The St. Joseph County Regional Water and Sewer District Board voted Dec. 1 to approve a memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to matters before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) and to complete officer signatures on the document before the end of the meeting.

Unidentified Speaker 3 (counsel) reviewed the draft MOU and its attachments, saying the document had been sent to board members in both clean and redline form. Counsel summarized priorities in section 4 that govern how tax-increment financing (TIF) dollars would be allocated and said the board moved regional water improvements to a lower priority after city and county needs to extend infrastructure to a new data center. "There will need to be other economic development in that region in order to get to regional funding," counsel said.

Counsel also reported that the county redevelopment commission (RDC) approved reimbursement to the district for costs incurred in the Mishawaka IURC matter, describing an approved reimbursement "of 90 some thousand dollars up to $90,000." Counsel said the county has "fully reimbursed the district on the Mishawaka IURC matter" and that, with the MOU signed, the district's involvement in that matter is effectively complete unless the settlement is derailed.

Counsel added that Granger Water is continuing to dispute part of the settlement and that the city or town of New Carlisle may file its own IURC petition to establish extraterritorial jurisdiction. "When we get the IURC pleadings for New Carlisle, we will review them to ensure they're not trying to take something that currently belongs to this body and be able to react accordingly," counsel said.

Unidentified Speaker 4 moved to approve the MOU; Unidentified Speaker 3 seconded. The presiding officer called for a voice vote and the motion passed.

The board instructed staff that Mary would collect officers' signatures on the MOU before the meeting ended. Counsel said the RDC also approved potential reimbursement of costs that may be incurred if New Carlisle files its IURC petition.

The board took no additional binding action on the Granger Water dispute; counsel said the board's role going forward would be to monitor filings and respond if necessary.