NAPPANEE — After years of discussion, planning, public hearings and appeals, phase one of the long-term control plan for Combined Sewer Overflow is scheduled to begin.

That was the news Mark Downey of Commonwealth Engineers, gave Nappanee City Council members Monday night.

Downey said in 2010 engineers came up with a plan to begin in 2011 that was a three-phase plan over a 20-year period with an estimated total cost of $21 million. The first phase entails building an interceptor sewer and screening on the north side of the Berlin Court Ditch to pick up all the CSOs and run them to the treatment plant.

The second phase of the plan, slated to begin in 2019, will be to create a pump treatment system.

The last phase is scheduled to start 2027 and it will be installing a high rate clarification system.

Downey said there are 13 CSOs in the city and a few others have been eliminated along the way. During heavy rains, overflow goes in the Berlin Court Ditch. The interceptor will start at the treatment plant; go to Hartman Street, to Hartman Knoll Court, north of the ditch.

“It will pick up all the overflows, collect them together and transport them to the treatment plant,” Downey explained.

He said city officials have made an application with the Indiana Finance Authority for a low-interest rate loan to help the city acquire some property necessary to get the rights-of-way.

City attorney Brian Hoffer informed the council that other means to address the CSO issue were pursued and he told council members this was not just an Indiana Department of Environmental Management mandate but also Region Five Environmental Protection Agency.

“We’ve done as much as we could to find alternatives,” he said. “This is not what we want to happen but we have little choice in the matter.”

Hoffer went on to explain the state has specific process for acquiring real estate. The council shows interest, which doesn’t mean that they will purchase the property but allows the board of works (the purchasing agent for the city according to state statute) to obtain appraisals and make an offer to the landowners for consideration.

“The goal of the city is to make sure the property owners are treated absolutely fairly,” Hoffer said.

The properties the city might need to acquire are along Hartman Knoll Court on the south side, property on Fervida Drive and a portion of property across Ind. 19.

Councilwoman Jan Brown asked if entire properties need to be acquired or just portions. She was told no, that mostly it would be portions of properties, especially along Harman Knoll Court, but there would be two homes affected — one to the west of Hartman Knoll and the other behind it and right next to the ditch. Also, a garage and a shed of another property might be affected.

The council passed a resolution to express interest in purchasing the property.

Mayor Thompson asked Downey to explain an earlier proposal. Downey said they’d considered going along the south side of the ditch instead — going along Marion to John to Park Streets — and he said the cost was about the same, but it would cause considerably more disruption to the city and its residents with total street closures and property owners unable to access their homes.

By going along the north side of the ditch, a lot of the property is city-owned park property and most of the property that needs to be acquired is not useable for structures.

Downey also talked to the council about the judicial order the city has been under for about five to six years.

“This is not an optional program — it’s mandatory,” Downey said.

One thing city officials tried to fight was the “fishable and swimmable” status.

“We had all sorts of documentation showing the bank is so steep that if (got in) with 4 to 5 feet of flowing water you’d be more concerned about getting out than any contact with sewage,” Downey said. “We had proof that because of the physical constraints of the area, people were not likely to go swimming. It’s an agricultural ditch, built for drainage.”

City officials thought IDEM was going to agree, but the Environmental Protection Agency rejected their argument and put the city back on the 20-year schedule.

Mayor Thompson said city officials agree that something should be done to correct the overflow problem.

“It’s hard to argue with the environmental side. It’s the standard we’re being held to,” Thompson said.

Councilman Jeff Kitson asked if the property owners were all aware or would they be reading about it for the first time in the newspaper.

The mayor said Hartman Knoll Court residents were not aware.

“I don’t like it but going by state law,” he said, adding that two property owners were forewarned before they made extensive property improvements.

Salary increases

A pay increase for all Nappanee city officials and employees was passed on third and final reading.

A 1 percent across the board increase was approved for all employees and elected officials.                                      

Elected officials received a 1.5 percent increase in 2012 and that was the first increase in five years for the officials. Currently, City Council members receive an annual salary of $3,839, which comes from the general fund.

The salary increase, when it’s approved, would mean an additional $38.39 a year for council members.

Board of Public Works member’s salaries is paid from revenue from the wastewater treatment plant and they are also receiving $3,839. The clerk-treasurer and the mayor’s salaries are pulled from a couple of different funds because of duties performed in those areas. They are both members of the board of works, too.

City employees did receive a 1.5 percent increase last year but Ingle said at the time that was offset by the additional costs for insurance.

Apple Festival

Apple Festival Committee Director Dustin Geyer came to the council meeting to thank everyone for the support and hard work.

“On behalf of myself and the Apple Festival Committee I want to thank all of you, especially the department heads, for all their hard work and support of the festival. We broke a lot of records this weekend and I hope the retailers who stayed open saw a lot of action,” Geyer said. “A big hats off to you guys. Driving through town this morning you’d never know there was anything going on.”

Mayor Thompson said the thanks also goes to the committee. He said the festival wasn’t just downtown — “from Borkholder’s Dutch Village to the park to the airport. Wow, it’s incredible and we’ve got a good thing going!”