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Sanitary district reports sewer repairs, sinkhole fixes, IDEM inspection OK and leaf-bag shift
Summary
District Administrator Rick Conrad briefed the board on ongoing sewer replacements, sinkhole repairs and lane restrictions; officials reported one IDEM-flagged issue at 350 North to be fixed by next summer and announced a switch from plastic to paper leaf bags with an outreach campaign and limited giveaways.
District Administrator Rick Conrad told the Muncie City Board of Sanitary Commissioners on Sept. 17 that district crews will continue sewer and road-related work across the city and that one issue flagged during an IDEM inspection should be resolved by next summer.
Conrad said work will continue on the tieback levy with lane restrictions east of town at Main and Jackson. He said an in-house crew is continuing sewer replacements on Hodson and that crews will begin work at 11th and Hoyt the following day. Conrad also said crews will repair sinkholes near west Bethel and Chatham at the entrance to the Prime Trust FCU, noting those repairs will require road closures but that businesses will retain access, likely from Tillotson.
Conrad reported the sanitation department has completed its neighborhood cleanups for the year and said residents interested in next year’s program should contact the sanitation department; he added the program had a few unfilled openings this year. He also said the Muncie-Delaware County Clean and Beautiful will host the White River Cleanup on Sept. 27 at 8 a.m. at Westside Park and that district staff will participate.
Conrad said the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) completed an annual inspection of the water pollution control facility and found the plant "went excellent," with one outstanding issue at 350 North for which the district has a plan and expects the fix by next summer. He also recognized Chuck Jones of the Bureau of Water Quality and Greg Norris, laboratory manager, for winning the laboratory excellence award from the Indiana Water Environment Association.
Conrad described a policy change for leaf pickup: “We’re switching away from allowing plastic bags to be used to dispose of leaves. We want them all to be, disposed of in paper bags,” and said the district will run an advertising campaign and distribute a limited number of paper bags to neighborhoods in the transition year.
Commissioners praised staff work during the discussion. Commissioner Overton said the district is well run and thanked crews; Commissioner Smith, Commissioner Selby and Commissioner Silvey offered similar commendations.
No formal board directive, ordinance or contract award was recorded on these operational items in the transcript.
