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Redevelopment commission approves $80,000 for citywide sanitary sewer hydraulic model to speed development reviews
Summary
The commission agreed to provide $80,000 to the Michigan City Sanitary District to build an owned, reusable hydraulic model of major sewer trunk lines so staff can answer developer site‑capacity questions quickly, a change officials said is needed to keep Michigan City competitive for site selectors.
The Michigan City Redevelopment Commission on May 11 approved an $80,000 payment to the Michigan City Sanitary District to fund a citywide hydraulic computer model of the city’s main sewer trunk lines.
Al Wallace (Sanitary District) told the commission that the district previously built site‑specific models that are now dated and that developers frequently ask for rapid wastewater capacity answers. He said a citywide model—built from the district’s own ArcGIS data and run on widely‑used software—would allow staff and consultants to run sensitivity analyses and produce cost and timeline estimates for any required sewer improvements within weeks rather than months.
Wallace framed the proposal as an economic development tool: site selectors often eliminate communities within 72 hours if utilities and capacity cannot be documented. He said the proposed work would take about 6–9 months and cost about $80,000, with the model and output becoming the sanitary district’s property for future use.
Commissioners asked about licensing, future upgrade costs, and the timeline for bringing modeling skills in‑house. Wallace said the plan is to avoid proprietary software with recurring license fees, to use consultants initially while training staff, and to transition capabilities to local engineers over time.
Following the presentation, the commission moved and voted unanimously to approve the $80,000 award to the sanitary district. The commission recorded ayes from Clarence Hulse, Sheila Burleson Matias, Tracy Tillman and Sherry Wilson.
Staff said the model will be used to analyze TIF area development potential and to produce pre‑costed improvement packages that can be included in development agreements.
