Sewage solution sought (2/8/05)

Efforts to solve a problem that could potentially become costly to taxpayers in Jay County are going on out of the public eye.

An engineer has been hired using private funds to find a solution to the problem of raw sewage from homes southwest of Portland flowing into county ditches and the Salamonie River.

Jay County Commissioners, who were originally notified about the issue in October, received a letter from a state agency Monday threatening to fine the county up to $25,000 per day if action is not taken to solve the problem.

Some water samples taken in the fall from a county ditch near the Foxfire Subdivision on county road 125 South showed high levels of the E. coli bacteria. What appeared to be raw sewage was also observed flowing from a drainage tile in Foxfire by an inspector from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Also potentially involved in the project will be a propane dealer on Ind. 67 just south of the Salamonie River, the Indiana Department of Transportation at Ind. 67 and county road 125 South, and a stretch of homes on the northwest side of Ind. 67 between county roads 125 South and 300 West.

Local attorney Bill Hinkle, who lives in the Foxfire addition, is working with Bob Clamme, the attorney for the county health department, on a solution.

But Hinkle, who is also the city attorney for Portland, said he’s working more as a private citizen than as an attorney.

Hinkle said he and other Foxfire residents acknowledge there is a problem. “We want to do whatever is reasonable to cooperate and solve this problem, but we feel we need some direction from the county,” Hinkle said.

The Foxfire residents have retained an engineer from the Anderson area to explore possible resolutions.

Commissioners’ president Milo Miller Jr. said that although he believes the threatened fine by IDEM is only meant to put pressure on the county, he would like to see some progress.

“When they threatened to (fine) the county it becomes a public matter. I’m not real concerned about it at this point,” Miller said. “The solution needs to be found. The $25,000 is just a throw-out number to scare you into doing something. It gets your attention. That’s something the county taxpayers don’t need to be paying.”

Dave Houck, environmentalist/administrator of the Jay County Health Department, said back in October the likely solution would be to hook up the homes in Foxfire and the other affected properties to the city of Portland’s sewage system.

State law states that any home or business within 300 feet of a municipal sewer line must connect to that line.

Jay County High School and Sheffer Acres West, located across the Salamonie River from Foxfire, are currently served by city sewers.

“These things don’t move too fast,” Houck said. “We have to send a letter to IDEM telling them what ... stage we’re in.”

Most of the affected lots aren’t big enough to construct a new septic system, Houck said today. And he said the costs of constructing a treatment plant would be prohibitive.

In other business Monday, Commissioners Gary Theurer, Faron Parr and Miller:

•Discussed a complaint from a southern Jay County resident about treatment from 911 dispatcher during the height of the ice storm on Jan. 6. When a call reporting a downed electrical line was received from the rural Ridgeville resident, the Jay County 911 dispatcher told the caller to report it to Randolph County — apparently because the source address of the call was Ridgeville but was actually in Jay County.

After calling Randolph County, the caller called Jay County once again.

Jay County Sheriff Todd Penrod and 911 coordinator Bill Baldwin, notified of the complaint by the commissioners on Monday, said they would discuss the problem with the dispatcher.

Theurer, saying he wasn’t making excuses for the dispatcher, said it was apparently a mistake made during a stressful period.

•Made Jay Circuit Court Judge Brian Hutchison purchasing agent for a new photocopier for the probation department and Jay Superior Court. The copier is expected to cost more than $4,000 and will be purchased with user fees collected from offenders.

•Signed an application for a renewal grant to run the Jay County Corrections Department. The two-year grant is for $220,848 and will, if approved, be effective from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2007.

The grant is from the Indiana Department of Correction.

•Signed a mutual aid agreement for public health services within a 13-county district established by the Indiana State Department of Health. The agreement was presented by Jay County public health coordinator Jim Waechter.[[In-content Ad]]