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St. Joseph County approves $114 million water and sewer deal to serve Amazon Data Services site
Summary
The county commission unanimously approved an ADS (Amazon Data Services) water and sewer infrastructure agreement totaling about $114 million, with water to be turned over to New Carlisle and sewer to the City of South Bend; county officials said taxpayers will not bear the debt and latecomer fees could total roughly $11.44 million over 10 years.
St. Joseph County commissioners on Aug. 6 approved a negotiated water and sewer infrastructure agreement with ADS (Amazon Data Services) to design and build utilities serving the IEC development area, county staff said.
Bill Shelow, a county economic development official, told the commission the contract “in dollar amount perspective, is a $114,000,000 contract,” including about $62,700,000 for water work and $51,300,000 for sewer work. Shelow said ADS will provide funds and that project expenses to date can be reimbursed; future expenses will be paid either directly or via structured payments to participating companies. He described latecomer fee maps in the agreement and identified about $11,442,670 in latecomer charges that could be applied back to ADS on a 10‑year payment schedule.
Why it matters: The infrastructure is intended to facilitate the ADS development and other IEC‑area projects, and county officials said it will produce ancillary benefits for nearby sites including the GM site and properties owned by Navistar. Shelow said county taxpayers will not be on the hook for the work and that, when complete, water infrastructure will be transferred to the town of New Carlisle and sewer infrastructure to the City of South Bend for long‑term maintenance.
Commissioners also discussed an environmental safeguard tied to the agreement: a 24,000,000‑gallon‑per‑day aquifer/usage cap. A commissioner reiterated that if usage exceeds that threshold the county will “undertake another study,” per the terms discussed, and pursue further measures as needed.
The board moved to approve the ADS Water and Sewer Infrastructure Agreement; recorded roll‑call votes were taken and the motion carried. County staff said the agreement reduces the need for bonding and leverages developer funding to build public infrastructure.
The agreement includes specific provisions for charging and remitting latecomer fees to participating developers and sets out the process for design, construction and reimbursement. County staff said maps in the agreement identify areas where future connections could trigger latecomer reimbursements to ADS. Implementation will proceed through departmental contracting and coordination with the redevelopment commission and ADS.
Next steps: County staff will continue contract execution and coordination with engineering and the redevelopment commission; long‑term operation of water and sewer assets will be transferred to the referenced municipal utilities once construction is complete. The commission approved the agreement and did not take further amendments at the meeting.
