The Ottawa County Environmental Health Department is responsible for well and septic inspection, as well as food safety related activities. During the March 5, 2024, Ottawa County Finance Committee meeting, (32:35) Ottawa County Environmental Public Health Manager Spencer Ballard explained that the State of Michigan had provided the environmental health department with additional funding related to well and septic permitting and food safety activities. Based on the additional funding, the Environmental Health Department requested to use $85,602 to hire an additional person to cover periods when the department is short-staffed and to assist with day-to-day duties in order to free up supervisors whose focus is issuing licenses and permits.
The department currently employees approximately 28 people, and the new position would be funded with the additional money from the state. Since 2004, state legislatures have considered various proposed legislation that would require maintenance inspections on wells and septic systems every five years. Ottawa County currently requires inspections at the time of sale when properties are being transferred. It appears the grant funding would be provided in an effort to move Ottawa County towards supporting these proposed legislation initiatives.
Rather than eagerly expanding the size of government by hiring an additional employee, Ottawa County Commissioner Joe Moss was concerned that the county has a monopoly on well and septic inspection services and thought the people of Ottawa County may be better served by outsourcing some of the permitting and licensing activities as is done in other counties. Additionally, Moss felt outsourcing services could relieve the county employees of their burden. He made several statements addressing these issues. (38:10)
“I understand the desire for efficiency to ensure service delivery. [] I actually support that, but I think we should take a different route with this item. What I did was I went back and looked at the environmental health regulations that do make Ottawa unique. I think Ottawa is one of just a couple counties in the state that [] has the specific regulation on things that are related to well and septic sale and transfer permits.” [] “What I would like to see happen before moving forward is, we send this over to HHS and review the policy; the ordinance that requires the health department to manage some of the transfer fees [] because I think there is a possibility we could rely a little more on the private market to handle some of these items. That would be almost like a release valve on the department.”
“We could keep allocating full time employees (FTE’s) into the department, but I think there might be a better way to do it.”
“This is one area where I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from residents and realtors both in Ottawa and outside Ottawa. I think we do need to look at how do we best invest in the department and serve our community, and so I’d love to take a little more time and dig into different options that we have. And right now, there’s really a county monopoly on the inspection process. [] maybe a release valve for some of the work internally, and just look to see if we can reduce wait times, reduce fees for residents, and then also bring whatever additional resources are needed into the department.”
“When you have government controlling the entire process with no opportunity for the private market, in our county, in this one particular area, we might be lacking data. [] In general, government monopoly is always wrong. It’s always the worst way to go. So, I would love to look at opening that up to the private market.”
During the discussion, commissioners asked about how the licensing program currently works, and how similar tasks are accomplished in neighboring counties. They learned Ottawa County has a set of local regulations which currently ensure a government monopoly, but it is within the purview of the board to rework the regulations for the time of sale program.
Board member Rebecca Curran asked, “How does the time of sale program work, and what are the fees?”
On-Site Services Supervisor Drew Shaw answered the question. “The fees, I think they are around $250-$350, I can’t right off the top of my head, but there is a different fee for septic only, and a different fee for well only, and a third fee when you do both at the same time.”
Curran then asked, “How long does it take once the request is made? [] What is the process time?”
Shaw responded, “Our current goal is to get that turned around in 10 business days. Our most recent numbers are a little bit above that. For inspections that were completed last month, so in February, those were right at 13 business days’ turnaround time.”
Next Curran asked, “What does the private sector charge for these services?” Unfortunately, Shaw did not know the answer to this question.
Commissioner Gretchen Cosby asked, “Do you know what the turnaround time is for surrounding counties?”
Again, Shaw answered, “I don’t know.”
Surprisingly, there was a community member in the audience who did know the answers to these questions. At the very end of the meeting, Dave Moran, gave public comment. He just happened to have recently requested these services for his own personal property. (2:43:10)
“How convenient, today I sent in my $345 to have a water and septic inspection done for a real estate transfer. That’s what you charge. You asked your people and they couldn’t give you a definite number. It was somewhere between $250-$350. Yeah, I was listening. I’m telling you it is $345 for a real estate transfer. Are there any questions? [] That’s if you want the 13-day delivery that they are talking about. You can spend another $250 and get a 5-day expedited delivery. Are you following me? Now we’re at $600.
I called to find out what private parties charge. It’s $300 bucks; next day service. So, you as a county are charging 200% more for 5-day delivery, and they can do it in 1-day. And I don’t believe a county is supposed to compete with private parties. That’s not what the United States is about.”
The topic of well and septic inspections was again discussed during the March 19, 2024, Ottawa County Health and Human Services committee meeting. Since the March 5 Finance meeting, the environmental health department had reached out to the West Michigan Association of Realtors, and a representative gave public comment fully supporting the health department. Ottawa County Health Administrator Adeline Hambley then explained that she did not believe there would be a cost savings to residents if these duties were opened to the private sector. In what seemed more like a scare tactic and an excuse to me, she explained it that it would be very difficult because Ottawa County has compiled extensive records and she was concerned with sharing of private data.
Commissioner Doug Zylstra made a motion to authorize the health department to hire the additional person they requested, but the motion was not seconded. The majority of the Ottawa County commissioners are following through on their promise to make decisions in the best interests of the residents of Ottawa County who pay for government services. In this case, they will continue exploring ways to save taxpayers money by eliminating this government monopoly and opening up the business of well and septic inspection to the private sector. (1:30:00)