Almost every seat was taken and more Bean Blossom residents stood along the walls to hear what the Brown County Regional Sewer District was planning for their area.

Postcards had been sent to 240 residents living in phase one of the sewer project, inviting them to come learn more at a meeting at the Fruitdale fire station.

They brought a lot of questions with them.

“Are you a group of self-appointed citizens? Where does your authority come from? Were you appointed by someone who was elected?” one man asked.

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Parts of the Jan. 8 meeting were spent going back over the facts of the project for those who had never attended a sewer board meeting before.

Various boards have been working since the early 2000s to bring sewer service to Bean Blossom-area homes and businesses.

The current plan is to spend about $7.3 million on building a wastewater treatment plant in Bean Blossom, possibly along Gatesville Road, and running sewer lines to customers. It would be paid for by a mix of low-interest loans and grants.

The area the sewer board is looking at serving would include about 240 customers along State Road 135 North and its offshoots in the Bean Blossom area, the Bean Blossom Trailer Court, Old Settlers Road, Bittersweet Road, Little Fox Lake, Woodland Lake, Covered Bridge Road, and Freeman Ridge Road, and possibly parts of State Road 45 and Gatesville Road.

The cost to sewer customers per month won’t be finalized until after the funding agencies respond, but the board is estimating monthly bills to be between $65 and $85.

Commissioner Diana Biddle explained how the regional sewer district was organized by county commissioners under the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in 2006. Prior to that, the board was the Bean Blossom Regional Sewer Board. Members are appointed by both the Brown County Council and commissioners.

“They do represent the county. They are their own utility as the sewer district, but they are represented by the county,” Biddle said.

Board member Clint Studabaker explained that the board’s purpose is to look at areas in Brown County not currently served by a sewer system that may have a need for a central wastewater treatment plant.

“It’s our intent to do it in a reasonable, phase-by-phase-by-phase program where we see density of population, where we see records of information coming from the health department about septic systems that may or may not be of age to where we know they will probably work fine, but they may also be of age where we know they won’t work fine,” he said.

“It’s managing that wastewater. That is our issue. If it’s not managed, if you don’t have a properly designed and operating septic system, your wastewater is going somewhere it shouldn’t go. It’s going into groundwater.”

Ed Brown, the owner of Brownie’s Bean Blossom Family Restaurant, spoke up at the meeting about the need for a sewer system. He had to close his restaurant in October due to persistent septic system problems. He had installed a new presby septic system in the last five years, but it kept failing, and he didn’t want to go on pump-and-haul or put in another system.

“How many of you out there have any $20,000 or $30,000 to put in this new system they are going to tell you one day down the road you have to have? Anybody who don’t want sewer in would have to be silly,” Brown said.

A community working together to solve the issue of failing septic systems in the county is cheaper and easier “over the long haul,” Studabaker said.

“Old homes with old systems are not working to clean up human waste. They just aren’t working. They weren’t designed that way. They were designed to get it out of sight, out of mind,” he said.

Data and funding

The Brown County Council allocated $270,000 last year to the sewer board to do preliminary work related to the project, such as engineering, environmental reports, legal and financial work and soil studies.

Those costs are expected to be paid back by a mix of grants and low-interest loans from the state and federal governments, which the board has not secured yet.

At the Jan. 24 county council meeting, the regional sewer board asked about getting the remaining $200,000 re-appropriated. The council will consider the request at their Feb. 25 meeting.

In 2018, about $70,000 of the $270,000 was spent on the development of sewer plans and engineering studies.

At the January meeting, the council also approved a $1,200 stipend for Taylor Hardesty, the vital record clerk and assistant office manager in the Brown County Health Department.

Hardesty is currently going through septic records the health department has on file and putting them into a spreadsheet, including property address, lot size, the year the septic was installed, number of bedrooms and the depth of the septic trenches.

Health department Office Manager Judy Hess said that Hardesty had already gone through septic records of 1,200 properties and that she was almost done with Jackson Township.

“A lot of time, with the older systems, we do not have any paperwork, and she’s keeping track of that,” Hess said.

The goal is to have Hardesty inventory the health department’s septic records for the entire county. The work is shared with the regional sewer board and with the health department’s septic ordinance rewrite committee.

