The Terre Haute Board of Sanitary Commissioners on Tuesday began an $85 million bond issue for the second phase of a long-term combined sewer overflow plan.
The board Tuesday passed a declaratory resolution, the first step in issuing bonds that would pay for the second of four phases of the city's combined sewer overflow plan, mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
A public hearing is slated for 10 a.m. Aug. 15 in the third floor conference room at City Hall, 17 Harding Avenue. The Sanitary Board will hear public comment for or against the project. The public would have until Aug. 25 to file any remonstrances to the project.
The Sanitary Board is then tentatively scheduled to meet Sept. 5 to hold a public hearing on an appropriations resolution which would earmark the bond funds for the sanitary project. The bonds are to be issued in two separate bond issues -- one for about $15 million for design and legal bond work -- and a second for about $70 million for construction, said City Engineer Chuck Ennnis.
The Terre Haute City Council in October is then tentatively scheduled to vote to approve or deny issuance of the bonds. If approved, the sanitary district could close on the bonds by the end of November. If all remains on schedule, the sanitary district could advertise for the sanitary projects next spring, Ennis said.
The biggest project for Phase 2 is the replacement/relocation of the city's main sanitary sewer lift station, which would increase pumping capacity. The city's current lift station was constructed in 1962. This phase also includes connecting the new lift station to the city's newly built high flow rate treatment facility.
This will increase the amount of rainwater that can be filtered of any debris prior to release into the Wabash River, Ennis said.
Additionally, the phase includes the use of "green infrastructure" to reduce the amount of rain runoff from entering the city's combined sewer system. This project primarily targets Indiana State University, which has a large runoff of storm water into the city's system, Ennis said.
"This includes having rain water go into a rain garden or on a small scale, into rain barrels," Ennis said. Perhaps the biggest application, Ennis said, will be the use of porous asphalt that allows rain water to seep back into the ground. "It is already being used successfully at the Terre Haute Rex [baseball] parking lot," Ennis said.
