Officials from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management will host a public comment hearing on the proposed Marshall County Regional Sewer District on Wednesday, October 19.
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 to be included in a Regional Sewer District 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 public hearing is set to begin at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 19. The hearing will be held in the second floor meeting room (Room 203) in the Marshall County Building at 112 W. Jefferson Street in Plymouth.
