ND school board gets update on sewage dispute

Lindsay Owens, Washington Times-Herald, Ind.
·2 min read

Mar. 23—ELNORA — Nearly two years ago, the North Daviess Community School Corporation learned from the town of Elnora, it had been overpaying its sewage bill.

Housed in the Elnora water plant, ND Superintendent Jodi Berry said at the time, the school corporation was told the schools' sewer line was faulty and would be calibrated. That meant the bills would be lower due to accurate readings.

Last month, Berry said the corporation was once again contacted by Elnora town officials and this time, those officials were saying the schools were underpaying and had been since August 2021. Once again, that issue was stemming from a faulty meter located in the water treatment plant that is on the line that only services the schools.

A decision was made earlier this month between the town and school corporation to calculate future bills using industry standard, a move that would mean the sewage bill would be based off the water usage bill from the town of Odon.

The town then billed the school for arrears from August 2021 to January 2023 totaling more than $21,800. That bill Berry noted was calculated by the industry standard.

Berry has consulted with an attorney who said the school corporation was not legally bound to pay any arrears.

A closer look at the situation revealed the town of Elnora had applied the industry standard process to every month back to January 2019. Calculations show the school corporation overpaid in 2019, 2020 and part of 2021. Those over payments caused by the inaccurate readings and inaccurate bills, totaled more than $40,000.

Berry will be sharing those calculations with the town of Elnora.

In other business, several extra-curricular activity appointments were made. Those include: Kristin O'Haver (stage supervisor), Max Nickless (golf volunteer), Michael Callison (junior high track volunteer), Brecklin Byrer (tennis volunteer), Ashley Shurtz (assistant baseball coach), Darren Bauer (assistant baseball coach), Shom Berry (baseball volunteer), Randall Knepp (baseball volunteer), Charles Sample (junior high baseball volunteer), Matt Graber (junior high baseball coach), Dave Lynn (robotics volunteer), Jamie Wagler (robotics) and Clay Raber (robotics).

Ashley Dunn was also added to the cafeteria staff, a leave of absence was approved for Audra Graber. Jo Harrell will complete Graber's leave of absence. A stipend for Beth Smith was also approved.

Donations from the Odon VFW for elementary students in need of shoes and the Odon Lions Club for the elementary Cougar Cash Store where students can spend credits earned for positive behaviors.

The board will meet for a work session on April 6 at 7 p.m. for a camera demonstration. The next regular session will be held on April 17 at 7 p.m.