Launched federally and by the state in 1996, then revised in 2001, the unfunded and mandated CSO program is to help eliminate combined sewer overflows and prevent raw sewage from spilling into local rivers and waterways during heavy rain events.
Logansport Utilities’ CSO projects began in 2013.
The Melbourne Avenue Wet Weather Project was the most recent improvement, with Wilhelm Construction leading the installation of two new 10-foot-diameter pipes to store and process five million gallons of stormwater water during heavy rains. That project was completed in the winter of 2021.
In 2018, water, wastewater, and stormwater rate increases were approved in two phases (2018, 2019) to help fund the massive project. The directive from the EPA and IDEM is all remaining CSO projects are to be completed by 2026.
The cost for the upcoming required CSO projects affecting the rates from the years 2023 – 2026 is an estimated $51,384,108. This number includes construction of the wastewater treatment plant’s headworks, replacing the original headworks built in 1958. The headworks must be replaced to process flows from the new CSO systems being installed.
To complete the remainder of the capital improvement plan, which includes a 2025 mandate from IDEM for a secondary water source (supplemental wellfield, wells, and well houses), service line replacements, and the EPA’s phosphorus removal protocol requirement, the remaining amount needed is $43,696,770. This brings the total funding need to $95,080,878. Logansport is ahead of the curve with state mandated CSO projects, with neighboring communities behind in accruing funding and creating action plans.
On September 27, 2022, the Logansport Utilities’ service board approved rate change resolutions. These resolutions will be forwarded to the city clerk treasurer and the city council for review and creation of a rate ordinance to increase water, wastewater, and stormwater rates. The increases would happen in four phases over the next four years. Public meetings for the city council readings of the proposed rate ordinances will be scheduled in the coming months. | More info