Why should Ontwa taxpayers build a sewage treatment plant for Granger?

As bizarre as it sounds, that is what has been proposed, and you can prove it for

yourself in mere minutes. On the Ontwa Township website there is an item named “Preliminary Engineering Report.” At the bottom of page 14 of this report is the sentence:

“All wastewater from the Ontwa system, including Granger, Indiana, would be  treated at this facility.”

On page 11, Section C, the plan says:

“The balance of Granger, Indiana, yet to be served, contains over 10,000 homes which could add flows in excess of 2.1 million gallons per day. Preliminary meetings with representatives of the St. Joseph County Water and Sewer District  have indicated that portions of the unsewered Granger area will need sewer service within the next five years. Any alternative treatment option must include the ability to expand to serve the unsewered Granger area.”

Granger desperately needs a sewage treatment plant. Rather than build one in their own “back yard” they embarked on a plan in 2008 to have a sewage treatment plant, designed to have enough capacity to handle all 10,000 residences, built and paid for by Ontwa Township.

With the cooperation of a few Township officials this plan was developed in secret.

Meetings were not announced, no minutes were kept and the Open Meetings Act, which was passed to prevent this kind of conduct, was routinely violated. Although the Township Supervisor was at these meetings he now claims that he has no memory of any of them.

Ontwa residents were kept in the dark. There were no newspaper stories, no press releases, no public hearings, no chance for the public to comment or vote. This is the worst abuse of power in the history of the township, if not the entire state.

All the groundwork has been laid for a treatment plant twice the size of what Ontwa needs and an agreement giving Granger access to this plant has already been signed.

To those in favor of this project I ask “Do you REALLY want to build a sewage treatment plant for Granger?”

John Harsh

Edwardsburg