County appropriates $1.8M for sewer project
GOSHEN — County officials voted to draw on state funding to help pay for a sewer collection system north of Nappanee.
The Elkhart County Board of Commissioners on Monday approved a $1.875 million appropriation toward the cost of the Foraker-Southwest wastewater project. The allocation of State Water Infrastructure Funds helps cover the $10.8 million construction bid that was received in January 2023.
“If you remember, from the beginning, part of the funding package for the project included $1.875 million as a SWIF grant. The county received these funds and needs to appropriate them in order to spend them,” said county Administrator Jeff Taylor. “In working with the (county) auditor’s office, we’re setting up this fund so that we can receive the monies and then turn around and spend it.”
The project involves building sewer lines to gather wastewater from the Foraker, Southwest and Tecumseh Acres communities and send it to the Nappanee plant for treatment. The county hopes to solve the problem of illicit discharge into area creeks from the more than 100 septic systems in those neighborhoods, before the state decides to intervene.
Water testing from Weaver Ditch in Foraker, Yellow Creek in Southwest and the Darkwood Ditch in Tecumseh have shown E. coli levels above the water quality standard. Tests indicated the presence of pharmaceuticals in all three waterways as well.
A $7.1 million appropriation of the county’s American Rescue Plan funds was made in March 2023. Indiana’s SWIF assistance also came out of the state’s allocation of federal Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
County officials made $350,000 available from the general fund to help homes that might need electrical upgrades during installation of the sewer collection system. In addition to that allowance of $2,500 per home, the estimated $22,000 cost of connecting to the system would be fully covered for those who participate in the project during construction.
The Elkhart County Regional Sewer District oversees the Foraker, Southwest and Tecumseh Acres collection system along with systems at Heaton Lake and the Ind. 13 Interchange. The district board in January adopted a monthly user fee that includes a $11.50 administrative fee and a usage fee of $83.50 per residential equivalent unit, which is 210 gallons of waste water per day.
The district also adopted a set of standards for the FSTA collection system. It includes connection requirements for every non-exempt property in the service area that is intended for human use and a ban on the construction of new septic systems.
