MSD News

Muncie Sanitary District Advances Clean Water Initiatives

Mon, 06 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

MUNCIE, IN - The Muncie Sanitary District assured its utility customers and property taxpayers that federal clean water initiatives will be met with millions of dollars in sewer and wastewater treatment plant work.

Bill Smith, sanitary board president and administrator, lauded district officials, and their consultants besides citizens for helping fund much needed work to keep White River clean.

�We are saving a signifiant amount of money.� said Smith, about financing for the work.

�This shows what can happen when we all work together.�

The $14 million in work approved Thursday includes building a new power supply at Muncie�s aging wastewater treatment plant and repairing some of Muncie�s oldest sewers, like the White River interceptor and principal outfall that runs through the downtown and under Beech Grove Cemetery.

Sanitary board member Mike Cline, also city engineer, remarked how work on the outfall, an oval brick sewer, was talked about when he was a consultant for the sanitary district 30 years ago.

In all projects, the district took the lowest and most responsive bid according to state law.

Barth Electric, Indianapolis, got the $3.3 million job to build the new power supply for the plant that had sections built in the 1930 and again in the 1950s.

Sater Electric, Daleville, got another $1.3 million separating some combined sewer overflows. Another $10 million in work will be split between Coastal Guinnett of Florida to do the outfall sewer, and Insituform of Missouri that will fix the White River interceptor.

The work is funded by a $34 million public bond that was just purchased by City Securities, Indianapolis, that offered a 2.89 percent interest rate with an A+ bonding rate.

Cline said the district refinanced other bonds with the lower interest rate and saved property owners and utility customers between $3 to $4 million.

Smith mentioned others involved in the project including Harold Dungan, engineering consultant; Dennis Otten, bond attorney with Bose, McKinney, and Evans, Indianapolis, and financial advisor Bob Clifford, with H.J. Umbaugh & Associates, also of Indianapolis.

With the direction keeping sewage and other chemicals out of the river, John Craddock, the founder of Muncie�s water quality program, mentioned more work like taking a combined sewer pipe out of the river near a wetlands and pedestrian trail near the old Indiana Steel & Wire.

That wetlands named after Craddock has a variety of wildlife and water fowl which can be found along the trail and park system of the river.

New Stormwater Rates for 2014 Saves Property Owners Money

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

The Muncie Sanitary District has taken steps to reduce storm water fees and save property owners and utility customers money.

A 40 percent reduction in residential fees was passed this spring which will be reflected on 2014 property tax bills.

The new Stormwater rate in 2014 will be $43.20 instead of the $72 imposed on current tax bills for Muncie Sanitary District residents. The stormwater fees collected allow the Muncie Sanitary District to comply with the Federal Clean Water Act.

Your sanitary district is looking for ways to reduce storm water fees for non-residential customers. A public hearing will be held this summer to hear customer concerns and consider more reductions on the non-residential side.

Remember the Muncie Sanitary District has among the lowest utility rates in Indiana. We thank you for your concern and timely payment.

Ollie Jerningan made everyone�s day

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

MUNCIE, IN � Ollie Jerningan always made people laugh as the hard working, hard riding sanitation worker was known to family and friends.

Jerningan was respected for coming to work every day, doing his job and helping others, said his cousin Randy Wallace who worked and rode a motorcycle along side him.

In October 2011, Jerningan and Wallace were riding their bikes when Jerningan lost control and crashed, killing him.

It�s been sad for Wallace who was by his side as he told the story again Monday when sanitation workers planted a tree outside the sanitation garage in memory of their friend and fellow worker.

Cedric Powell threw dirt around the tree, a mix of red and silver maple, as did Wallace. Sanitation workers then joined hands in a prayer circle around the tree to express their love and respect for the sanitation worker who passed on.

Wallace said his cousin never tired of work, always was ready to go at 6 a.m. to throw trash in the truck or drive the truck, whether it was rain, snow or sun.

And Powell agreed that Jerningan was a funny guy always making work go faster with his jokes and friendly attitude.

Sanitation crews were busy on Earth Day helping dozens of people who wanted to shred their records from home or office for free.

The traditional Earth Day event handled over 11 tons of paper as several businesses participated along dozens of residents.

