Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Stacey Miller and her son use the bathroom in the Merrywood trailer court park regularly and never give a second thought to where the waste goes.
But with a threat by the town of Winona Lake to cut off sewer service, Miller said she's wondering where she and others might go.
That's because the elimination of sewer service would mean a prompt eviction and closure of the park.
Whether the park will make repairs and comply with the town's demands is a concern for many of the residents in the 82-unit park along U.S. 30.
Town council voted last week to cut off sewer service if the park doesn't repair leaking sewer lines that collect rainwater runoff and cost the town more money to treat the wastewater.
The dispute between the town and park has been simmering for nearly two years, but only now are Miller and others giving more thought about sewage service.
"That's one of the biggest things you would think management would take care of," Miller said.
"The bottom line is it costs a lot of money to move a mobile home, and there's nowhere to move 82 mobile homes at the last minute.
Although park management, contractors and the town were scheduled to meet today in hopes of pinpointing the leaks, residents remained wary of what the future holds.
The park distributed notices last week in an attempt to assure residents the park won't be closed and that improvements would soon be made.
But residents are still nervous.
Edward Reed contacted the county and state health departments out of concern.
"It's been going on for the past two years," Reed said. "If it's not as big of a deal as they say it is, why hasn't it been taken care of?"
Reed said he's unsure where his family of six would move because many other parks won't accept their aged mobile home.
"My next door neighbor put theirs up for sale, the people across the street are possibly looking at buying a house today," he said.
"Everybody's trying to get out of here before they shut down because nobody ever knows what's going to happen from one day to the next."
Another resident, who asked to be identified only as Carol, expressed concern about the sewage situation and agreed with the town's threat.
"I hope they do make them do something about it," she said.
Park manager Claude Wood expressed optimism about resolving the dispute with Winona Lake.
A company specializing in identifying sewer leaks will be in the park today and will work with a contractor and representatives of the town and the park to possibly pinpoint the infiltration, Wood said.
He said he believes most of the infiltration is probably coming from one spot.
The workers will try to identify all leaks.
"If they find them, they can be fixed," Wood said.
He reiterated his belief that the park won't need to close.
Winona Lake Town Council President Brent Wilcoxson said last week he hoped the action would result in some progress. Whether today's efforts are coincidental makes no difference to him.
"Maybe they had it lined up anyway. Our goal is to get something solved," Wilcoxson said.
Other residents sounded more concerned about leaking water lines. One resident's lot was flooded for several weeks until a trench was dug to lead the water into the street. Water from the trench drained into the street and created a murky path of mud.
On Monday, work crews were at the scene trying to fix the problem.
Some of the park's residents aren't surprised owners have dragged their feet in making sewer repairs because they've been slow to repair water problems. Work crews Monday were repairing several water problems in different parts of the park.
The quality of drinking water has also been a source of concern. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management recently won a court order requiring the park to begin regular testing of the drinking water supply.
Carol and others said the drinking water isn't bearable.
Tap water is only used for showers and dishes, she said. For everything else, they depend on bottled water.
"I don't even give it to my dog," she said.
Wood said the park was opened in 1968 and that many of the water lines installed then need replacing.
Repairs to water lines are being made on an as-needed basis, Wood said.
