Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Efforts by the Kosciusko County Health Department to update the county's septic ordinance met with opposition Tuesday from a candidate for county commissioner.
Jon Cupp, health administrator for the county, told the county commissioners Tuesday that the ordinance under consideration would require residents with septic systems to hook onto a new sewer line after their septic systems fail.
The ordinance also would try to make provisions for hardship cases or people who could not afford the hook-up fees.
But John Bell, Democratic candidate for county commissioner, said the ordinance would be intrusive and accused the health department of proposing the ordinance just to make their own jobs "a little easier."
"I'm not trying to get out of work or get the department out of work," said Cupp, whose department would be responsible for periodic inspections of existing septic systems.
Bell proposed his own ordinance that he asked the commissioners to pass "now." He said that when a sewer system is established, the county health department should no longer have jurisdiction.
Bell said he was going to meet with state senator Robert Meeks in Angola Tuesday evening to discuss the issue.
Commissioner president Eddie Creighton told Bell that the commissioners could not respond to his request until they had read the proposed ordinances.
The commissioners also were asked by Syracuse resident George Whisler to pass an ordinance governing noise and other nuisances.
Whisler said he lives in the Forest Park Addition in Syracuse, and the neighborhood has a problem with dogs that bark constantly. The dogs also dig their way out of their pen and threaten neighborhood children.
The commissioners told Whisler that current ordinances already address the nuisance problem. County attorney Mike Miner later said a resident must prove the nuisance is occurring and get a court order for it to stop.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Denied an ordinance for a stop sign on Morrison Island bridge.
• Approved Bill Batalis' request for a vacation of a road in Marathon Industrial Park.
• Approved a petition by Hugh Dunithan to rezone property in Turkey Creek Township from residential to commercial.
• Approved Donny Hamby's request to rezone property in Plain Township from agricultural to agricultural 2.
• Approved a request by C. Max and Linda Shultz to rezone 14 acres in Wayne Township from agricultural to agricultural 2.
The commissioners will meet next in the courthouse at 9 a.m. Sept. 3.
