The Muncie Sanitary District told commissioners on Nov. 26 that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has formally approved the district’s long-term control plan (LTCP), a yearslong effort district staff said will let the district use alternative approaches to reduce combined sewer overflows.

District Administrator Rick Conrad said the approval is now “in writing,” and credited decades of work by staff, engineers and legal advisers to reach the milestone. “We’ve had folks from MSD working on this since at least 2012,” Conrad said, calling the effort “a long haul” and noting it would allow the district more flexibility in addressing CSOs and avoid larger rate increases that he said would otherwise be necessary.

Conrad also announced that Nov. 26 would be his final board meeting as district administrator. He thanked the board and staff and invited questions. Board members offered remarks of appreciation for Conrad’s leadership and service, with several processors of the board praising his approach to efficiency and operations.

Board chair (on the record) later summarized the LTCP’s fiscal context, saying the district expects to spend about $160,000,000 to comply with the plan but that this figure represents a considerable savings compared with previously proposed full‑separation options, which the chair described in discussion as on the order of hundreds of millions more. The chair credited engineers and attorneys for negotiating the plan.

Conrad’s update also included routine operational items tied to the district’s seasonal work: roads reopened after restoration work, continued leaf collection (staff encouraged use of paper bags), and temporary park totes for natural fall waste at Westside Park, McCulloch Park and Halterman Park. Commissioners thanked Conrad and wished him well as he departs.

The board did not take an action specific to personnel at the meeting; the district indicated transition plans will be handled administratively.