Spiceland considers new water source
Water and electricity were the main topics of discussion Tuesday night during the Spiceland Town Council meeting.
Water
Andrew Gordon, a senior project manager at Wessler Engineering, gave a water-related presentation during a public hearing. Through Wessler, the town completed a preliminary engineering report in July 2021, which was revised in March 2022.
“The intent of this project is to replace what the town already uses for water supply,” Gordon said. “The town is having a public hearing as part of the process of submittal to the State Revolving Fund for financing of the project and possible grant dollars.”
Gordon explained there were three main components to the project: test drilling, two new water wells and possibly a new water treatment plant.
“The first part was the test drilling,” Gordon said. “The town has already moved forward with test drilling to search for alternative sources of groundwater for water supply. The town is also moving forward with two new ground water wells...and associated electrical and piping for those, as well as a potential new water treatment plant. It’s anticipated that the groundwater is going to be consistent to what the town pumps now and that they will need a filtration plant in order to make that potable (drinking) water for its customers.”
The estimated cost of the proposed project is $7,484,000.
“The town is still in the process of determining the financing for the project, along with the State Revolving Fund, which they are submitting this preliminary engineering report to,” Gordon said.
Currently, Spiceland gets water from its own wells, as well as water purchased from the City of New Castle. Spiceland’s three existing wells are “past their useful life,” Gordon said. One well is only used for emergencies because it does not have the ability to be filtered.
The second well doesn’t suck air correctly and the third well is useable, although it has problems, too. Problems with the third well are why the town relies on water from New Castle as a supplemental source.
“Basically the two wells are so close to each other they can only use one of them,” Gordon explained. “That hasn’t always been that way, but the level of the groundwater has changed to where they are no longer able to use one of the wells, they can only use one.”
The two new proposed wells would be located east of town, but a location for the filtration plant hasn’t been determined.
“Where we are right now, this is just all sort of exploratory,” said Spiceland Town Council President Darrin Jacobs. “We have to go through the process to even see if there’s the ability to go out and get any type of funding. Obviously, it would be difficult for us to foot that bill.”
Jacobs said Spiceland has experienced well-related issues for several decades. As Spiceland’s existing wells continue to deteriorate, the town has to buy more water from New Castle. However, even if new wells were installed, continuing to have access to New Castle’s water supply would be a “safeguard.”
“There’s not necessarily a disadvantage to us having that as a backup,” Jacobs said. “But no matter what, Spiceland would like to be as self reliant as possible.”
Tesla Supercharger Station
Another item on Tuesday’s agenda was the installation of a pre-assembled Tesla supercharger station, which would be located at 5809 S. Ind. 3, Spiceland. That location is diagonally across the street from Montgomery’s Steak House, in front of the truck stop and former Indian restaurant.
Tesla requested to install the charging station and the expense does not cost the town. Tesla paid Spiceland $58,000 for the electrical upgrades and meter required for the project.
“I think it’s kind of cool,” Jacobs said. “The free market, I guess, decided Spiceland would be a good location to put some Tesla chargers.”
IMPA representatives
The council also passed a resolution Tuesday night that appoints authorized town representatives for an Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA) maintenance agreement. Individuals listed in the agreement are those people authorized to make “binding decisions,” such as reporting a power outage.
Previously, Spiceland Clerk-Treasurer Dawn Mogg and Spiceland Superintendent Jeff Lane were the only listed people authorized to contact IMPA in the event of a Spiceland power outage.
At Tuesday’s meeting, town billing clerk Angie Smith was also added to the list of authorized people. This means that if power goes out in Spiceland, residents have to contact one of the three town officials, who in turn contact IMPA to report the outage.
The resolution led to some discussion about how power outages were reported, with concerns that only certain people were permitted to contact IMPA.
For Spiceland, IMPA does not staff a call center. Mogg said people have asked her about it, but it costs $800 per month, whether there is a call or not.
“We don’t normally have that many calls,” Mogg said.
One audience member said it didn’t make sense that IMPA doesn’t have a hotline where anyone can call and report power outages.
“Jeff and Dawn, and actually this board, are the electric company,” Jacobs said. “When you are talking about who you call up...this is the electric company sitting right here.”
IMPA does have a reach alert system where people can sign up to receive notifications when emergency events occur. For more information, visit www.reachalert.com.
The next meeting of the Spiceland Town Council will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 14 in Spiceland Town Hall, 130 E. Main St.
