From left are Council Members Tom Anglin, voting in his final council meeting, Kimberly Cates and Joni Truex.

WARSAW — A resident of the lake area named as the possible spot for a new sewer district spoke up during the monthly meeting of the Kosciusko County Council Thursday night, Dec. 13, stating that he, along with other residents in the Tippecanoe and Chapman lakes area, are opposed to a sewer project being proposed for those lakes.

According to an attorney involved in the project, it may just take action — not heated words — to bring the whole process to a grinding halt.

“It ought to be stopped with this council tonight,” said a man from the audience in the council chambers. “I walked clear around Chapman Lake and talked to numerous people, especially elderly people who said they can’t afford to put this in.”

The council heard a presentation from County Attorney Chad Miner, along with Ken Jones, president and chief executive officer with Jones Petrie Rafinski, Elkhart and Jeffrey P. Rowe of Umbaugh & Associates who briefed the council on various aspects of a proposed sewer district for the two lakes. The council followed suit with the county’s commissioners on giving the go-ahead for project organizers to submit a petition to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. But, prior to the vote, Council Member Joni Truex confirmed with Miner that residents have the power to halt the project.

Truex asked Miner to confirm that remonstrators, residents against the project, could organize a petition containing the signatures of “51 percent, which would be 1,203 signatures, based on the numbers in here of residents,” she said. “And, if they can provide 1,203 certified signatures of people living within the district that would be affected, then it would be a no go, is that correct?”

Miner responded by saying he wasn’t sure of the exact percentage of the majority required but confirmed Truex’s inquiry.

“I can’t remember whether it’s 51 percent or just more than half,” Miner said. “But yeah, essentially, if they get a petition signed by the requisite number of people, then yeah, that would essentially end the entire thing.”

After approving the submission of a petition to IDEM, council president Sue Ann Mitchell told the audience that during every step of the process, attention will be paid to the wants, needs and desires of the majority of residents living in the affected area.

“We look forward to a successful outcome of this project, one way or the other,” Mitchell said. “I guarantee you that we will be looking seriously at those people who are concerned about the cost and are concerned about doing the right thing, not just people who have said they are in favor of the sewer district.”

The Thursday meeting was the final one for outgoing Council Member Tom Anglin, who chose not to run for another term.

In other business, the council:

• Approved a grant request from Judge David Cates for Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative for $84,681.
• Approved a request from Sheriff Rocky Goshert for an appropriation adjustment for $9,931.98, an additional appropriation of $4,241.43 and a transfer from the DNR grant fund from salaries to miscellaneous expenses of $4,000.
• Approved a request from County Prosecutor Dan Hampton to transfer $7,200 from prosecuting attorney part-time to prosecuting attorney secretary.
• Approved transfers of $10,000 from juvenile drug testing to office equipment, a request from Anna Bailey of Community Corrections.
• Approved an insurance reimbursement request from County Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden of $1,760.25.
• Approved a declaratory resolution for a new tax abatement request from Lake City Heat Treating Corp.
• Heard a report from Miner and County Coroner Tony Ciriello about the progress of a project to purchase property to serve as a new coroner’s facility.
• Heard a report from County Administrator Marsha McSherry.
• Approved 2019 appointments.