The Marshall County Council members considered a joint resolution Monday morning that contained a petition for the formation of a Regional Sewer District. The Marshall County Commissioners approved a similar resolution during their meeting last week.
County Attorney Jim Clevenger stated that this is only a step in the process as IDEM would review the necessary paperwork, hold its own public hearing, and then make a conclusion to finalize the process. He also stressed that there is no county tax in this endeavor as the sewer district will only benefit the users in the district who would pay fees to utilize the service. The county will seek grant funding or State Revolving Loans to help fund construction.
The process to get to this point has taken several years of research by the county’s Water Task Force and engineers from Jones Petrie and Rafinski.
Ken Jones from Jones Petrie and Rafinski previously explained that a Regional Sewer District is a form of government that functions solely to handle drinking water, solid waste or wastewater infrastructure needs. In Marshall County, the plan only includes wastewater.
In studies of 13 unincorporated areas of the county of main concern, Jones indicated that there was poor soil compatibility with on-site septic systems, there are over 1,000 on-site systems that are undocumented, there are shallow water wells within isolation zones of nearby septic systems, and there are no viable solutions for repair or replacement of individual systems that fail. The formation of a Regional Sewer District would help alleviate those problems.
Thirteen Priority Service Areas have been identified which include, in order of priority, Latonka, Lawrence Lake and Mill Pond areas, followed by Bremen East; North Michigan area; Rushmoor Addition; Donaldson and Ancilla Domini Convent; McQueen’s Broadview; Golfview Estates; Deer Trail, Tall Oaks and Carriage Hills; South Michigan Street; Inwood; Burr Oak; Hawk Lake; and State Road 331 South Tippecanoe. Areas could be added, but the homeowner or entity would have to petition an appointed seven-member district board that will make all decisions concerning the Regional Sewer District.
The council members talked about the benefits of a Regional Sewer District, especially for those who have had struggles, and had some specific questions about the jurisdiction of the board, but others felt that now is not the right time for it.
In the end, the council voted 5-2 to approve the resolution. Heath Thornton, James Masterson, Mandy Campbell, Jon VanVactor, and Steve Harper voted in favor of the resolution, while Tim Harman and Jesse Bohannon voted no.
