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Plans for Lafayette‑Barker outfall revisited; staff proposes urban stormwater park as lower‑cost alternative
Summary
Staff revisited an earlier Lafayette‑Barker outfall plan, citing difficult soils and contamination, and proposed an alternative combining a smaller outfall with a constructed wetland/urban stormwater park to provide pretreatment and lower costs while supporting separation work.
Staff reminded the workshop the Lafayette‑Barker outfall design (95% complete in earlier studies) was never funded and that soils and residual contamination make a full outfall expensive. Wendy Dasham said the district is revisiting options and is discussing them with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and that the district is also considering an alternative that pairs a 36‑inch reinforced outfall with a restored wetland/urban stormwater park to provide pretreatment and attenuate high flows.
Members and residents raised concerns about permitting and prior state guidance on direct discharge; consultants replied that preliminary concepts include pretreatment (baffles, sediment and floatable removal, stormwater ponds) and that they are engaging IDEM to work out the details. Staff said this alternative could reduce construction depth and costs given poor subsurface soils, while also creating public amenity and wetland habitat.
