septic Ordinance Draft Submitted – The committee’s efforts to draft a septic ordinance continue. Initial plans to submit the draft to the Steering Committee were delayed so the team could further discuss the topic of variances. Some minor changes were addressed and the HOHL Septic Ordinance Draft (Rev6) was submitted to the Steering Committee on Jan 20, 2026. The Steering Committee will review and forward it as necessary.
Jim Ostling met with the director of the health department (HD) on January 5 to present questions from the Septic Committee. The usual excellent dialogue resulted in further understanding of options and procedures.
The Septic Committee will now focus on policy nuts and bolts topics that detail the requirements of the
ordinance. They will forward revised versions to the SC as appropriate.
The committee requested and received updated information from the assessor’s office regarding the database. A few changes in structure now provide for the addition of FETCH information expected in early February.
New Map – The “map” referred to in previous reports used street address information from the assessor’s data to position properties and their color classification. While this was a very good learning experience, its development led Ed from the IT Committee to take a different approach. He was able to assign a latitude/longitude to each property, making the data much more accurate and can now be used to calculate its relationship to other locations. The resulting map, using a different format, displays the properties and, in addition, the relative density of areas around the lake. Once the HD data is available and entered the spreadsheet, color codes for each property will be represented on the new map showing dramatic density and compliance hot spots.
The committee chair met with the director of the health department again on Jan 26 to further address
topics of interest. The health department director will attend our next meeting on Feb 10.
December Report – NO report
November Septic Committee
The Septic Committee met on November 5.
The primary focus of the Septic Committee is the development of an ordinance to be considered by the Township Board for eventual adoption.
The committee reviewed the draft of the ordinance prepared by Ostling and made suggestions. Comments from members were made available on a shared version of the ordinance for two weeks. These comments were consolidated by Ostling and a new version – Septic Ordinance Rev3 was created and reviewed on December 3. This draft is nearly ready to submit to the Steering Committee. It is anticipated that it will br forwarded to them at the December 17 meeting.
Work continues with the effort to identify properties that are not compliant with the CMDHD inspection records. There are about 3700 on site septic systems in Gerrish Township but the Health Department only has records on 2700 of them. The remaining 1000 are the focus of the ordinance inspection process. Also, of the 2700 records, it is anticipated that 25% plus will not have complete documentation and will need to be addressed. Staff is seeking ways to identify and capture this information. Septic personnel are working with the Funding team to apply for a grant to help capture this information. Grant application is due on Dec 10 and we are nearly done as of Dec 6.
Work on the Purple Dot project continues. Gerrish is nearly complete, and the volunteers have moved on to finish Lyon Township. Last month we were searching for funding sources to help with the completion of the purple dot work. A big thank you to three local interest groups for coming to the rescue and funding the remaining work.
This community is full of very strong supporters – thanks again to HLPOA, HLF, and the Friends for clean Water. Once complete, we will be able to generate informational letters to the residents as to the status of their STD’s according to the records at the Health Department. Completion of the status information will also allow for better analysis of the overall condition of the STD’s throughout Gerrish and Lyon.
October Update Septic: The Septic Committee met on October 1 and Oct 15, A third meeting was postponed at the chairman’s request. The primary focus of the Septic Committee is the development of an ordinance to be considered by the Township Board for eventual adoption. The Committee has prepared a list of Attributes that they would like to incorporate into an ordinance. The list was reviewed and vetted by the committee and used as a base for development. As the document evolves, it will get input from the Health Department and Steering Committee, before it is reviewed by the Township Board for potential action. Some of the topics discussed include:
• Next draft of the List of Inspectors was revised by Health Department and made
available.
• Domestic water wells continue to be a topic of consideration and will be
integrated into the draft ordinance
• Work continued on the development of a list of attributes that we would like to
see addressed in an ordinance. The Committee settled on a list of over 50 items
that are important for consideration
• A draft Septic Ordinance has been prepared for review by the Committee. This
draft is currently based on a combination of other ordinances with the insertion
of the Attributes developed by the committee.
• The Committee will be concentrating on the Draft Ordinance this month and
subsequent review by the Health Department before sending it off to the
Steering Committee for comments.
