By DAVE SCHULTZ
The Wells County Regional Sewer District board set up the financial structure for its next phase of sewer service, and then fielded questions and irritated comments about the current projects in Liberty Center and Murray.
The RSD’s next project will be serving the Craigville area, and the four board members present — Andrew Stoller, Leon Berning, Mike Mossburg, and Bruce Stinson (Jon Oman was absent) — approved introduction of a bond ordinance and a rate ordinance that will include what is called the RSD’s “Phase 2” plans. The rate for Craigville will be the same for Liberty Center and Murray at $95 a month.
Therein abides the irritation about what the RSD calls “Phase 1” in Liberty Center and Murray. Residents there are being required to pay $95 a month for sewer service they are not yet receiving and won’t receive until the beginning of next month. Many of the 20 or so people who showed up to address the board Monday night were not happy about that.
“Why in the heck am I paying for a sewer I can’t use?” asked Paul Morgan of Liberty Center. “Everything else is going up, and then I turn around and get shafted.”
The contractor working on Liberty Center and Murray, VTF Excavation of Celina, Ohio, experienced supply chain problems that kept it from finishing the installation of the communities’ sanitary sewer collection systems on time. Even though the construction couldn’t adhere to the timetable, the funding was still required to adhere to its timetable. The time for RSD customers to being paying for debt service was last month, which was the original construction deadline, and the rates went up from the interim $35 rate to the full $95.
Ryan Lefeld of Choice One Engineering, whose firm has done the design work on the projects, joined members of the board in saying that May 6 will be the “drop dead” ending date for Liberty Center and Murray. “They have got to be finished,” Mossburg said. “We’ve given them extension after extension.”
In his report to the board members Monday night, Lewis Brown, the district’s superintendent, put it this way: “Increase in bill to $95 has not been well received. Some say they will continue too pay the $35 until they receive the notice to connect.” His report also contained the names of 19 customers who owed $200 or more with one over $600 and seven others over $400.
Mark Burry, who serves as the RSD’s attorney, understood the residents’ ire over the situation. As he put it, “The board’s between a rock and a hard place” because the debt service must be paid on the borrowed money.
Nick Thomas, also of Liberty Center, asked why the project was started in the first place, which was to clean up rivers and streams in Wells County. Mossburg said that Indiana’s water pollution problems are very noticeable and he said yes, who knew people who had been sick after contact with public waterways. Thomas was told to contact the Wells County Health Department for particulars on pollution.
When he was done talking to the board, Thomas had a parting shot. “Thank you for your time,” he said. “I hope you do better the next time.”
The board approved a number of items pertaining to the Craigville phase Monday night. As noted, the bond ordinance and he rate ordinance was introduced. A public hearing on the rate ordinance will be held May 2.
Other items approved Monday night were $50,000 to the BakerTilly government financial services firm and another $50,000 to Burry’s law firm for legal services. The Barnes and Thornburg law firm of Indianapolis will serve as bond counsel for $35,000. The board also approved the payment of a number of claims just short of $15,600 for easements, Choice One Engineering, and Wessler Engineering.
Wessler has been providing inspection services on the Liberty Center and Murray projects, but the delays have caused Wessler to reassign its employee.
Lefeld said June 2 will be the closing date for the Craigville project with construction beginning in July or August. The projected completion date for the Craigville project will be April of 2023, he said.
He also said the plans for Phase 3, providing service to Kingsland and Tocsin, will be done by the end of June. A request for project funding will be submitted the week, Lefeld said.
daves@news-banner.com
