NORTH WEBSTER - North Webster Council on Tuesday decided to enter into an interlocal agreement with Knapp Lake Area Conservancy District.
Matt Shipman, speaking on behalf of the Knapp Lake Area Conservancy District, said an interlocal agreement will help for several reasons.
“We’ve been working on it for a while and we have everything in place, so we can hopefully get sewers in on the east side of Webster Lake,” he said. “That is by working with a partnership with Tippecanoe-Chapman Regional Sewer District.”
TCRSD will build that infrastructure, he said. “But they need a place to take it so we’ve developed a win-win to propose to North Webster.”
He said, “We have a pipe that runs through Epworth Forest that they will be able to able to connect to on the north end of where that little territory will be.”
“Our goal is to put a chemical feed station to help with your strength a little bit cause ... it’s is a long run to Knapp Lake,” Shipman said.
Town attorney Jack Birch agreed and said there has been issues with strength for a while.
‘They’ve already paid for what they’ve been getting,” said Birch. “It will be a benefit for us.”
Also, said Shipman, an in-flow of pressure will help pull it through the pipe faster and ... so it’s not sitting there ... it will dilute it before it gets to your plant,” Shipman said.
Shipman said the situation, mainly the septic systems is “bad” and some sewage is going into Webster Lake.
He said TCRSD is applying next spring for funding, which will come through the state revolving loan fund.
One of the steps necessary for funding is to be able to ensure “we can get a capacity certificate.”
“Ten years ago, in October 2014, we entered into an agreement with town of North Webster when we built this project,” Shipman said.
He continued, “You don’t know what the true capacity of the houses will be and the residents so it’s always estimated very conservatively and so we estimated 37,000 gallons ... is what we would send you.”
But instead it’s more like 10,000 to 12,000 gallons, he said.
He said they’ve been overpaying the town for services for the last 10 years because they knew the sewer project was coming up.
The council agreed to approve the amendment to the ordinance and sign the capacity certificate so funding can be sought.
Utilities Manager Mike Noe said leaf pickup will be conducted one more time before finishing for the season. Noe said trash cans have been picked up and will be put out sometime in early April.
“The dump truck now has a new pan on it,” he said, adding it is under warranty.
“We think the dump (truck) is good to go for salting,” Noe said.
In the future, he’d like to use the F350, the service truck, and put a flatbed on it. “We have two spreaders,” he added.
Officer Dave May gave the police department report. During November, it had 216 calls of service, 33 citizen assists/lockouts, 13 battery, fights or domestic calls, 27 traffic-related calls, 10 accidents, two criminal mischief reports, two theft/fraud calls, three alcohol-related calls and 18 agency assistance for fire or EMS. Officers worked 701.75 hours, drove 3,666 miles using 291.51 gallons of fuel. “We’ve been busy,” he said.
In other news, the board:
• Approved the 2025 interlocal agreement for terminal services data, an agreement with the county, costing $1,105.
The next meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025.