The goal is “to understand what types of systems we have, where they are, what their ages are. It’s good information to understand where we’re going with changes to that ordinance,” Studabaker said at the county council meeting.

“What it also does is kind of categorize where we have issues where it might make sense for a sewer system to be then installed for a community-wide kind of benefit, so we’re looking at density of houses … whether systems even exist by record, before we can begin to understand where priorities might need to go for community-wide sewer systems instead of septics or where we might look for alternatives to existing septics that may not be there and operating properly.”

Sewer board President Mike Leggins said that 92 percent of the homes in the county are on septic systems. Some of those properties do not have any record of having a septic system.

“We know the systems in the county, over half of them were put in before we took records. They are way outdated. A well-maintained septic system is only designed to last 20 years,” he said.

Studabaker said they’re finding that most of the systems that have records on file are 40 years old or older.

Commissioner Jerry Pittman said the county commissioners are encouraging the regional sewer board to work with the Helmsburg Regional Sewer District to merge the two districts, utilize their plant in Helmsburg and upgrade it.

“I’ve encouraged all involved here to spend the first dollars in determining the need and establishing the need for the sewer expansion before we spend any money on solutions to the problem. We need to identify the problem first,” Pittman said.

“I think it’s part of government to not only establish need, but also determine the wants of constituents involved.”

Leggins told the audience at the Jan. 8 sewer board meeting that the regional sewer board wants to work with Helmsburg, but that hasn’t panned out yet. “There’s not one person at this table who doesn’t believe Helmsburg isn’t part of the answer. We’ve knocked on their door for years and years,” he said.

“It’s easier to maintain a plant with 300 customers than it is with 64. It’s easier to run any business with 300 customers instead of 64. We need these folks to understand that. It’s what’s best for the community, not what’s best for Helmsburg.”

Resident Paul Nelson said he was for the sewer board collecting data on septic systems in the county. But he asked why the board already had plans to build a sewer system before data was completed.

“You’re making engineering plans to alleviate a problem that has not yet been defined. Wouldn’t it make more sense to wait until all of the data is in and then come up with a plan, rather than designing a plan that may not fit the data you find?” he asked.

Studabaker said the sewer project in Bean Blossom started with residents asking for sewer.

“Along the way, some 30 or so people wrote letters back in the beginning of this, around 1998 to 2000, from outside of Bean Blossom saying, ‘If you do it for Bean Blossom, we want in, too.’ That started growing. Of that original 30 or so letters that I’ve got, there are nine of them still on those properties,” he said.

“People are still around that are probably looking at us saying, ‘You started this and you have nothing done 20 years later. What are you going to do?’ We’re getting there. That’s part of your answer: We’re getting there.

“Some of the effort has started previously that got some of this preliminary engineering and studies going that are now being used by us to drill down even more to get more engineering, more information gathered for this first phase project,” he said.

Clarifications

Some clarifications were made at both the regional sewer board meeting and the county council meeting last month about the project.

Resident Bob Cochrane asked about the possibility of homeowners in the entire county paying a part of the sewer rate in the Bean Blossom area, since the sewer district is technically covering all of Brown County. Cochrane lives in Van Buren Township. “When they sign a contract to install a sewer in an area, they can go to those people in that area and charge them half of the proposed sewer rate until that sewer gets up and running,” he said.

Leggins said only those living in the proposed project area would have to pay a portion of the sewer rate to help cover interest rates on a loan while the system is being built. “We haven’t determined an amount yet. It could be up to half of the normally monthly rate. Our target (monthly rate) is $65 per month. They could be charged $32.50,” he said.

Leggins said everyone in the proposed project area should have been receiving invitations to their meetings to ask these types of questions.

“We welcome them to our meetings. We want to do it right, folks. Negativity is not always a bad thing, because you can learn from questions from everyone,” he said.

Cochrane also asked about a waiver for those who have installed new septic systems in the project area and do not have a need for a sewer hookup.

Leggins said that waivers would be submitted to the regional sewer board.

“If your system is 10 years old or newer, you can apply for a five-year exemption. You can have it tested at five years and get another five-year extension,” he said. At the septic system’s 20-year-old mark, the property owner would need to hook on to sewer, he said.

