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St. Joseph County approves New Carlisle water agreement with 24 million-gallon daily cap
Summary
County staff described and the board approved an agreement with the Town of New Carlisle and the Redevelopment Commission that sets town operation of two treatment plants, creates a joint board, obligates county funding for improvements and limits combined withdrawals to 24,000,000 gallons per day; a public commenter raised concerns about an Amazon nondisclosure agreement and a possible typographical error in a hydrology number.
Bill Schallio, economic development director in the Department of Infrastructure Planning and Growth, presented an agreement among the Town of New Carlisle, the St. Joseph County Commissioners and the Redevelopment Commission that governs water service in the New Carlisle Economic Development Area and a larger service area.
Schallio said the agreement defines the town's responsibilities to operate and maintain the two water treatment plants (the Cliffs plant and the St. Joe Energy Center plant) while the county would pay for improvements that benefit new economic prospects and other project elements in the development area. A joint board would provide county oversight; improvements completed by the county or the Redevelopment Commission would be turned over to the town for ongoing ownership and maintenance.
"As part of this agreement, it lays out kind of the terms and conditions on how water is managed within the area," Schallio said. He described a 5-year review cycle for rates, a town-managed depreciation fund to address long-term replacement and an EDU (equivalent development unit) charge and reimbursement structure that would operate for a 10-year period so the county could recover portions of certain investments.
Schallio said the agreement limits combined withdrawals by the two treatment plants to 24,000,000 gallons per day based on safe-yield considerations and includes provisions for a hydrogeological study and for the county to fund additional capacity if a Phase 2 of the St. Joe Energy Center project proceeds.
Dan Caruso, a New Carlisle resident, spoke during public comment and raised governance and transparency concerns about the agreement. "I found out last week at the New Carlisle meeting that the town council has signed a non disclosure agreement with Amazon that they won't reveal how many gallons of water Amazon is pulling out of our water supply daily," Caruso said, adding that secrecy would make it difficult to track whether the 24,000,000-cap would be exceeded. Caruso also queried a line in the agreement referencing a "44 and a half" million number in the Peerless analysis and suggested it might be a typographical error.
After public comment, the board moved to approve the agreement; recorded votes in the transcript show Chair Dieter and Mr. Bechsmeyer voting 'Aye' and the presiding officer announced, "Motion carries." The transcript does not include the full roll call for all commissioners.
What it means: The agreement assigns operational responsibility to the town while creating financial obligations and oversight for the county, establishes a 24,000,000-gallon-per-day working cap for the two plants, and sets financial mechanisms (EDU charges and a 10-year reimbursement period) intended to return a portion of fees to the county. Public concerns about nondisclosure and numeric inconsistencies were raised on the record and should be addressed in follow-up staff materials.
