By KEVIN NEVERS

A long time ago someone thought it was a good idea—or at least not a bad one—to bury a four-inch sanitary sewer force main in concrete in the bridge over Coffee Creek along Indian Boundary Road.

A couple of years ago that force main—located in the southernmost eastbound lane—sprung a leak, forcing crews to dig through the concrete to get at it and in the process congesting traffic on Indian Boundary.

Next year, however, it’s possible that the Chesterton Street Department will re-pave Indian Boundary, and as Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg noted at Monday’s meeting of the Utility Service Board, it would be a shame to have to cut through the fresh pavement if there were a new leak in the force main or if that force main were re-located.

So Schnadenberg, who sits on the Service Board, put a bug in his colleagues’ ear: maybe we should start thinking right now about re-locating the force main.

The Service Board thought it a good idea and referred the issue to staff for consideration.

Opening in Lab

Members voted 5-0 to authorize Yagelski to advertise for a lab technician, in advance of the resignation effective June 26, of Nicole Johnson, who has been with the Utility for two years and is leaving to take a new position elsewhere.

Brandt wished Johnson well in her new pursuit.

May in Review

In May Chesterton used 60.20 percent of its 3.836 million gallon per day (gpd) allotment of the wastewater treatment plant; Porter, 74.13 percent of its 638,000 gpd allotment; the Indian Boundary Conservancy District, 71.32 percent of its 81,000 gpd allotment; and the plant as a whole, 62.07 percent of its capacity. No bypasses were recorded last month. In May the Utility ran a surplus of $156,463 and in the year-to-date is running a deficit of $141,455.

Posted 6/19/2007