A couple who lives on Freeman Ridge asked if the sewer project would cause their newly paved road to be paved again. The road was damaged when a new water line was put in, they said.

Engineer Gary Ladd said the project would use directional drilling. When asked if it would be under the road, beside the road or through people’s properties, Studabaker replied, “All of the above.”

Ladd said he would bring the plans to the next sewer board meeting, which is scheduled for Feb. 12 at the Fruitdale fire station.

One woman who lives in the Bean Blossom Trailer Court asked how long it would take to get them help.

The trailer court is one of the entities in Bean Blossom that’s on a year-by-year state waiver, which allows them to operate despite their wastewater challenges as long as they follow procedures.

“Fingers are crossed that we will get far enough down the road in 2019 that we will be constructing in 2020. My fingers are crossed,” Studabaker said about the Bean Blossom phase.

Gatesville area resident Bandy Russell asked if sewage billing would be adjusted for those living in the trailer court. “Those folks that have the same amount of people per household are going to get a lesser fee than my home on 10 acres, is that correct?” she asked.

Studabaker that those “hard” details would be given by the rate consultant.

“What I recommended in the preliminary engineering report (was) for the trailer park and Bill Monroe (Music Park) facilities to have a sewage flow meter on the discharge of their pump, so that their billing would be based on what they are actually putting through this flow meter,” Ladd added.

Studabaker reiterated that the monthly sewer rates have not been set “for any individual home or businesses, commercial operations.”

“That will be determined down the road. We can’t tell you today what that is,” he said.

Russell said low-income families would be impacted the most by sewer bills. “You’re looking at $85. That’s $1,020 (per year). Over 20 years, you’re looking at $20,000 you’re taking out of a family’s pocket. … In addition, you’re going to give them a loan (to pay for the hookup) that they have another bill on top of the $85,” she said.

She called that a “worst-case scenario.”

“These types of specifics, that’s where you’re hurting with your support, because people cannot plan for the unknown,” she said.

Newly elected county council President Dave Redding brought up another scenario: “The worst case is, what do you do if your current system fails and what is that going to cost you? What is that going to cost you? You’re going alone,” he said.

Studabaker said another worst-case scenario would be not being able to install a new septic system because there is not enough space on the lot.

Russell also asked if some of the remaining $200,000 of the sewer board money could be allocated to buy home testing kits for the 240 people in phase one of the project, to see if their septic system had failed.

Council Vice President David Critser said he already knows where some of the problems are. “I can take you right into Bean Blossom and show you septic tank to ditches on 135 — no field systems, no nothing. I can do it real dang quick,” he said.

He said a sewer system will help if a homeowner in that area ever wants to sell. “When they want to sell their house, they are not going to be able to, and we’re going to have vacant homes just like in Helmsburg,” he said.

“Whenever you say you don’t need sewers or better septic tanks, these Presby systems are up to around $20,000. If you want to sell your house, you’re going to have another $20,000. I think the need is really, really there.”

Resident Tim Clark asked at the council meeting why more reporting of failed septic systems hadn’t happened. “When those things come out, why hasn’t that been addressed? When people say it’s been going on for 20 years, why has it not been addressed for 20 years?” he said.

Redding said a line that has to be drawn between benefiting the environment versus forcing someone out of their home.

“We as a community need to have feasible solutions developed in place, so that when we do start approaching the individual that clearly has something that is non-compliant, negative to the environment, that there’s another opportunity, solution, or path or scenario for them other than to evict them and tell them, ‘You’re now homeless; you’ve got to go find someplace else to live,’” he said.

Clark pressed the board to learn why systems are failing.

“Is the issue lack of money? Is the issue the soils? What about technology and what’s available to address it? It’s not one answer for everyone.

“I agree with you: No one wants to kick anybody out of their homes, but you need to first identify the problem and I don’t think that’s been done. We’re spending money on solutions,” he said.

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The Brown County Regional Sewer District board has moved its regular meeting place to the Fruitdale volunteer fire station, on State Road 135 North in Bean Blossom, instead of the County Office Building in Nashville.

Meetings will take place at 6 p.m. on second Tuesdays. The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 12.

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