The sanitary district plans another file shredding day this fall as it continues to recover paper, plastic, glass and metal out of trash collections with the help of East Central Recycling.

Spring cleanup time for Muncie neighborhoods

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

MUNCIE, IN � The Muncie Sanitary District will again spend the month of May helping neighborhoods clean up after a long winter.

That cannot come soon enough for people like Clifford Clemons who has plenty of work in the Blaine Southeast neighborhood.

During a community development and neighborhood preservation session this week, Clemons talked about addressing problems with abandoned factories like Frank Foundry and other dumping in neighborhoods.

Mayor Dennis Tyler is working on a program to address the more than 4,600 abandoned and vacant properties in the city, whether it is with a land bank, demolition or urban renewal.

The sanitary district provides cleanups that partner district trash collection crews with neighborhood volunteers to rid trash and litter.

Nikki Grigsby, the district�s recycling coordinator, said the program has been a great success collecting hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash from neighborhoods. Last year, the program collected over 96 tons of trash.

The schedule for this year�s cleanups:

May 4, Blaine, Morningside, and Pettigrew Acres
May 11, East Central and Old West End
May 18, Eastside, Whiteley, Thomas Park-Avondale

For more information, call (765) 747-4742 or online at www.munciesanitary.org

Muncie Sanitary District saves money by doing work with utility crews

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

MUNCIE, IN - The Muncie Sanitary District is saving tax dollars and putting people to work again by doing more sewer repair work with district crews.

That new direction over hiring private contractors was implemented this week by transferring money, buying a new backhoe and hiringa new maintenance crew.

Sanitary board member Mike Cline, also city engineer, said the district could easily pay $100,000 to a contract when the same work could be done with $40,000 by district crews.

And with a federal clean water mandate and many neighborhood drainage and flooding issues to resolve, district officials believe it makes sense and saves money to do the work in house.

The sanitary board decided to transfer $500,000 from contractual services to materials and supplies for maintenance crews to do work. And local equipment supplier MacAllister Rentals, Yorktown, got a $72,900 contract to supply a new backhoe to the district.

Bill Smith, sanitary board president, said a new crew had been hired to begin sewer repairs. And he saw that work growing with spring rain and possible flooding problems.

The district already is doing $24 million in large combined sewer renovation and installation of a new power source at its wastewater treatment plant.

The savings from district crews doing repairs will keep taxes low besides sewage utility bills for customers.

Smith saw the district working with the Delaware Regional Wastewater District to provide repair crews to save the county utility money. That sanitary district that operates Royerton, Cammack, and Daleville sewer systems also contracts out its work.

Garby a big hit on Facebook, with youth

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

MUNCIE, IN � Garby, the Toter puppy, has become a celebrity with a Facebook page and thousands of fans.

It�s been surprising to Muncie sanitation worker Mike Upchurch, who saved the malnourished dog, about the outpouring of love and affection from people both online and in person.

�I�ve had lots of fun,� said Upchurch, trying to keep up with all the Facebook posts and calls from animal rights groups.Upchurch found the Shihtzu border Terrier puppy in a trash bag Feb.13 while collecting trash in an eastside neighborhood. The puppy had been thrown out by his owner who has been charged with animal cruelty.

After the dog was treated, Upchurch and his wife, Shelley, decided to adopt the dog and care for it along with their dog,

Garby has now gained four pounds and runs around Upchurch�s house, playing and biting the fingers of his onlookers. And Garby also spends time in Upchurch�s lap while he answers hundreds of followers on the dog�s Facebook site. This week, that page had more than 3,600 likes and another 2,700 followers.

Upchurch said people and animal rights groups around the world had contacted him after posting that Garby was tied up in a trash bag and left to die.

Postings from South America, Australia, Canada and Europe show the interest of animal rights and the good deed from the Muncie sanitation worker.

Phil Reagan, Muncie sanitation superintendent, said he also got e-mails and other notes from people, including a sanitation worker in Oregon, who thought the good deed should be recognized.

Upchurch said he was thinking about A Meet Garby Day for youth, and the dog plans to be in Saturday�s Saint Patrick�s Day Parade at 6 p.m. along Walnut Street.

Meanwhile, Garby has been going to school, learning not to bite, to sit and how to walk on a leash.

