Fix for sewage problem is expensive (03/28/06)

A report from Commonwealth Engineers Inc. concerning how to remedy the sewage issue in and around the Foxfire Addition was not what the Jay County Commissioners wanted to hear.

Wayne Bailey, business and development manager for the engineering firm, presented a plan to commissioners Monday morning that carries a price tag of about $785,000.

Commissioners Milo Miller Jr., Gary Theurer, and Faron Parr were troubled by the high cost to the approximately 25 homeowners involved to extend city of Portland sewage lines to serve the affected homes.

The commissioners are proposing to use a county infrastructure fee to pay a portion of the costs to those homeowners.

The problem concerns the flow of sewage into a creek on the west side of the addition that then flows into the Salamonia River. The discharge, discovered in 2004, was from a septic system on a property in Foxfire, which is located west of Ind. 67 on county road 125 South.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management was then notified of the situation and the county was instructed by IDEM to form a regional sewage district and to come up with a solution to the problem.

Commissioners then began the process to create the sewage district and notified IDEM of their actions. In November the county was told it had 180 days to become compliant before the state would begin applying a $2,900 daily fine.

Because the solution will likely involve the extension of sewer lines, a stretch of homes on the northwest side of Ind. 67 between 125 South and county road 300 West will also be affected. Law requires that homes and/or businesses located within 300 feet of a sewer line must be hooked into that line.

In his report Monday, Bailey told commissioners he is moving along with the compliance plan that carries a May 15 deadline.

“I want to address the two parts,” Bailey said, “the creation of the district and our status with IDEM on the agreement of Foxfire.”

Bailey’s study states that each property owner will be responsible for providing and installing the individual grinder pump station to serve his or her property, as well as run a lateral to new sewer mains.

The estimated site expenses for each property are $4,900, and each property owner will share in the

money from the Jay County Infrastructure Fund will be used to subsidize the project in an effort to keep costs down for individual property owners.

Bailey explained that because of the income level of homeowners in the Foxfire Addition, the county would not be eligible to apply for grant money.

Once the homes are connected, the monthly charge could be from $50 to $75 — in addition to a sewage bill.

“There’s no inexpensive way to do this,” Bailey said about the project.

“But we’ve gotta make it affordable for the people,” Miller said, adding that many homes could become unoccupied because of the costs. “People won’t be able to afford to pay that and they’ll just move.”

“The cost is because of the direction it has to go in the construction,” Miller said.

Commissioners asked Bailey to approach IDEM about an extension on the May 15 deadline.

“See if they’ll let us get the horse in front of the cart,” Theurer said about getting a plan in place.

Also Monday, commissioners discussed with Jay County Clerk Jane Ann Runyon, the changes proposed for polling sites in the May primary election.

Runyon said that is currently appears that the Greene Township Community Center will not be compliant with the state’s requirements to make it handicapped accessible.[[In-content Ad]]