Forums on Jefferson septic monitoring set

Published 12:01 am Friday, March 16, 2012

Three public forums to review proposed draft revisions to the Jefferson County septic system monitoring code are planned this month.

The first forum is scheduled next week.

It will be from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Tri-Area Community Center in Chimacum.

The next two will be the following week. They are:

■   March 26 — 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Port Ludlow Conference Center, 200 Olympic Place, which also is known as Grace Christian Center.

■   March 28 — 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Quilcene Community Center.

The Jefferson County Board of Health will review the draft code revisions at its April 19 meeting, which will be at 2:30 p.m. at 615 Sheridan St., Port Townsend.

A goal of the program is to improve septic system operation and monitoring compliance by providing information about septic system operation, maintenance and inspection as well as making it easier to complete the inspection at a more reasonable cost, Jefferson County Public Health said in a statement.

The agency hosted a series of public work group meetings to develop recommended revisions to the program.

The work group, which included community members and on-site sewage professionals, met five times to review regional approaches and local information and accept public comment.

The resulting recommendations include two major changes:

■   They provide septic system operation and maintenance education for any interested person at no additional cost.

■   They enable homeowners who complete training courses and receive authorization to conduct some of the required monitoring inspections instead of requiring a certified operation and monitoring specialist or licensed designer for all inspections.

Agendas, meeting summaries and meeting materials can be reviewed at www.jeffersoncountypublic

health.org.

Comments can be emailed to septicmonitoring

@co.jefferson.wa.us or by U.S. mail to Jefferson County Public Health, Septic Monitoring, 615 Sheridan St., Port Townsend, WA 98368.