By DAVE SCHULTZ
It appears the Wells County Regional Sewer District will again be in a situation where they will have to charge its customers the full price for sewer service they will not be able to use.
The problem is with the financing mechanism through the Indiana Finance Authority’s State Revolving Fund. The financing agreement has a deadline for the start of full price payments by the RSD’s customers.
In this case, it’s for the residents of Craigville. A similar problem was in place when the construction for the RSD’s Phase 1 projects in Murray and Liberty Center was delayed. Payments went up from $35 a month to $95 a month despite the fact that the system was not completed.
The deadline for the construction to be done and for the customers in Craigville, also known as the RSD’s Phase 2, to begin paying full price was May 1. However, the construction company — VTF Excavating LLC of Celina, Ohio — did not meet that deadline.
Lewis Brown, the RSD’s superintendent, brought that up in his report to the RSD’s board members at their monthly meeting Monday night. “VTF won’t be done until June 30,” Brown said, meaning that the full-price bills may be going out before the system is operational.
Brown indicated he’d be ready to answer his district-supplied phone to handle the questions he believes he’s sure to receive.
Later in the meeting, Ryan Lefeld, the RSD’s engineer from Choice One Engineering, presented a request for final payment for VTF, which will close out what the company is owed for Phase 1. “I’m presenting them tonight; whether you guys accept them or not, I’ll leave that to your personal discretion,” Lefeld said.
The board members — Andrew Stoller, Leon Berning, Bruce Stinson, Jon Oman, and Dr. Richard Jackson — all voted to table that decision for a month.
In other business:
• The district paid ongoing bills totaling $19,082.93, which left its working balance at more than $110,000. Looking back at the board’s minutes, Wells County Engineer Nate Rumschlag noted that the balance has gone up $5,000 to $6,000 a month for the past several months.
• Brown said that VTF has not restored or seeded any grassy areas damaged by the construction in Liberty Center or Murray. “Some of them have never been touched,” he said.
• The district now has a list of potential customers for Kingsland.
• Brown said that, in his opinion, the RSD has been instrumental in sparking a small building boom in the area as about 15 new homes are planned in or near the areas the district serves. If each of those homes is valued at $300,000, he said, that would be $4.5 million in housing stock.
• The district agreed to renew its insurance with Tom Neuenschwander of Amstutz Insurance.
• The district discussed the logistics of adding a customer in the Kingsland area who is outside the service area.
• Lefeld said the only thing delaying the start of construction at Tocsin is funding. He said he had told the SRF: “We’re ready to go. You give us funds, we can start tomorrow.”
daves@news-banner.com
