I am writing this letter to inform all the people concerned with the petition by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. This petition is requesting that we let them establish a Lakes District. The purpose of this districting is so they can assess property owners for the development of a sewage system.
This idea on its own is not a bad idea, just not a very well explained one, or a well-thought-out idea. There are too many area lakes that have housing either too congested, 50 feet x 50 feet, or too near the lake edge, within 35 feet, to allow room for both a water source (a well) and a sewage system without a great deal of expense. Are the other property owners going to be paying more so these infringements can be bought up and eliminated by purchasing this land? Where are the pumping stations going to be? On public access land, public domain claimed land or purchased land? These are very important problems we, as property owners, need answered.
The development of this project is the reason that the IDEM can assess a cost as much as 10 years prior to actually building this system for the property use. Is this something important enough for you to gather and vote for or against this state project?
I suggest that each property owner either write your opinions, or personally speak your thoughts at the meeting Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Community Building in North Webster, while they are holding the IDEM Lake Districting Hearings, or contact the IDEM about this matter at this address:
ADA Coordinator
Indiana Dept. of Management
100 Senate Ave., Suite 1322
Indianapolis, IN 46204
This is an urgent plea for you to take time away from playing on the lakes to consider a future expense, and possibly the loss of the use of the lakes due to unfair assessments.
How much will this total project cost? Guess about a $100 per property owner a month for a period of 10 years, times the number of properties on all the lakes they want to put into this one district. Approximately $12,000 a property, around 20,000 properties.
$12,000
x20,000
$24 million
This is just an example of the cost of this project, not actual true costs. How much are you willing to pay? Meanwhile, we are required to maintain our current septic systems at whatever the costs demanded for maintenance, due to new state rules and legislation force on the septic companies. Later, there will be hook-up costs for each property plus a monthly usage fee for this service. Nothing is free in life, but there are ways to be cost preventative. Good planning and budgeting, plus being well aware of the facts in advance, are a few of these methods.
