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Thorntown council introduces bond and 123% water rate proposal to fund treatment plant expansion
Summary
Council members introduced ordinances to authorize $3.55 million in waterworks bonds and new water rates to fund a $5.15 million water treatment plant expansion; engineers reported the plant is at about 80–90% capacity and officials said the increase is needed to meet debt service and regulatory expectations.
Council President Dave Williams said the Town of Thorntown is moving forward with plans to expand its aging water treatment plant and to fund the work with revenue bonds and a rate increase after engineers told the council the existing facility has reached near-capacity.
Dan Cutshaw of CDS Engineers told the council the current plant operates at about 150 gallons per minute (roughly 216,000 gallons per day) and is at approximately 80–90% capacity. Cutshaw said the plant’s aeration system is failing and filter media are nearly exhausted, and that Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) guidance requires either limiting new connections or expanding capacity at those levels. He said the low bid for construction from Ottenweller Contracting was $4,162,000, about 7% above the engineer’s estimate, and that the project includes roughly $230,000 in contingency for value engineering.
