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Adams County officials outline cleanup and enforcement steps for Country Acres mobile home park
Summary
County health and law-enforcement officials said the Country Acres wastewater tanks will be emptied and owners cited under the county nuisance ordinance as part of a multi-step plan to remove septic discharge and clear dozens of overgrown, abandoned mobile-home lots.
Adams County commissioners and county staff reported progress this week on long-running health and nuisance complaints at Country Acres, a mobile-home community east of the county seat, and described next steps including septic pumping, proof-of-haulage requirements and civil enforcement against property owners.
County health department staff and the sheriff’s office told the Adams County Board of Commissioners that Jeremy Wade of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has discussed the site with a new majority property owner, Aaron Ellis, and that Ellis has indicated plans to have onsite wastewater tanks “emptying the tanks out here in the next month or 2,” including hauling waste offsite and disposing or crushing remaining structures. County staff said they will require documentation showing the tanks were pumped and hauled away.
The update matters because county staff and residents have documented ongoing effluent discharges into nearby Cone Ditch and widespread property deterioration. “We were able to shut down the discharge from that septic and eliminate that whole problem into the Cone Ditch,” a county representative told the commissioners, noting coordinated work between the health department and sheriff’s office to identify the discharge source and stop the contamination.
Sheriff’s deputies and the county attorney have moved forward on civil enforcement for property maintenance violations. The sheriff’s office delivered a thumb drive with evidence for 45 violations to the county attorney’s office; certified letters have been sent to property owners. County staff said many outer lots adjacent to county roads have improved after notice, but inner lots remain “a mess” with tires, lumber and vehicle parts that will be expensive to clear.
County officials explained limitations and timeframes for direct county remediation: properties typically must pass through three tax-sale cycles before the county can move to clear or demolish structures on privately owned parcels and place cleanup costs as a lien on the property. The county’s nuisance ordinance will be the enforcement vehicle: fines and a statutory notice period must first be issued; if owners do not comply the county may eventually abate the nuisance and place a lien for cleanup costs.
Officials said ownership changes at the site have reduced the number of distinct owners subject to enforcement (one official estimated 15–20 current owners after recent acquisitions), which staff said could simplify outreach and enforcement. The sheriff’s office said it will send deputies to speak with the new owner(s) and remind them that county fines or cleanup costs will be assessed if the properties are not remediated.
Commissioners praised the coordinated effort between the health department and sheriff’s office and said they will consult the county attorney about the specific notice period required under the nuisance ordinance before authorizing county remediation if owners fail to act.
The county did not set a firm timetable for demolition or large-scale cleanup because those actions hinge on title changes and tax-sale outcomes; officials said they will continue to demand proof of tank pumping and follow the nuisance-enforcement process already underway.
