Kosciusko County Commissioners  continued to move forward with the process of installing a sewer system for residents of Tippecanoe and Chapman lakes at its bi-weekly meeting Tuesday.

Commissioners heard from their attorney, Chad Miner, who worked with Ken Jones, of Jones Petrie Rafinski, on engineering issues since the Feb. 6 commissioners meeting. Jones said the next step was to get all the entities involved, including county commissioners, council members, financing people, engineering people and representatives from the two lakes together at the same time to formulate one plan and “ensure we’re all on the same page.”

Meanwhile, Steve Snyder, representing the Tippecanoe Lakes Service Initiative, said the conservancy group has a court hearing March 29 that is required for the group to move forward with its plans.

Snyder read a statement from the conservancy saying it wants, above all else, to keep its promise to the membership of the group to move forward with a sewer project. The group is willing to postpone its court hearing on the completion of three conditions required to establish a regional sewer district: a preliminary engineering report, a fiscal advisers preliminary rate report, and the securing of legal services for preparation of the petition and public notice.



[[In-content Ad]]

The commissioners, who have voiced concerns with the conservancy district plans.

The commissioners agreed to meet on March 27 with various parties that Jones recommended. The date is the latest the conservancy can request a postponement.

Snyder said the conditions were met exactly as his client asked for, and the commissioners made it official, voting unanimously for the March 27 meeting.

In other matters, Sheriff  “Rocky” Goshert presented his department’s annual report. It showed the department responded to 32,724 calls in 2017, up less than one percent from the year before.

The report also showed that KCSD had 3,359 calls to assist Warsaw Police, but Goshert said “that number isn’t really accurate.

“We went through by hand and checked the records, and the number of calls where we actually assisted was much smaller. A lot of times the Warsaw PD had a bench warrant, and we served it and took someone to jail, and others we helped out when all WPD units were tied up.”

“We’re not stepping over anybody’s authority. We’re just willing to help out any agency that needs it,” he said.

In other business:

A request to vacate an alley on an unnamed public way in Quaker Haven was presented an approved. Matt Sandy of the county’s area planning commission said the 10-foot wide alley was plotted in 1930, two years after the nearest home was built.

The sheriff’s department received approval to purchase five sets of body and dash-mounted cameras to be used with the five new vehicles that will be acquired this year. The cost is not to exceed $1,000 per set.

County highway supervisor Scott Tilden said a federal grant for $637,100.47 to replace a bridge on South Hand Avenue over Walnut Creek has been secured. The money won’t be available until 2022 at the earliest.

The county commissioner’s next meeting will be at 9 a.m. March 6.