Last week the Marshall County Council gave their support to the request of County Health Administrator Christine Stinson and County Plan Director Ty Adley to create a task force to look at the issues with failing septic system and no place for a new onsite system.
The task force would spend 12 to 18 months looking at the feasibility of a regional sewer district for the county and what repairs can be done if a regional sewer district isn’t feasible. Stinson noted that both the Plan Commission and Health Board have approved their support the task force.
Stinson said the task force would include a representative from the County Plan Commission, Stinson from the Health Department, Mike Delp from the County Commissioners, a representative from Marshall County Soil and Water, Purdue Extension and a couple members from the community.
Stinson asked for a representative from the county council to join the team and Jim Masterson agreed to be the representative. He said he brings a different prospective because he works with the homeowners all the time.
Stinson said the task force will particularly look at areas that can no longer sustain the on-site systems. The lake communities are ones where she is seeing issues: Cook Lake, Holm Lake, Lake Latonka and Mill Pond. She said they are seeing pretty substantial issues with septic systems at these lakes.
The problem is that the lots are too small and there is no place to put another on-site system on the lots. She said, “This puts the Health Department in a very precarious situation because we have people living in a house with a failed septic system with no place to repair them.”
