Mayor Warns Of Looming Sewer Project
November 18, 2016 at 8:40 p.m.
By Dan [email protected]
The city’s 13-year-old treatment plant, which serves the city as well as Winona Lake, Leesburg and West Haven Estates, is moving closer to capacity, and parts of the underground infrastructure – some of which is more than 100 years old – need significant repairs.
The plant has a capacity to serve up to 4 million gallons a day but was designed to allow for expansion.
Brian Davison, the city’s utilities manager, said the plant is at about 89 percent capacity, which is just about the tipping point for concern at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
“At 90 percent, typically IDEM will ask what is your plan for the future,” Davison said.
Once the plant is at capacity, the state can ban further connections, he said.
Mayor Joe Thallemer, who has begun warning of the potential costs, said Thursday the city is getting to the point where something has to be done.
In a column published in the Times-Union earlier this month, Thallemer said the cost to expand the plant could be in the neighborhood of $20 million. Another looming cost involves replacing underground joints in the sewer lines that are crumbling and causing sinkholes the city has seen recently.
Another issue the study will consider is the increasing amount of stormwater that is finding itself entering the sanitary lines, often called inflow and infiltration. The cost to remedy that issue is expected to be in the millions, Thallemer’s column warned.
On Thursday, he reiterated a sense of immediacy.
“I want everyone to know we don’t have a choice when it comes to this aging infrastructure or plant capacity,” Thallemer said.
The board of works on Thursday approved plans for H.J. Umbaugh & Associates to conduct a cost of services study, which will help assess the current circumstances. Among the many aspects, the study will look at the different types of customers.
“The idea is how to look at how we service all levels of customers and determine, if we’re gonna have to make an adjustment, we want to make sure it’s done properly,” Thallemer said.
The board of works also:
• Learned a $25,000 grant has been received for several police departments, including Warsaw, for drunk driving patrols. The city’s share is about $7,000.
• Renewed the contract for Larry Clifford, who serves as the code enforcement hearing officer. He hosts about nine meetings per year. Terms of the new contract are the same as the existing contract.
• A final change order was received for the East Market Street road project. The final cost of the work is expected to be around $1.4 million.
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The city’s 13-year-old treatment plant, which serves the city as well as Winona Lake, Leesburg and West Haven Estates, is moving closer to capacity, and parts of the underground infrastructure – some of which is more than 100 years old – need significant repairs.
The plant has a capacity to serve up to 4 million gallons a day but was designed to allow for expansion.
Brian Davison, the city’s utilities manager, said the plant is at about 89 percent capacity, which is just about the tipping point for concern at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
“At 90 percent, typically IDEM will ask what is your plan for the future,” Davison said.
Once the plant is at capacity, the state can ban further connections, he said.
Mayor Joe Thallemer, who has begun warning of the potential costs, said Thursday the city is getting to the point where something has to be done.
In a column published in the Times-Union earlier this month, Thallemer said the cost to expand the plant could be in the neighborhood of $20 million. Another looming cost involves replacing underground joints in the sewer lines that are crumbling and causing sinkholes the city has seen recently.
Another issue the study will consider is the increasing amount of stormwater that is finding itself entering the sanitary lines, often called inflow and infiltration. The cost to remedy that issue is expected to be in the millions, Thallemer’s column warned.
On Thursday, he reiterated a sense of immediacy.
“I want everyone to know we don’t have a choice when it comes to this aging infrastructure or plant capacity,” Thallemer said.
The board of works on Thursday approved plans for H.J. Umbaugh & Associates to conduct a cost of services study, which will help assess the current circumstances. Among the many aspects, the study will look at the different types of customers.
“The idea is how to look at how we service all levels of customers and determine, if we’re gonna have to make an adjustment, we want to make sure it’s done properly,” Thallemer said.
The board of works also:
• Learned a $25,000 grant has been received for several police departments, including Warsaw, for drunk driving patrols. The city’s share is about $7,000.
• Renewed the contract for Larry Clifford, who serves as the code enforcement hearing officer. He hosts about nine meetings per year. Terms of the new contract are the same as the existing contract.
• A final change order was received for the East Market Street road project. The final cost of the work is expected to be around $1.4 million.
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