As the Valparaiso City Council voted Tuesday for a waterworks revenue bond not to exceed $10 million, the city’s utility director said the new investments will not increase water rates.
The council approved the measure unanimously. The full scope of the work includes the immediate construction of three new raw water production wells, 11,200 feet of raw water transmission line, and two backup wells to be constructed at some point in the future.
Valparaiso Utility Director Matt Zurbriggen stated repeatedly that the new investments will not increase water rates.
Valparaiso City Utilities will also provide a maximum of $4 million in cash contributions toward the project. Zurbriggen and Andy Mouser, principal with Baker Tilly, explained the physical and financial scope of the project, as echoed in thorough handouts made available to the public at the meeting.
The city’s key Country Club and Flint Lake wells are aging and replacement is required. The east side wells will improve capacity and improve redundancy.
The wells in the east side project will be located on the southeast corner of Burlington Beach Road and Ind. Road 49. The first three wells plus the transmission line are expected to be online by the end of next summer.
Council Member Robert Cotton, R-2nd, asked what the easement would be and Zurbriggen said it would consist of a 100-foot radius around each well.
Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-Large, asked how the health of the aquifer will be protected if capacity increases from 10 million to 11 million gallons per day.
“The aquifer is healthy,” Zurbriggen replied. “We do monitor that.”
He explained that while 11 million gallons is the maximum capacity, “that doesn’t mean we’re going to pull that.”
City Administrator Steve Poulos added, “We’ve run in the 7s (million gallons) in the past. We’ve never had to run at that rate before.”
He explained 11 million gallons is the maximum the city can pull, according to consulting hydrogeologists. Zurbriggen said 90% of the city’s water use falls between 4.0 and 5.8 million gallons per day.
This year, a Valparaiso residential water bill for 4,000 gallons of water used is $37 for water and $53 for sewer. With current rate increases in the works before the new waterworks bond, those fees are projected to be $43 for water and $61 for sewer on the same bill by 2028, according to Mouser.
The handouts state the city has used groundwater as its main water resource for over 100 years and the main source of water supply since the 1980s. Valparaiso has been working with Indiana American Water since 2023 to bring in Lake Michigan water as a secondary water source by 2030.
The life of a municipal well is 40 to 50 years, and the city has invested $33 million since 2015 in addition to yearly pay-as-you-go projects to update the existing system. A 2021 source water capacity plan had a goal of seven to nine wells for the city. Six have been completed.
The bond will have a 20-year maturity.
“I really appreciate the work you’ve done on this and being proactive so that we’re maintaining our water supply in real time rather than thrusting maintenance on the next generation,” Mayor Jon Costas said.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
