Published: June 27, 2008 11:32 am      

Star City focusing on sewer problems

Public hearing Monday a preliminary step toward finding solutions

STAR CITY — For the last six years, local and county officials have been working to address sewer problems in Star City.

Homeowners throughout the small town in southern Pulaski County have been dealing with leaking septic tanks and untreated discharge spilling into drains and ditches. The problem prompted some initial studies to determine the extent of the problem and most cost-effective solution for the town.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management will conduct a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the community center, 2550 Key St., regarding the formation of a regional sewer district to help Pulaski County begin correcting the problem.

“The entire project has to be done,” said Dan Dolezal, executive director of the Pulaski County Community Development Commission. “It’s a health issue.”

At a public hearing in May 2005, the Pulaski County Health Department delineated several sewage problems. They included “untreated septic effluent” being discharged into surface waterways, drains and ditches, as well as raw sewage found by IDEM in two out of three legal drains.

That same year, the Office of Community and Rural Affairs helped fund a preliminary engineering report that found the most cost-effective solution would be the construction of a collection system in Star City with final treatment of the waste to be done by the town of Winamac.

In December 2007, both the Pulaski County Council and the County Commissioners approved the filing of a petition that outlined the problem in detail. The petition was the first step to forming the regional sewer district, a preliminary action necessary to move the project along.

The proposed district includes the town of Star City — stretching from 500S to 650S, and from 300E to 200W.

According to the petition, the homes within the proposed district are served by on-site septic tanks, some of which have failed. Additionally, the homes receive their water from private wells.

The petition also states, “The absence of public sanitary sewer service has contributed to a public health hazard and environmental contamination in the proposed district.”

Dolezal stressed that something must be done soon about the sewage problems. He said that if the town and the county don’t begin the project now, IDEM will force the issue in the not-too-distant future.

Costs to those being served by the sewer district will be lower if the project is done now as opposed to waiting years to begin, because of increases in construction and materials costs, said Dolezel.

As described in the petition to establish the sewer district, the 2005 preliminary engineering report estimated the project costs to be between $2.5 and $3 million. For the 176 customers to be served by the district, the same report estimated their monthly fees to be anywhere from $65 to $123. These fees were based on the district receiving both a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs, as well as a low-interest Rural Development loan from the Department of Agriculture.

To qualify for the grant, Dolezal explained that residents of the proposed district have to prove, through computer-generated surveys, they live in a low- to middle-income area. All but a couple of those surveys have been completed, he said. The deadline to complete them is Monday.

Regarding the costs of the project and the subsequent fees, Dolezal said they won’t know anything definite until the district is established and formal cost reports are completed. He doesn’t believe, though, that the user fees will be “onerous,” reiterating the project “is for the common good.”

After the district is formally established, Dolezal said they will need a commitment from the Department of Agriculture to go ahead with the project and then begin filing applications to finance it. If all goes according to plan, construction can actually begin in 2010.