Faced with the prospect of building $71 million worth of sewers, it’s tempting for a community such as Logansport to just say no. We’d like to say we can’t afford it, that there’s just no way we can come up with that kind of money.
But the fact is we don’t have much choice. Logansport is one of 100 cities in Indiana and 770 nationwide faced with a mandate to cut down on the amount of raw sewage reaching the rivers from its combined storm and sanitary sewers.
Perhaps ironically, the work Logansport has been ordered to do over the next 15 to 25 years will amount to undoing work carried out by the federal government in the 1950s to keep Logansport from flooding. At the time, the combined sewers were state of the art. Now, they’re considered an environmental hazard.
Individual stormwater bills stand to go up from the current $5 a month to more like $9 a month in 2011. The bill would continue to climb gradually until it reached $56 a month in 2023.
Just for the record, the work is clearly needed. Consultants found the sewers overflowing on 114 days last year. That means untreated human waste was flowing into the river, increasing bacteria levels in the water.
The project would install about 22 miles of sewage lines to separate water into larger tanks, reducing the overflow points to two or three rather than 15. The new lines would also cut the number of overflow days from 114 to 10.
The project is part of an agreement reached two years ago between the city’s wastewater utility and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
If the city fails to make the needed changes, it will face a sewer ban, meaning that no new homes or businesses could tie into the sewer system.
That would essentially put the brakes on economic development.
Frankly, utility officials are proposing to spread this work over the longest possible period. The project will take at least 15 years, and if they can, the utilities will stretch that to 25.
They’re also hoping to win some help from the federal government. If they succeed, the impact on local utility bills will be lower.
We applaud officials at Logansport Municipal Utilities for their efforts to limit the impact on local homeowners and businesses. And we wish them success.
Editorials
Sewer project isn’t really optional
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Postal service listens to small towns
The U.S. Postal Service plans to keep smaller post offices open by scaling back the hours at those and other offices. The postal service deserves credit for listening to the concerns of its customers.
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A history lesson on two wheels
The Cass County Historical Society staged its second annual bike tour last weekend. The event raises money for a great cause while offering participants to get some exercise and learn a bit of local history.
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Stormwater fees about to go up
The Logansport Stormwater Management Board is considering a 51-percent increase in its monthly rate. The board is about to launch into a huge project, and residents would do well to tune into the process.
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A day to say thanks to moms
Today is Mother’s Day, an observance that dates back more than a century. Mothers everywhere deserve our gratitude for the love they showed and the lessons they taught.
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Six-to-Six program offers promise
A new program called Six-to-Six aims to work with middle school students facing suspension from school. Catching issues when kids are still in middle school should cut down on the number of teenagers who go on to drop out of school or wind up in jail.
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Council can’t have it both ways
The Logansport City Council is considering an ordinance eliminating the requirement that police officers and firefighters provide receipts in order to collect their annual uniform allowance. If the council wants to ensure the money is well spent, it should reject this ordinance.
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That weight problem hasn’t gone away
A report issued this week predicts that more than 40 percent of us will be obese by 2030. The way to tackle this problem is for every one of us to take ownership of it and take steps to address it.
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Today’s the day to cast ballots
Both political parties have important contests on today’s primary election ballot, and residents have a civic duty to take part in the process.
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Everyone should be on same page
The Logansport-Cass County Economic Development Foundation expressed concern last week as the city discussed plans to allocate more money toward an international marketing effort. Spending money on marketing Logansport and Cass County is a good idea, but it’s important that our leaders coordinate their economic development efforts.
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.Refusing to give up on students
The number of suspensions is dropping at Logansport High School. Keeping kids in school means a higher graduation rate and a better educated work force.
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