HOPE – For the past three years, officials in Hope have worked to find a way to improve sewage delivery from the Goshen Meadows subdivision directly to the Hope Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant.
Beginning Monday, a preliminary engineering report on the latest project design will be available at Hope Town Hall, 404 Jackson St., for the public to examine. The report will remain available for public inspection until March 25.
“Right now, Goshen Meadows is being double pumped,” town manager Jason Eckart said. He’s referring to the fact the sewage is first taken from the Goshen Meadows subdivision to a gravity sewer behind the Hope Moravian Church area. It is then picked up by a second system and taken to the Hope Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant, located near the junction of county roads 600N and 700E.
Problems arise during heavy rains when gray water overflows on to church property, project consultant Tony Akles said. If there are a certain number of overflows, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is likely to become involved, he said. IDEM involvement could lead to fines or large expenses to address the issues.
One aspect of the new plan calls for upgrading the existing Goshen Meadows lift station to the extent where a pump station in the Liberty Place subdivision on Hope’s far south side can be replaced, Akles said.
While similar plans have been discussed since 2021, Eckart said several different ideas intended to increase and improve the town’s wastewater system have been considered for the plan.
A public hearing on the report will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19th, inside the town hall. A representative of the community’s engineering consultant, Strand Associates Inc., will present the preliminary plans.
Funding for the project will come from Indiana’s Wastewater State Revolving Fund Loan Program, which provides low-interest rate financing to construct water quality protection project. These funds originate from grants issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Originally, the town was prepared to ask the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs for funding. But that idea was tabled because plans were evolving, Akles said.
Estimated costs are expected to be released after the preliminary plans are made public.
