By FRED SWIFT
The County Line
Hamilton County Commissioners will hold a public hearing Monday on a proposal to provide water and sewer service for a wide area of northern Hamilton County. The plan is to create a public-private partnership to actually install the utility services. Commissioners have a proposal from Reynolds Construction Company of Orleans, Ind., which will be considered following the public hearing.
The plan is generally called the Bakers Corner project since the utility would be centered there. Wells could be located in that area or nearby wherever the best source of underground water is found. Wastewater could be treated at some existing sewer plant in the county or at a new plant.
The idea is to serve a large potential growth area on either side of U.S. 31 north of Westfield. County officials have been made aware of plans to build 1,000 or more new homes in the area if water and sewer service is available.
The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to soon rebuild the intersection of U.S. 31 and 236th Street, which is expected to create a spurt in development at Bakers Corner just west of 31 and the vicinity around it.
Boundaries for the utility service area have not been established, and the cost has not been estimated, according to Connor Sullivan, an attorney for the county. The county does have access to at least $30 million in federal COVID relief funds which can be used for sewers and water service to areas not currently being served by municipal utilities.
Sullivan says extensive “scoping out” of the general plan is yet to come, and it will be some time before actual work begins.
Columnist Fred Swift has worked in newspapers for decades. He has been sharing his opinions in the pages of The Reporter since it began.