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Markle likely to have to reduce phosphorus in wastewater

Markle will likely have to take steps to reduce the amount of phosphorus found in the town’s wastewater.

Councilmen heard from Wastewater Superintendent Scott Spahr during their regular meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 16, who told them an inspector found the high levels of phosphorus in the pre-treatment wastewater coming into the plant.

“They’re saying that because of the amount of phosphorus coming in, we need to add phosphorus limits to our sewer use ordinance,” Spahr said.

A draft of the ordinance would be sent to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and it would become official when IDEM approves it.

“And then what they will do is modify the two industrial permits at Novae and the industrial permit at Wayne Metals,” he added.

The ordinance could limit phosphorus levels to 5 milligrams per liter. Currently the level is 35 to 45 milligrams per liter, Spahr said.

Council President Jeff Humbarger directed Spahr to work on language for the ordinance and bring it back to the council.

On a different issue, a property in Markle previously deemed blighted has gotten the green light to remain standing, after the county’s Department of Community Development asked the town to release the order against it.

Marla Stambazze of the DCD spoke to town council members, and said the department feels that the owner of the property at 154N-500E has made improvements that were required by the order.

A list of corrective measures had been delivered to the owners of the property, Steven Rowe, of Syracuse, along with Wells Fargo Bank, Buckeye Pipe Line Co., USACE, Indiana Bell Telephone and the building’s occupant. The list mandated cleaning up trash and debris that could attract rodents and insects, repairing support posts, installing siding on the exterior of the structure, repairing or replacing doors and windows and painting the building’s exterior.

“I have a picture that I recently took, and it looks a heck of a lot better than it did,” Stambazze said. “They have complied with everything we requested.”

The council agreed, voting 3-0 to release the order.

Another property, on 425 N. Clark St., was put on hold by Stambazze, who said the roof on the house is still unacceptable.

In June of 2016, the council gave the property owner, Travis Lee, an additional 30 to 90 days in which to take action on making repairs and improvements, with the threat that after the deadline has passed the house may be demolished if the necessary repairs have not been made.

“I was going to try to release that tonight, but it’s not ready yet,” Stambazze reported. “We did a site visit today and it was still bad.”

On another matter, Jay Stankiewicz, senior project engineer at JPR, told the board he has plans and specifications ready for the Novae Parkway renovation, and he will open bids at the next council meeting in March. Stankiewicz said he would send the plans to local contractors to help them form a bid.

Stankiewicz also reported that he plans to resurface Tracy Street, since the roadway is already chipped and sealed.

“We’ll still do the widening that we need to do for the turn radiuses,” he said. “So there will be a little bit of savings there … and it will actually go quicker.”

Due to schedule conflicts, the date of the next council meeting has been changed to Wednesday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Markle Fire Station.