Water mains may soon be extended to more homes in Elkhart County’s Prairie Creek Run neighborhood. The county council voted four-to-three Thursday to appropriate $3.5 million in TIF revenues for the purpose.
Plan Director Mae Hope said it would provide water to the remaining 120 homes in the neighborhood. “It’s something that’s come before you since the 1990s, and now it sits in my lap, and I do feel responsible for not kicking that can down the road and making sure that a problem that’s not going away is addressed with today’s dollars and not tomorrow’s dollars,” Hope told council members.
The price of the work came in about $1.4 million less than initial estimates, but some council members were still concerned with the cost, compared to the number of homes being served.
“This $30,000 per lot or per parcel that we’re going to be spending is probably 30 percent of the total assessed value of those homes,” noted council member Doug Graham.
He was also concerned that the county would be expected to install sewers in the future. Additionally, some council members wanted more help from the city of Elkhart, which surrounds the neighborhood.
Still, Hope felt that adding water service would attract new housing. "There’s some room in there for some good-sized infill, and we have five more people on right now who want to do new construction," Hope said. "They’re just waiting for water to come through."
About $160,000 in community partnership funds has also been set aside to help homeowners with the cost of connecting to the new water main.
