Bill to Defray Costs of Septic Conversion

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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.

Councilor Beulah Coughenour is capping her illustrious career as a member of the City-County Council by going out with a flurry of activity. On Wednesday night she spoke with the McANA Board about a proposed Ordinance she will introduce aimed at funding the high cost of conversion of private septic to public sanitary sewers.

Also in attendance and speaking in favor of the Ordinance was Cornell Burris, of the 42nd Sherman Barrett Law Committee, and Glenn Pratt, a strong supporter of practical solutions to environmental problems. Both have long fought for a solution to the pressing problems of contamination of Indy’s water systems by failing septics and the high cost of remediation.

Currently, the condition of septic systems in neighborhoods throughout the County are evaluated by DPW and Health & Hospitals in order to prioritize the order of conversion of septic to public sanitary sewers through the Barrett Law. The Barrett Law Master Plan envisions the complete eradication of septic systems within 20 years. This Law forces the homeowners in the targeted neighborhoods to pay for the costs of running the sewer lines down the streets, the costs of hooking their homes to that line, changing their plumbing toward the sewer, and filling in their old septic tank. These costs can run $7,000—$20,000. While the City tries to blunt the impact of these costs by allowing payment over 10 years, many homeowners lose their homes because they cannot afford or cannot find mortgage help for the increased expense.

Councilor Coughenour is proposing that new construction permit fees include a charge for the use of the excess capacity that was built into the sewage treatment facilities in Marion County. When these facilities were built, they were built bigger and for higher capacity than was needed at the time. This excess capacity cost the existing taxpayers real money in order to support the growth we see today. Councilor Coughenour sees this modest permit fee to be a reasonable return to the City for the infrastructure needs of newcomers, that the rest of us paid for. According to the figures supplied in the proposed Ordinance, a new 1400 square foot house would require $682.50 for the capacity availability fee portion of the permit fee; hardly a prohibitive increase in new home purchase price.

The proceeds of the permit fee increase would be pooled into a dedicated fund to pay for construction of sewers in existing areas of the County that do not yet have them. Homeowners in these areas would still cover the cost of hooking their homes to the public sewer and filling up their septic tanks. But, these costs are in the hundreds of dollars range, not the tens of thousands of dollars range. There is also a provision for homeowners for whom this would still be a demonstrable financial hardship, to apply for aid from this fund. The primary function, however, is to cover the costs of bringing the infrastructure into the neighborhoods not yet served.

The pollution caused by failing septics is a Public Health nightmare in a civilized city like Indianapolis. We have a huge number of small creeks and streams, some seasonal. Just one failing septic system can contaminate these waterways to an unhealthy degree. We all want children to be able to play in the water and investigate wildlife around their homes. It is a part of the quality of life that Indianapolis can provide. But, first it must be safe. McANA supports Councilor Coughenour’s plan to bring the era of septic systems in Indianapolis to a close, in a manor that does not force people to sell their homes and destabilize entire neighborhoods in the process.

For more information about this proposed Ordinance, please contact Merri Anderson at anderson@mcanaindy.org. Also, log onto www.mcanaindy.org, where the hearing schedule will be posted.