The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 25 approved a memorandum of understanding between the county, the City of Mishawaka, the County Redevelopment Commission and the St. Joseph County Regional Water and Sewer District that defines which party will provide water and sewer service in areas around Mishawaka and establishes funding commitments for related infrastructure.

Bill Salio, the county’s economic development director, told the board the agreement lays out five sections governing service territory, project funding, annexation and coordination among the parties. "The parties agree that the City of Mishawaka will have exclusive water and sewer service, within a 4 mile area north, south and east of the present city limits," Salio said during the presentation.

The MOU designates boundaries (for example, Hickory Road as a northern divider) and creates a more detailed framework for when and how the regional water and sewer district may step in if Mishawaka cannot provide service. A separate provision would allow the regional water and sewer district to buy bulk sewage capacity from Mishawaka — the agreement references a bulk purchase amount of 500,000 gallons per day — but staff emphasized those transfers depend on new pipe and infrastructure being built to reach the affected areas.

Section 2 of the MOU ties the creation of a future economic development area to specific uses of revenue — including a Canadian National railroad overpass along Douglas Road, water and sewer improvements, roads, fiber, drainage, trail and open-space enhancements and other coordination projects along the Capitol Avenue corridor. Section 3 explicitly contemplates annexation by Mishawaka in identified areas; Section 5 says the city will pledge back tax-increment financing (TIF) revenues to support the projects listed in Section 2 when annexation occurs.

Salio said the MOU supplements a previously approved stipulation and settlement that was filed with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) and is meant to make the practical steps of extending utilities and coordinating projects clearer between the county and the city. Commissioners praised staff and city representatives for months of negotiation; the board voted to untable the agenda item and then to approve the MOU.

Next steps: staff said the redevelopment commission and county council will hold public meetings and hearings on the related development-area actions in December and January, with a public hearing and council action scheduled in mid-January. The board’s approval does not itself change service lines or annexation boundaries — those steps will follow additional hearings, detailed project plans and infrastructure construction.