Residents said the town isn’t doing enough.

Town officials said they’re doing everything they can.

The contractor apologized for slow productivity and a failed pump.

Welcome to Tuesday’s Porter Town Council meeting.

Steven and Susan Burdine, who live in the 300 block of Oak Hill Road, recounted three sewage overflows since Friday night that left raw sewage pumping into their basement. And it’s happened several times previously as well, they said.

Contractor R.V. Sutton is in the Oak Hill area now installing an 8-inch sewer main to replace the failing 4-inch main that serves 25 homes.

Council member Dave Babcock apologized for the residents’ inconvenience and guaranteed the problems will be solved once the nearly $200,000 project is completed.

Prior to the meeting Steven Burdine told the Chesterton Tribune, “Our house smells like a sewer. My wife and I have to sweep raw sewage from the overflow cap of our basement to the sump pit just to keep it from collecting and spreading inches thick all over the rest of our finished basement.”

He added, “We have to turn the heater off so it doesn’t distribute the sewage smell even more throughout the house, and open the windows. It was so bad (Monday) night it was burning my throat and eyes until I opened up our bedroom window while it is 30 degrees or colder.”

“Are we supposed to live in sewer smell until spring?” he asked.

Burdine communicated his frustration to the council Tuesday and asked that the town reimburse the couple for the cost of the clean-up. Council president Michele Bollinger urged the Burdines to take pictures and fill out a claim form at the town hall.

They and their neighbor, Dennis McCarron, who also said the sewer gas smell is bad, said it takes the Porter Public Works Department too long to respond to the overflows and damage could be mitigated if response were quicker.

“We’re the only ones suffering and you say you’ll take care of it and you’re not,” said McCarron, alluding to a possible lawsuit.

The delay in showing up would be workers first assessing the situation, checking the sewer system and pumping down manholes, said town director of engineering Matt Keiser. “I guarantee they were doing something.” Public Works sewer foreman Sarah Olsen concurred.

Keiser said Sutton’s crew was working approximately 16 feet deep to install the new sewer main when last Friday the trench sloughed in requiring stabilization. “We believe the old failing sewer main collapsed upstream of where they are working.” A bypass pump was installed but Monday night it failed.

Rudy Sutton said they found gas mains and electric lines in their way slowing down the work, and as for the pump, “I’ll have to take fault for that.” Two pumps are now on the job and they are being checked around the clock.

Both town officials and the Oak Hill neighbors were in agreement on one thing: the sewer system in their area was poorly designed.

Individual holding tanks take the solids and the liquids go to the 4-inch sewer line, which is so small equipment can’t video it to see where the problems are. Keiser said some of the tanks, which are pumped by the town, will be taken off line and effluent routed directly to the sewer. “I don’t know what else we could do.”

McCarron, who has a finished basement, said it sounds like groundwater is getting into the system.

“If every time it rains or I get a big heavy snow, I don’t want to block my drain and not use my facilities. I want to see something done so this doesn’t happen again.” He added he doesn’t feel the town is looking out for the individual homeowners.

Replied Babcock, “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

Posted 2/24/2010