HOPE – The Hope Town Council has asked Strand Associates, Inc., an engineering and consulting firm, to study the impact of increasing the size of a proposed “force main,” which might allow for further development.
The term “force main” refers to a pumped sewer used when gravity sewers serve areas at lower elevations than the sewage treatment plant.
The town also requires lift stations, which lift accumulated sewage to a higher elevation to go to a treatment plant.
Up until now, Strand consulting engineer Tony Akles of Strand and his staff have been working under instructions that the town council wanted a 4-inch force main. But that smaller size was agreed upon before the town of Hope received federal money through the American Rescue Plan.
Since the community now has more money than expected for this type of infrastructure, Hope town manager Jason Eckert has been encouraging town council members to increase the size of the force main from 4- to 6-inches. While the larger main would add $50,000 to the cost of the planned $707,250 planned improvements, it would initially increase capacity in the Goshen Meadows subdivision by about 10 new homes.
“Jason is looking toward the future, instead of just living off the status quo,” council member Clyde Compton said. “I’m impressed with that.”
“I think we need to look at the design and see how many homes we can add to that,” said fellow council member Ed Johnson.
By increasing the size of the force main, the town also open up the possibility of up-sizing sump pumps that can substantially increase capacity for future homes and businesses, Akles said.
After two years of planning, the council installed new equipment last year at the Goshen Meadows pump station that has alleviated earlier problems, Akles said. If current plans are approved, a direct sewage line will be installed from the Goshen Meadows Lift Station to a wastewater treatment facility near the intersection of State Road 9 and County Road 600N.
Currently, gray water flows into a gravity sewer behind the Hope Moravian Church that includes another pump station. A significant problem is that the gravity sewer on church property overflows a couple of times a year.
“Environmentally, it’s not a good thing,” Akles said. “If we have a certain number of overflows, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is going to get involved. We need to be proactive.”
By moving the Goshen Meadows flow directly to the wastewater treatment facility, it would take the burden off the system near the Moravian church. Not only would that stop overflowing on church property, but it might also provide additional capacity for future development, Akles said.
Planned upgrades would also take wastewater from Miller’s Merry Manor, a senior rehabilitation and health care facility near Schaefer Lake, directly to the Goshen Meadows lift station. However, the council was advised that they might reduce future capacity – even after installing a larger force main.
Without the changes that will be studied in the weeks ahead, the town was prepared to ask the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs for a $565,800 construction grant. In exchange, the town was prepared to commit a local match of $141,450 from their American Rescue Plan allocation.
But with changes now being considered, no timetable was mentioned regarding when Hope officials might learn whether they will receive the grant.
