“Can I open a can of worms?”
With that question, Marshall County Commissioner Jesse Bohannon did just that at the end of the board’s regular Monday meeting.
Bohannon spoke during the section of the agenda reserved for the Commissioners to bring up any items of information or items that they felt the board should address. He stated that a constituent from Lake Latonka had approached him with concerns about the Marshall County Regional Sewer District.
The Sewer District board was established in April of 2022 to address the concerns of property owners in at-risk areas — in particular lake properties — that had limited acreage to supply a second septic system for the property should the current system fail. The properties identified as “at risk” in the county at that time faced decreased property values and, in some cases, the inability to use their properties due to the lack of that space.
Several county lake communities, such as Koontz Lake, Lake Maxinkuckee, and Pretty Lake, have addressed the problem with their own sewer systems with a corresponding board and sewer rates for those who hook into the system.
After a study of Marshall County was conducted, many densely populated rural areas, including trailer parks and subdivisions, were highlighted as being in imminent need of some sort of septic solution in the near future.
With that in mind, the County Council and Commissioners asked the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to create the Marshall County Sewer District with a board of seven citizen trustees from the areas involved, with five appointed by the Commissioners, one by the County Council, and one by the City of Plymouth.
The board is an “…independent political entity of the state of Indiana.”
Bohannon said that the board has applied for governmental grants and that without those grants the sewer rate would be $220 a month, but said that he observed the groups last meeting in which they said those grants were uncertain and that the board would have to decide if they would move forward if they did not.
Bohannon stated that the group had already incurred a debt of $500,000 and had taken a loan for $3 million and wanted to know who would be responsible for payment of that debt if the project never went through.
“I think they’ve really put the cart before the horse on this project,” said Bohannon.
The Commissioners and attorney Sean Surrisi were unsure of what actual power they had over the board other than the trustee appointments, with Bohannon desiring the Sewer District President to come before the Commissioners and Council to give an accounting of their actions.
