Water issues occupy town hall meeting

ROACHDALE -- Among other public concerns such as alleyways, crosswalks and property cleanups, comments of water quality by many of Roachdale's residents quickly took over the town's public session Tuesday.

After initiating the monthly meeting, which saw a packed house, Council President Zach Bowers and the rest of the board were harshly criticized by several of the town's citizens.

Although the town has given great attention to the issue and has long been revamping the community's water system in efforts to resolve the matter, reports of brown water and pieces of metal were still brought to the attention of the board by multiple attendants who also cited a sharp spike in water prices.

Those concerns were just as quickly addressed, however, with prices largely credited to the town's efforts for the past decade to keep water prices low.

"Nothing had been done with the rate for the past nine years," Bowers said, citing a recent one-time increase in price that took place over the span of four months. "When you don't do that, you have to account for those nine years to catch up."

Councilwoman Holly Cook also offered explanation.

"We had to raise the water (prices)," Cook said, with Bowers adding that the town had begun losing money. "Indiana and the State Board of Accounts said that our water lines were in such bad shape that we had to get a grant, and in order to get the grant money ... we have to show matching funds, and the only way to show matching funds in this town was to raise everyone's water (prices) to prove that we could get the money to fix the water lines -- it's a 'Catch-22.'"

"The fact that the town waited nine years to raise the prices is the big problem," Bowers added.

Despite the explanation, citizen Robin Dawson, who first addressed the matter Tuesday and mistakenly believed the board itself had raised the price of water four separate times, was not swayed.

"Can you still address the water quality in this town?" Dawson asked. "I have pictures of what my water filter -- that's supposed to last three months at my house but I can only get two weeks out of -- looks like."

Bowers then asked if Dawson had attempted to contact the town's utility service to check for issues with her equipment.

"They say there's nothing wrong with the meter. They say there's nothing wrong with the water," Dawson replied. "They've said, 'there's nothing wrong with it -- it's perfectly safe to drink.'

"Are you going to drink brown water? Our dad didn't let our pigs swim in brown water." Dawson added.

Councilmen Kevin Cook attempted to answer Dawson's question despite some interruption.

"I agree, the quality of the water hasn't been good but it has improved," Cook said.

Agreeing that the location of Dawson's home is at the "end of the (water) line" and may be victim of an out-of-date water meter, utility personnel decided Tuesday to perform another maintenance check on her systems and replace the potentially old meter with a new one.

Town Marshal Mike Mahoy, who spoke Tuesday on behalf of the utility services, said several water lines are currently being flushed, which may have resulted in exceptionally dirty water at her residence, specifically. Some in the audience who also raised water concerns said they had only noticed the change in quality as recently as one week ago.

Others said they have had to replace their water softeners and washing machines due to the "junk" accumulating in said-machines -- council members being no exception.

"We're paying for it as well," Bowers said. "I wish we had an overnight fix for it because I don't like paying for it either."

"I've replaced my washing machine, too," Councilwoman Cook added.

The town, which consists of nearly 1,000 residents, is host to nearly 400 homes that all require water and sewage services which are typically one in the same.

Pools, however, were cited Tuesday as being "a privilege -- not a right." According to the town's website (www.townofroachdale.org), properties that contain a pool are allowed "one pool fill per calendar year."

But with water quality issues, attendees cited the difficulty in maintaining pool water with costly chemicals to keep it usable throughout the entire summer season.

"You're allowing us one fill per summer," one anonymous citizen said. "And you act like we can go all summer and not have to touch the water again, and when I do, it's three times with no adjustment. You're making it so that people can't have pools in this town."

Bowers added that, despite giving some adjustments for the filling of pools, the act is not a must for the town.

"I don't want to sound mean or harsh but, that's the price of owning a pool," Bowers said. "A pool is a privilege -- not a right -- and there is a price to owning that.

"If I want to own a golf cart or four-wheeler," Bowers continued, "there's a price. There are licensing fees and stuff, and for that I can't go to the state every time I get a flat tire and say, 'fix my flat tire.' It's a toy, I guess, there's a price to owning toys."

The anonymous citizen also was not swayed, citing yet again how many times she has had to refill her pool.

"Anyone else have anything to say?" Bowers asked.

"No, I doubt you have anything to say," the citizen replied.

In other business:

* Property cleanups were updated for the properties of 110 W. Railroad St., 405 E. Washington St. and the area of 306-308 Central Avenue.

These come among an accumulation of nearly 25 notices served this year alone, eight of which were delivered in recent months.

The owner of the property at 110 W. Railroad St. was present at the Tuesday meeting despite claiming to have never received a notice in the mail. He was in attendance to address a recent $25 fine he had been issued. After much discussion, council members moved to waive the fee because he was indeed making progress on the property. The motion passed via 3-0 vote.

The property located at 405 E. Washington St. was discussed and the property owner, Steve Keck, was not present for the second month in a row. Unsafe building notices have been served to the residence dating back to 2013 with no real progress made. In fact, Bowers said he drove by the property Tuesday before the meeting, saying nothing had been done in the last month. Others in the audience agreed that they have seen zero progress, as well. The board moved to acquire quotes for the potential condemnation and razing of the structure and to serve a final notice to Keck. The motion was approved via 3-0 vote.

The area on Central Avenue was discussed and it was determined that quotes for its razing will be entertained. The low bid of Buses Excavating was accepting for the price of $7,060 to clear the property via 3-0 vote.

* Roachdale resident Josh Higgins asked the board if he could "take over" the alleyway between his two properties, saying that he would like to place grass over the aging concrete and maintain a tree which frequently drops limbs onto his vehicles. If not, he asked the town to maintain the tree.

The board said it would investigate the area to ensure no public lines would be affected, such as water, sewage and electrical. The board said it would have an answer for Higgins at the next public session in September.

* Questions concerning crosswalks for children were raised. However, it was determined that road signs would be more effective than road paint. The board and other officials said they would look into the issue.

* A Roachdale Wastewater System Rehabilitation Project update was given by Bowers, who said the only development to report was that they had finally received a fair-labor standards agreement from the state.

* A small Stormwater Grant update was given by Bowers as well, who said they are still waiting on the state to release the funds but otherwise "everything else is good to go."