"Budget Enthusiast"
(A name given to me by the City Controller since I regularly attend the Council Meetings and 14 Budget Hearings)

Sewers in South Bend

Phase one of the CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow) project is completed and negotiations continue with the EPA over the mandated changes South Bend must make to become compliant with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). We are in Region 5. The City is now working with a new attorney for these negotiations. 

Phase one cost $114,614,771 and included 58 projects for the CSO part and the WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plant) part cost $34,253,781 and included 14 projects, for a total of $148,868,551 It is about 20% of the work needed overall.

Phase two is estimated to cost $713,000,000 and will comprise the other 80% that needs to be completed. This ends up costing about $10,000 for every person in South Bend. ($7,059 + Interest over the years of the project would bring it to around $10,000 each.)

Per capita income in South Bend is $19,626. There are 29.6% of households in South Bend making under $20,000 a year.

NOTE:  This project could have been funded with TIF. TIF was originally designed to pay for infrastructure projects, not funding private corporation development. (Tax Incremental Financing)
At this point only 20% of this has been done with 80% left after these many years. This needed to be a priority above private development projects. Now what does the taxpayer do? Have fees added, property taxes raised and more taxes taken out of their paychecks?

Smart Sewers - Started by Mayor Steve Luecke

There are about 150 sensors in the sewers that measure water flow in real time so lift stations and routing of flow can divert water to areas that can handle more. The ten years of this data can also help with projecting what is likely to happen in the future, which helps better plan what construction needs to take place. The is the CHRS (Cognitive Hydraulic Response System). Using this system the water flowing into the river has been reduced by 75%, going from over 2 billion gallons to less than 500 million gallons.

Although a lot of flow is diverted away from the river, there is still the 500 million gallon capacity to deal with.  This is what Phase two is about. There are 7 larger storage tanks needed, a storage conduit and a parallel interceptor. After these are built, two smaller tanks can be removed at Leeper Park and Brownfield.

In 2017 the Board of Public Works approved a new three-year contract that calls for the Emnet to be paid $280,500 annually for services such as data collection and maintenance of these smart sensors.

Initially all sewers dumped into the river until the Waste Water Treatment Plant was built in 1956.
It is my goal as an Advocate to involve YOU in the process. 

If these are your priorities, I need your VOTE and Donations!

My campaign is a grassroots one.  Donations are appreciated and helpful!
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