The Sub-Committee reviewed a variance pending on a property in the Township. Current parcel is small and low. The owner has proposed a new septic /drainfield but is still slightly non-compliant. To resolve the situation, they plan to install an anaerobic treatment system bring the system very near compliance. The Health Department has approved the proposal.
September Update Septic: Septic Committee met on September 3 and 17, 2025. The committee continues to review the Certified Inspectors list as well as the Inspection checklist document. We now have a list of inspectors that has been approved by the CMDHD.
Invited guests, Nick Sergeant from Sergeant Septic and Daielle Gerdes from Scotts Septic Service were our guests. They provided valuable insight into the inspection process and what to look for and helpful data on the problems that could occur.
The Committee is investigating the idea of including water well testing within the septic ordinance. The proximity of domestic wells to septic system has a lot of questions and concerns around it. Is 50’ enough? What if you can’t get the proper separation? What is the effect on the health of Higgins Lake? What is the impact on the health of the residents? Should any studies of ordinance extend to “off Lake” properties? We are not looking for solutions at this point but what are consequences and alternatives? Member Brown has prepared a “attributes list” that we can enter out thoughts on what should be considered in the ordinance. This list will be refined to reflect the major points needed to be considered. Samples of other ordinances have been distributed and used for review.
We continue to publish monthly clips on the do’s and don’t’s for proper septic maintenance.
The Septic Question Project Report – Rick Shoemaker presented this for our information and discussion. It is a Synopsis of work done on an ordinance on Lake 5 Charlevoix. We will discuss to see if there is information or ideas that we should
/could expand on.
Responsibilities
- Research best practices related to septic systems.
- The committee operates under the guiding theme:
- Education
- Evaluation
- Execution
Education Initiatives
- Researches and shares septic-related educational materials:
- Videos
- Articles
- Seminar details and invitations
- Practical tips
- Researches and shares septic-related educational materials:
Evaluation & Collaboration Efforts
- Working with the Central Michigan District Health Department to digitize septic and well records using the FetchGIS system.
- This digital database will be essential for effective evaluation and planning.
- Plan to meet with:
- Local septic service contractors
- Health department officials
- Purpose: Gain deeper insight into current challenges and gather recommendations for system improvements.
July Update: The Septic Committee met on July 2, July 16 and again on July 30. Our next meeting is on august 20.
Over the course of the last three meetings, we have adopted a theme for the immediate future. This theme – Educate, Evaluate then Execute – steers the committee in a logical direction to first get a message out to the citizens about what they can expect from the Septic Committee over the next six months to a year. We want to better understand the condition of the septic’s in the community and then make informed decisions/recommendations as to the next steps.
Education – There is a lot of material available that we intend to share with the public about what a septic is and how it should be cared for and maintained. What not to do to your system is key to keeping it healthy. Literature about how a septic system is constructed and how it works is also important – many users around the lake are used to being hooked to a municipal system in the city and unaware of how these on-site systems are different.
Evaluation – We are working closely with the Health Department to get their database updated so we can better understand the condition of septic’s in the Township. Once the data is input, we can notify residents of the status of their septic system and if necessary, how they can get it inspected and get the HD records updated.
As a part of the evaluation, we have revisited the list of inspectors that were identified in Lyon Township as a part of their initial septic ordinance – now rescinded. We will be contacting some of the inspectors that are from out of the area to be sure they want to remain on our list and be sure we have current contact information for them. We have also prepared an inspection checklist that is being reviewed and will be used for Gerrish inspections to update HD records.
Execution – Armed with training and data from the Health Department, we can begin to make some evaluations and possibly some decision about what steps to take next. We will begin work on a septic ordinance in the next couple of months, but we will need the data piece completed prior to any final ordinance.
We added four new members to the Septic Committee last month because of the open House the Communications Committee hosted. All current members have a keen interest in the committee and have committed their time and expertise to moving this issue forward. The robust discussions resulting from a very diverse committee are essential to developing sound solutions and we feel like we are making good solid progress – however, it was noted at the last meeting that it seems the more we learn, the more we realize how much more we don’t know. It is a process and steady work toward our current theme is showing through.