St. Joseph County utility trustees approve governance slate, authorize pumps and pause billing as members review 1,000‑acre utility study

The board of trustees for the St. Joseph County utility district met (date not specified) and approved the 2025 officer slate and district advisor appointments, adopted a bylaw amendment to allow ex‑officio utility representatives to fill absent utility appointee seats for quorum and voting, authorized the purchase of up to 10 E1 pumps, and paused billing for a homeowner while the district investigates an unpermitted septic installation.

The meeting’s longest discussion focused on a utilities study for a proposed 1,000‑acre industrial/commercial development. A consulting participant identified as Ken described water and sewer demand scenarios the district is modeling. He said the project and related users along planned mains could add roughly 250,000 gallons per day of demand to the district’s system and that, to meet fire‑protection requirements and peak use, the engineering work is sizing a water tower in the neighborhood of a 250,000‑gallon unit.

“...we're basing that on our typical approach as to what the demand for fire protection would be out there,” Ken said during the presentation, describing assumptions used to size mains and storage for both domestic and fire flows. He and other participants flagged that the modeled demand would ‘‘outpace’’ current production in some locations and that the tower and transmission work would be essential to reach southern portions of the study area.

Trustees and staff discussed sewer…