Undigested sewage may hit the baffle, metaphorically speaking, at a special Island County Board of Health meeting Monday night to discuss the county’s septic system inspection requirements.

Aaron Henderson, the county’s director of environmental health, said the county has received many requests from the public for such a forum and he expects it to be very animated. He said a lot of the recent interest in — and some anger about — the septic inspection program is a result of a new $62 permit filing fee, on top of inspection costs.

Henderson said officials have discussed abandoning the contentious fee and finding other funding, but they want to hear what the public has to say.

“I think all of us want to keep an open mind to alternatives,” he said.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Coupeville Recreation Hall on NW Alexander Street.

North Whidbey resident Skip Augle plans to attend the meeting, which he predicts will be similar to recent town-hall meetings on health care. A lot of people, he said, aren’t happy with the septic program for various reasons.

Augle said he’s in favor of inspection, but he sees no reason he should have to pay someone to look at his system each and every year.

“My concern is when bureaucrats in $100 suits and $150 ties try to dictate to me the frequency …” he said. “The guy who takes care of my system is a professional, trained and certified by the county, and he says I don’t need an inspection for at least three years.”

Under county rules, homeowners with conventional gravity septic systems are required to have an inspection every three years. Those with alternative systems must have them inspected each year.

The county offers a class for people who want to learn to inspect their own systems, saving them the estimated $120 to $300 price tag from a professional. But that doesn’t apply to people with so-called alternative systems who live in areas deemed as environmentally sensitive.

Augle went through the county’s training and learned afterward that he can’t do his own inspections. His “simple pump system” is considered an alternative system and his section of the Rolling Hills neighborhood is considered a sensitive area. That means he’ll have to pay for an inspection and the $62 fee each year.

“They’re basically jacking up my property taxes by $225 every year,” Augle said.

As Henderson explained, the septic maintenance program comes as a result of “a partially funded mandate” handed down in 2005 from the state Board of Health of all counties bordering Puget Sound.

The county adopted its management plan in 2007 and the program started in 2008.

The problem, Henderson said, has been finding a way to fund the program, which will cost the county about $200,000 next year. Henderson was able to obtain a $100,000 grant from the state for two years of the program.

The county Board of Health, including the three elected county commissioners, originally decided to charge a septic fee at the time a house is sold, but the downfall in the housing market meant nowhere near enough money was collected. In April, the Board of Health adopted the current $62 fee that must be paid when the inspection report is filed with the Health Department.

The deadline for homeowners with alternative systems to file the first inspection report was July 1, 2009. The deadline for people with conventional systems is July 1, 2010.

On Monday, Henderson and Keith Higman, the director of the county health department, will begin the special session with a presentation about the history of the rules, the science underlying the rules, and the county’s program in relation to state requirements.

Then they will listen to public comments.

Henderson said the inspection program may not be perfect, but he said it has already prevented septic tanks from failing. That’s good for human health, the environment and the homeowners’ pocketbooks.

“I hope people come to the meeting with open minds and see the importance and value of the program,” he said.