Report from the Sewer Board

Mr. Thompson:

I am Pat Hanlon, member of the Dearborn County Regional Sewer District. I was in attendance of the first, what I would call "an organizational", meeting of the DCRSD. I can't tell by the tone of your article if you were there of not. If you were we heard different information.

First, Rodney Dennerline did not have Vera Benning appointed. He offered a proposal to the Board and the Board vote to accept Vera as consultant. Vera accepted and was an observer with little to say at the first meeting and with absolutely no voting rights then or in the future. Doug Bear proceeded to layout all that has been accomplished in the recent past.

There is a sense of urgency due to availability of government funding, and the real issue, the impact of environmental degradation. You allude to proceeding without investigating the study. This totally false. I made it a point twice that we will be evaluating options before any decision is made, at least by me, on what is the most appropriate and/or most cost effective option. I did not hear 100% participation was necessary. It is obviously desirable to have 100% in order to keep the cost per household as low as possible, but it is not necessary. I'm not sure what "grants" are but what I heard was land owners would have the opportunity to participate initially, as well as householders.

As for who is in charge, I am certain that on this Board Mr. Dennerline will have one vote like all the rest of the members and that Ms. Benning will never have a vote while she is in the position she is in.

I don't know all there is to know on this subject yet, but I will assure you it is my intention to arrive at a win/win solution for everyone. We are not going to make everyone happy. Progress is sometimes painful. Give us an opportunity to get grounded and up to speed, and continue to comment.

I would like to meet you. You obviously have some credentials. Let's talk at the next meeting.


Pat Hanlon
Manchester Area Civic Association