Town of Osgood Waste Water Department

Highway 350
Osgood IN 47037
812-689-4441

Waste Water Superintendent:	Tony Wood
Laboratory Technician:	Nick Buchanan
Assistant Plant Operator:	Ed Schwering

September 14, 2007

Dear Osgood Customers,

Throughout the last decade the Wastewater Department has made numerous strides to correct longstanding compliance issues. According to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, these issues fall into two categories: hydraulic and organic limit violations. Under the direction of the Osgood Town Board in the 1990’s, major improvements were made with the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant in 1997 which corrected the organic loading violations. Those improvements put Osgood in a better position for economic development by lifting a sewer ban imposed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Although a new treatment plant fixed numerous problems, the amount of flow coming into the new treatment plant was not positively addressed. When large amounts of rainfall occur, four to ten times a year, the wastewater treatment plant overflows raw sewage down into a tributary of Plum Creek. This action is prohibited by our permit and is a demand by our regulatory agency to correct. The Town of Osgood received a grant in 2000 and evaluated the entire sewer system. Smoke testing, flow monitoring, and camera work were utilized to evaluate the system. After completion the priorities were directed into three areas:

• Work that could be completed by the Town which saved money by us doing the work ourselves.
• Homeowner items that were listed in the smoke testing as violations. Letters with pictures were sent out to homeowners requesting that these items be fixed.
• The work that couldn’t be done by the Town was packed into a project and grants from the State, Reynolds Foundation, and Rising Sun Foundation were secured.

Since 2000, through grants, riverboat disbursements, and wastewater budget money approximately 1.6 million dollars have been spent on lining, sewer replacement, manhole rehabilitation, and service repair. The amount of flows to the treatment plant have improved overall but our peaks under heavy rain conditions still put us under enforcement proceedings by the Indiana Department of Environment Management. We are continuing to replace and repair the sewer system. However, based on knowledge of similar problems with other communities, advisement from our consulting engineer, and demand of IDEM, an ordinance and procedure has been implemented to address homeowner violations to the sewer use ordinance. Any sump, gutter tie in, or faulty plumbing is currently prohibited by our use ordinance. Our new ordinance sets out procedures for inspection and enforcement of the current use ordinance. The Wastewater Department will be inspecting all houses and businesses in the coming months checking for sumps, faulty plumbing, or anything that is contributing storm water into the sanitary sewer. Anything found will be listed and a formal letter will be written giving an adequate time to fix. Our goal is to be more than helpful to advise you how to correct the problem without excessive costs to you and in most cases fixing the problem doesn’t cost very much. If it is not fixed then a surcharge of fifty dollars will be added to the sewer bill every month. If the homeowner doesn’t allow inspection then a surcharge will be assessed also. I am enclosing the ordinance your review and posting it on the Town’s web site (www.osgoodindiana.org).

Feel free to call me if you have any questions or comments at 812-689-4441.

Click below for a copy of:
Ordinance Regulating Sanitary Sewer Connections.

Sincerely,
Anthony Wood
Wastewater Superintendent

Osgood Town Hall	Osgood Street Utilities	Osgood Water Plant	Ripley Co. Sheriff
Monday - Friday	Monday - Friday		24/7/365
8:30 am - 12:00 pm	7:30 am - 11:30 am	812-689-4324	Emergencies - 911
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm	12:00 pm - 4:00 pm		Non Emergencies:
812-689-4240	812-689-3839		812-689-5555
After 4 PM Leave Message	After 4 PM Leave Message		Street Department will be Dispatched Out

Osgood Utilities can now be reached 24-7-365, after hours and weekends for gas leaks, water leaks, sewer backups, etc. Simply call 812-689-0178 for a live dispatcher to get the service you need.