The fierce debate over Ontwa Township’s proposed $8 million wastewater treatment facility came to roaring climax Thursday, as the Cass County Board of Commissioners ordered a temporary halt to activity on the project.

The board approved a motion that mandates that the Cass County Board of Public Works cease all further progress until Nov. 30, by a 5-2 vote. Voting yes to the resolution were commissioners Roseann Marchetti, Skip Dyes, Robert Ziliak, Bernie Williamson and Dixie Ann File; voting in opposition were Chair Robert Wagel and E. Clark Cobb.

The decision followed an evening of intense debate among both the seven commissioners and the nearly 50 residents and leaders of the township who attended the meeting. The commissioners’ chambers in Cassopolis were filled to capacity for almost the entire three hours that the meeting lasted.

The fight that has erupted between leadership and citizens within the township first spilled over to the county earlier this month, with several residents condemning the proposed sewage plant for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the completed plant could handle wastewater from outside communities, such as Granger. The furor has resulted in the recall of five of the seven members of the Ontwa Board of Trustees, including all three of its officers.

Commissioner Marchetti, of Edwardsburg, drafted the motion to order a halt to the county’s involvement with the project. She had voiced her opposition during the last board meeting, stating that she was concerned that any further progress could incur lawsuits from the City of Elkhart, which the township currently has an agreement with to process its sewage.

“It has been my intent all along to prevent Ontwa Township and Cass County from being sued,” Marchetti said, directing a comment toward Supervisor John Brielmaier, who spoke to the commissioners prior to the vote. “If you can tell me, right now, tonight, that Elkhart isn’t going to sue and you know that 100 percent, I’ll be happy to just go home and let you to do what you want.”

Elkhart officials formally announced their opposition to the plans on Wednesday, sending a letter to the Michigan Department of Environment Quality requesting that the agency deny the township’s request to discharge into Cobus Creek. The Indiana city has frequently clashed with the township throughout the last several years over excessive readings of hydrogen sulfide in the township’s sewage, which has been fined $27,750 over the issue.

In his statements to the board, Brielmaier reiterated his argument for wanting to end the township’s agreement with Elkhart and to build a new plant in the township, saying that the city has been increasing its treatment rates during the last decade and half.

Another member of the township government, planning commission member Dawn Bolock, also publicly defended the project.

“There are many, many people who I have spoken to who are in favor of Ontwa having their sewer plant,” Bolock said. “We don’t sewage bills that are going to climb up to $65-70 a month over the next few years. And there’s money in sewage.”

Other Ontwa officials took an opposing stance to the project, including Sewer Board member John Bossler and Trustee Jerry Marchetti. Marchetti said he concerned about the mounting bills, totaling over $70,000, from engineers with Wightman & Associates, who have continued to perform preliminary work despite the 120-day moratorium placed on the project by the township.

“We’re bleeding, folks. We’re bleeding,” he said. “If you folks lived in our township you would be bothered by it, too.”

A number of Edwardsburg residents also voiced their concerns, including several of the people who spoke during the last board of commissioners meeting. One of the new speakers was Kris Thomas, who criticized both county and township leadership for approving the project in the first place.

“If I conducted myself in this manner at my job, with just the lack for forethought and homework and presence, I would be unemployed today,” Thomas said. “You all have the titles of leaders. Set leadership examples, please.”

During the actual vote on the resolution, Wagel put forth a motion to table the discussion, claiming the county would be overstepping its boundaries by interfering with the township’s decision. This motion, along with one submitted by Cobb to delay the vote, was rejected by the other members.

“If things come to a screeching halt, it might incur additional costs to the township,” Wagel said. “These projects are not cheap. It has cost $70,000 so far. Someone is going to have pay for that.”

Dyes, on the other hand, supported the resolution, saying that the project should have been vetted more thoroughly by the board of public works prior to its submission to the commissioners back in March.

“There are some things here that should have stopped before they got started,” he said.