The Animal Rescue Fund also has established a Garby Fund that will pay for medical bills and other expenses for lost and abandoned animal.

Upchurch said he was thankful for all the donations and help for his new best friend that now has his own bed and plenty of food, water and toys.

2013 Muncie Home Show

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

April 6 & 7 at the Horizon Convention Center.

Muncie Sanitary District triples snow plow effort

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

MUNCIE, IN � The Muncie Sanitary District put 20 more snow plows on the street overnight, helping street and park crews make streets save for morning commuters and school traffic.

By mid morning, Mayor Dennis Tyler reported Muncie streets were in good condition and neighborhoods served by the sanitary district also were clear.

Even George Fleetwood, president of AT&T of Indiana, remarked how good travel was locally, coming to talk about how local government, and education programming is now running on AT&T U-verse Channel 99.

Duke Campbell, city street superintendent, mobilized street, park and sanitary plows at 11 p.m. Tuesday and had them out again at 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. More than 370 tons of material like salt, calcium chloride and beet juice was on the streets, making it easy for plows to remove snow as it fell.

The National Weather Service reported 5.5 inches of snow in Muncie with some ice underneath from the winter storm Saturn that moved through the Midwest and to the East on Wednesday.

Bill Smith, president and administrator of the sanitary district, said the mayor put together a plan to get more plows on the street and the sanitary district, between sanitation and sewer maintenance crews, provided 20 more plows, besides the dozen the street department has and three more in the park department.

�It is a matter of working together to get the job done,� said Smith.

Sanitation crews had no problems picking up trash while plowing snow, according to Barnell Vance, assistant sanitation superintendent. And sanitary district crews helped the street department knock out neighborhood streets along their routes.

That work will continue through the week with the NWS reporting 50 degree temperatures by Saturday.

The street department had handled three accumulating snows in the same way by going out early, putting out material and then plowing as the snow fades.

Some residents have noticed the difference, seeing snow plows in their neighborhood the first time in 30 years.

And Muncie schools reported no problems after a two hour delay as most main streets and secondary streets were clear.

Storm water assessments for homeowners reduced by 40 percent

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

MUNCIE, IN � The Muncie Sanitary District decided Tuesday to roll back excessive storm water assessments for homeowners by 40 percent.

Residential property owners will see an average $72 yearly tax bill for storm water reduced by $28.80 on their 2014 property tax statement.

Bill Smith, president and administrator of the sanitary board of commissioners, said the storm water program was investigated after the mayor asked to look into the fees imposed by the previous administration. Smith was just recently reappointed to the sanitary board by Mayor Dennis Tyler.

The last administration approved a 600 percent increase in residential storm water assessments, that many people thought was excessive for complying with federal clean water regulations.

Smith said the new fee was more reasonable and would still provide sufficient funds to help separate combined storm and sanitary sewers besides contain and treat storm water runoff.

Tyler thanked the sanitary board for reconsidering storm water charges in light of rising electric bills and gasoline prices that are eating away at consumers.

�I am glad to see the new board act so quickly on an issue that is so important to the community,� said the mayor.

The deadline for getting the deduction on spring tax bills has passed, and homeowners can expect lower fees in 2014.

Smith also said the district is working on revising storm water assessments for non-residential property owners like businesses, government and churches.

The last administration allow credits for business, but charged an application fee with no guarantee the credit would be approved. Those credits would be based on a property owners building retention ponds or using something as simple as a rainwater barrel.

For example, the Muncie Mall found their storm water assessment rising to $6,000 and the application fee would be more than $2,000.

Sanitary board member Mike Cline, also city engineer, said the district was looking at reducing assessments for the mall and others, with plans to come later for the 2014 tax year.

Smith, a businessman and former sanitary district officials, assured customers that the city would do everything possible to save them money on utility and property assessments.

Shred Your Files Day!

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

When: Monday, April 22, 2013

Time: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Muncie Sanitation Department

811 E. Centennial Ave.

Muncie, IN 47303

What: Our annual Shred Your Files Day. Join us at our Sanitation department to celebrate Earth Day, and to dispose of your files safely and free of charge. Services are provided by Records Pro and certification of destruction will also be provided.

Limit: 50 boxes per person/company