FREELANDVILLE —The Freelandville Sewer District is set to receive more than $6.7 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to install a waste-water treatment plant to serve residents of the community.
But first, it needed a little help from the county.
The district has been working nearly six years on the project after following a report by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management showed substantial levels of E. coli bacteria in the drinking water, contamination that was traced back to leakage from numerous aging septic tanks.
In efforts spearheaded by members of the Freelandville Improvement Club, in 2009 the community received a $30,000 planning grant plus an additional $3,500 from the commissioners to work on a six-month engineering study, out of which both the sewer district and a plan to address the problem were born.
The plan is to have one primary location for the treatment facility and four additional lift stations to serve the 240 households that are in the unincorporated community.
District board member Louis Myers says the system designed by Loogootee-based Midwestern Engineering Inc. works through gravity, which means the matter runs downhill.
The district has been looking for properties to house the lift stations since 2011, with the last site secured in January.
The land will have to go through another approval process to make sure the parcels are suitable for development according to the grant specifications before purchase, Myers said. Initial reports indicate they will meet the requirements.
But, he added, the funds to start the project won’t be delivered to the community for some time, and the parcels must be purchased soon.
To help cover the cost, the sewer district board this week asked the county for a $50,000 loan from the County Option Income Tax fund to purchase the land when the time comes.
With overwhelming support from both the county council and the commissioners, the county has agreed to back the loan.
“Not many communities can do what you’ve done to secure these funds,” said councilman Jim Beery. “This is something to be proud of, and it’d be an honor to continue supporting this project.”
The next step will call for the two entities to draft an interlocal agreement within the next 30 days to front the cost of the lift station parcels.
Then later this year, when the grant funds are released, the community will repay the loan.