The Knapp Lake Area Conservancy District is hoping to utilize North Webster’s wastewater treatment plant. The matter was discussed Wednesday night during the North Webster Town Council meeting.

Approval to begin negotiations was given to Severn Trent Services and North Webster town attorney Jack Birch. Official acceptance of the plan depends on negotiations and that there be no additional costs to the town.

Mark B. Jesse, associate vice president of GAI Consultants, Fort Wayne, gave the presentation to council members Tim Hine, Lisa Strombeck and Jon Sroufe, and town utilities manager Mike Noe.

While the Knapp Lake district is in Noble County’s Washington Township, North Webster has the closest sewage system with enough capacity available. Construction on the new sewage system will begin in about two years.

The Knapp Lake group has received funding from various grants and the next step will be getting $500,000 from the federal government if approval of a wastewater treatment site is determined.

Most of the land surrounding the Knapp Lake District is owned by Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation and will not be developed. Knapp Lake and its adjacent hain of lakes are the headwaters of Lake Wawasee and on the other side of the north-south continental divide from North Webster.

The area has ties to North Webster in that the town has the closest grocery store and drug store. Until school consolidation in the 1960s, Washington Township students attended North Webster High School.

The plan calls for Knapp Lake to run its system to North Webster’s Backwater Road lift station where it will be metered separately before the wastewater goes into the North Webster pipes. Costs and who will be responsible for what will be negotiated.