Second Notices Being Sent For Tippecanoe-Chapman Sewer Easements
By Deb Patterson
InkFreeNews
NORTH WEBSTER — Only 37% of the 2,302 property owners in the Tippecanoe-Chapman Regional Sewer District have signed and returned easement documents. A second mailing to the remaining 63% will soon be going out with a March 1, 2022, deadline.
During Monday’s regular meeting of the board, Dec. 13, the staff of Jones Petrie Rafinski was given approval to get the second and final notice sent out as soon as possible. The easements are needed to close on the U.S. Department of Agricultural grant of $11 million in a timely matter and if signed easements are not received it could mean the loss of the grant. Steve Henschen, engineer with JPR, indicated 80% of signed easements would be needed to close on the loan.
Upcoming meetings of the district’s board will include various presentations including a proposed rate ordinance. That ordinance is expected to be presented at the January meeting.
Henschen noted he will be requesting two meetings the week of Jan. 10 with the engineering committee and other interested board members as well as the public to review the plan. He stated there are three sets of plans, up to 200 pages each, as there will be three construction projects going on at once. The project will be broken into three areas, west Tippecanoe, East Tippecanoe and Chapman.
Additionally it was announced four of the five land acquisitions will close by the end of the year with the fifth acquisition taking place after the first of the year.
The engineering committee will also need to meet to go through the first round of variance requests. Henschen noted there was not as many as he had originally thought, with a few variances exceeding the 100-feet location.
JPR will spend the next several months finalizing designs for grinder pump stations, odor/corrosion control, electrical/control and submitting construction permit applications to various agencies.
It was noted the USDA requires permits to be in hand before the project can go to the bid stage. Once the permits are received and approved by USDA the advertising for bids, rate ordinance proposal and public hearing can be held.
Several questions were asked by residents attending via the internet. One question pertained to how a resident could see the location of the grinder pump on their property. The resident was advised JPR staff was available to answer that question daily.
Chapman Lake resident Mark Owen requested the project timeline and if all systems will be connected at the same time. Henschen noted the intent is to award three contracts for construction with an 18-month build time. Should one contractor complete the project before the other, the system cannot operate until Chapman Lake is completed as it is the link that will connect the district to Warsaw.
Regarding a timeline for connection, it was stated a completion certification will be signed and at that time a notice will be given to property owners of the time frame to connect. The goal is to have the system completed by December 2023 with letters going out in January 2024. A six month time frame will be given to home owners to connect. Billing will start when the project is done, whether a homeowner is connected or not.
Office hours for the remainder of 2021 through February 2022 was approved for the JPR staff. JPR staff will be in the district office, in the community building from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 17, 20 and 22. Starting Jan. 7, the office will be staffed Fridays only through Feb. 25. The staff can also be reached by calling (574) 226-8468 or by email at [email protected]
The next regular meeting of the board will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 10, in the banquet room of the North Webster Community Center.