Public Works Committee - by Cathy Burton

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The opinions expressed in these articles and features are those of their author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of McANA or the opinion of its Directors or Officers.

Public Works Committee
by Cathy Burton
[President of McANA]

Although I was unable to attend the December 2 meeting of the Public Works Committee (of the City County Council), I was appalled to receive phone calls and emails, and the read in the paper, about the Committee's denial to allow residents to speak about Councilor Buelah Coughenour's proposal to fund septic system conversions (to public sewers) in a way that will not place another intolerable financial burden on the homeowners of Marion County. Councilor Coughenour has been wrestling for years with how to address the public health and property value issues posed by the continued use of septic systems in a major metropolitan area without bankrupting the very citizens the public sewer system is supposed to serve and protect. Her resolution, which imposes a very modest fee on the new construction which will continue to add demands on all sorts of infrastructure, has been drafted with prolonged and carefully debated input from Marion County residents, health and sanitary engineering experts, and financial analysts. She should be applauded for her community minded fortitude in tackling an issue considered a political hot potato because she knows it is the right thing to do. Even though we still have some outstanding questions about the technical details of the implementation and administration of the proposal, The Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations has endorsed this resolution as a timely, common sense, and financially practical solution to a critical problem. Unfortunately, the actions of the Public Works Committee have once again delayed the public's opportunity to be heard on this matter.

I do not understand why the Council is so reluctant to begin a meaningful discourse to start looking for a solution to this problem. Nor do I understand why the Public Works Committee would so blatantly and disrespectfully dismiss a final opportunity to take advantage of Councilor Coughenour’s considerable expertise. Indianapolis has an ever growing list of profound infrastructure and funding issues that our elected officials MUST begin to tackle, regardless of political partisanship or ramifications, or we are going to find ourselves in a hole so deep and wide that we will never be able to dig out.

This is a huge and complicated issue, and no one, not Councilor Coughenour or even the most avid advocates of the proposal, expected a decision to be made at the December 2 committee meeting. We understand that elected officials need time to assess the impacts of this proposal and ask their own questions. But this item was listed on the agenda of the Committee and homeowners took the time to come down and pack the room (and hallway outside) in order to give public testimony. They deserved the opportunity to be heard. What a disappointment that the last memory they have of the outgoing Council is that the opinions, time, public health and financial solvency of these residents can be put on hold without notice.

Suddenly, the cowardly attitude of some of our elected officials has taken on a whole new meaning. This issue has become larger than how we address failing septic systems - it has become a matter of whether the City County Council really has any intention of or interest in hearing from the constituency it is supposed to represent. Or if arrogance is going to now be substituted for the democratic process.

Cathy Burton