The city of Mishawaka and St. Joseph County have confirmed they’re gearing up for an all-out fight over who will provide water and sewers to Microsoft’s planned data center site in Granger.
The county’s Regional Water and Sewer District last week voted to ask state regulators for the right to serve the planned Microsoft site instead of the city.
Last year the city and county worked together to recruit Microsoft to build a data center in Granger, on Cleveland Road east of Capital Avenue. The plan was for the city to extend its water and sewer lines to the site, even though it’s just outside city limits.
But since then, county officials say they were surprised to hear the city plans to annex the area once it extends the utilities. Mishawaka says it never promised it wouldn’t annex, and that it’s been expanding its water system nearby for a decade, planning for the growth.
The county now has a sewer system that serves Granger businesses, and it says it can buy the small private water system that serves the Farms at St. Joe subdivision near the Microsoft site.
An Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission spokesman says the county will next file its petition, both sides will file their case over the coming months, and the commission has 300 days to make a decision.
