A shower is possible early. Cloudy. Low 54F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

A shower is possible early. Cloudy. Low 54F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

GOSHEN — A sewer main project encompassing unincorporated parts of southern Elkhart County is making headway, and they’ve added another region.

The forced sewer main would travel from Southwest at Ind. 119 and C.R. 11, heading south to Foraker encompassing parts of C.R.s 11, 46 and 7, down to the region residents call Tecumseh Acres, and then onto the nearby Nappanee Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The project is expected to cost the county around $7.5 million. The county received a grant for the project, but as a condition of the grant, the county must actively be providing funds toward the project and not just a plan to pay for the balance. The grant is $1.8 million. The council agreed to match, appropriating $2 million toward the project now, rather than waiting, to ensure they keep the grant.

A study performed by Lochmueller Group for the Foraker, Southwest and Tecumseh Wastewater System claims that since 2019, 100% of samples taken from the Weaver Ditch Outfall in Foraker tested above the water quality standard of 235 CFU/100mL for E. coli. In Tecumseh Acres, Southwest and other parts of Foraker, the numbers were lower but many regions also tested at 98%. Testing at Yellow Creek at C.R. 138 since 2010 indicated over 98% of the 228 samples tested above water quality standards for E. coli. The region’s water is also reported by Lochmueller Group to contain human fecal pollution, pharmaceuticals and known septic issues.

Residents of the area will be permitted to exclude their homes from hookup if their septic systems meet certain criteria, but later hookup may cost up to $22,000.

“Today we have the money to hook up residents. In five or 10 years when their systems fail, there will not be (American Rescue Plan Funds) available to offset the cost of the pump and the tank and the construction and the electrical circuit upgrades. … The incentive is you can hook up today free … or risk, down the road, paying when your system fails.”

There would be 110-135 users of the new main, who would be charged likely $85-$95 per month. Administrator Jeff Taylor added that families wouldn’t need to replace or build mound systems and wouldn’t have concerns about illicit discharge, and streams in the area would be cleaner.

Not everyone in the community meetings was thrilled with the idea, though, Taylor admitted. The original project did not include Tecumseh Acres and the grant did not increase with the addition of the region, leaving residents concerned about ulterior motives given they’re less than a mile from city limits.

“Folks in Tecumseh are concerned that this is a play by Nappanee to annex Tecumseh,” he said. “I can tell you there are no plans for Nappanee to reach out and pick up Tecumseh. There’s no economic benefit to the town, for the city, for the county, providing snow plowing and police services, and things like that. It’s business as usual out there.”

The estimated date for bidding is January 2023 with construction beginning in the early spring and continuing for 18 months.

Other items to come before the board include:

• With the lowering of the actionable lead level from 5 to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter by the CDC, the Indiana Department of Health also lowered the level from 10 micrograms per deciliter to 3.5 and the benchmark for beginning case management services from 10 deciliters to 5.

As a result, Elkhart County is expected to see 216 children added to their case management. To help offset the cost, the state has agreed to provide a grant that would help to support the change as it comes about. Elkhart County would receive $226,000. The Elkhart County Health Department has decided to use the funds to for supplies, services, education, and to support a two-year position, a lead case manager.

• The council agreed that Councilman Steve Clark will be taking the place of Thomas Stump on the plan commission.

• In an effort to attract talent, the council approved a request to increase the pay rate for new employees of the landfill. This year, the starting rate for a landfill employee was $17.67 per hour. The measure will remove the three-month probationary period to receive an increase, automatically offering any new employee the 2023 rate of about $1 more per hour.

• The council also approved a request at $1.1 million from the American Rescue Plan funding to continue improving camera equipment at the jail.

• Emergency Management Director Jenn Tobey explained that the increase in fuel prices has created a problem for the division. The July bill put them $300 over this year’s budget. The council approved an additional $3,000 to make it through the end of the year.

• Councilmen Douglas Graham and Adam Bujalski voted against a transfer of $3,000 to the Clerk’s Perpetuation Fund on the premise that no one from the clerk’s office attended the meeting to speak on behalf of the transfer. Bujalski said he feels it’s important when requesting funds that someone speaks to the council to explain the reason behind it, adding that he would have approved it regardless of the reason, had someone been available to them. Having the other five councilmen vote in favor of the motion, however, it did pass, and the funds will be used for a document shredding service added to the Elkhart location. Stump added that the money belongs to the clerk’s office anyways, but needed to be transferred for specific use.

• Beavers have inundated York Township Ditch in Bristol, according to Elkhart County Surveyor Phil Barker. The surveyor’s office will handle the problem, but requested $2,000 to help offset the cost of purchasing a beaver leveler. It was approved.

• The council approved $75,000 for a wastewater treatment expansion study in Middlebury. The study would target the Ind. 13 Tax Increment Finance district, south of the Toll Road, and not north leading into White Pigeon. Elkhart County Director of Planning & Development Chris Godlewski said the hope is that Middlebury, which is also helping with the project, would serve the southern portion including the businesses nearby.

• A data action mini-grant provided by Oaklawn will help to cover vet services for a trauma service dog at the juvenile detention center.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.

Education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News

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