(La Porte, IN) - Another bite could be taken from the estimated $100 million in upgrades needed for LaPorte’s water and sewer systems that date back a century.
A proposal to borrow $30 million for additional improvements to municipal water and sewer infrastructure was presented Monday night to the LaPorte City Council.
No action was taken but a vote is expected at the next city council meeting on August 5.
Currently, work like separating combined storm water and sewer lines on the letter and number streets to eliminate flooded basements and streets is nearing completion from a $25 million bond issue approved in 2020.
A near 30 percent increase in water and sewer rates is being used to finance those borrowed funds over a 20 year period.
Mayor Tom Dermody said another rate increase would be needed to finance the next series of proposed improvements but the need is too great to further ignore especially for residents that have longstanding problems with poor drainage.
“You see the back-ups. Their basements ruined. Other issues. To kick this down the road is not fair. Our residents deserve the best updated infrastructure available,” he said.
Waste Water Department Superintendent Jerry Jackson said how much water and sewer rates would go up has not been determined.
Jackson said a rate increase might not be needed for a couple of years, though, if interest rates drop before the borrowed funds are secured and the city is in a position to pay more toward the principal early in the financing period.
“It depends on what the interest rates are doing,” he said.
Jackson said the brunt of the work planned involves replacing what’s mostly a 24 inch diameter line carrying sewage and storm water on Indiana Ave. from Lincolnway to Kingsbury Ave. with a 78 inch diameter line for storm water and an up to 12 inch diameter line for sewage.
He said the new storm water line would be large enough to help with drainage on some of the adjacent streets feeding into the system after the combined lines in those neighborhoods are separated.
“It’s a dramatic improvement,” he said.
New water mains are also planned on Indiana Ave.
The remainder of the work planned at the waste water treatment plant involves replacing filtration and other equipment in the cleansing process used since 1987.
Jackson said the work on Indiana Ave. will take about two years to complete and comes at a significant savings for the city.
The Indiana Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin tearing out the pavement on Indiana Ave. next spring for a state funded reconstruction of the road also known as U.S. 35.
The city would strictly pay for installing the new below ground level infrastructure before the new asphalt traveling surface is laid.
Currently, the minimum water and sewer bill for a residential customer in the city based on usage is about $73 a month.
Dermody said the rates here are still very competitive to what’s charged in other communities and will be at about the state average if raised again to fund the next round of work planned.
“This is a continuation of work that has to be done,” he said.
Jackson said the $100 million in upgrades necessary is probably much more now because of inflation since the cost was estimated several years ago.
