Many get involved in talking about Culver development  

Plymouth Pilot
Monday, 08 February 2010
By Jeff Kenney Staff Writer

CULVER — Representatives from both sides of a debate over the development of land adjacent to Lake Maxinkuckee — as well as a roomful of Culver area residents — spent the better part of last Thursday and Friday at the Lions Club depot on Lake Shore Drive in Culver, hearing and giving testimony on the issue.

Gary Aker of Aker Properties, LLC, filed a petition last September in Marshall County circuit court to establish a conservancy district as required before setting up sewer or septic on the site of a proposed Planned Unit Development (PUD) tentatively named Maxinkuckee Village. The proposed project was given an initial green light in its first phase by Culver’s Plan Commission, a necessary step in the procedure.

The petition was sent to Indiana’s Natural Resources Commission, who set up the hearing for last Thursday at the depot, with Friday set aside for public comment and input on the matter. The Commission will review the case and present its technical findings to the court, said Commission Judge Stephen Lucos, who oversaw the proceedings. The court, he said, will then determine whether the conservancy district may be established.

Remonstrating against Aker’s petition was the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council, represented by Syracuse-based attorney Steven Snyder, and Lake Maxinkuckee residents Bill and Jeanne Welch, represented by their son, attorney Brian Welch. Ecological services firm JF New of Walkerton acted as a consultant to the LMEC.

Plymouth-based attorney Fred Jones, representing the developers, said the project would include a total of 47 housing units, tennis courts, as wimming pool, clubhouse, soccer and athletic fields, and other amenities. He explained the conservancy district is required for handling of affluence created by the PUD before the next phase can begin, adding the Planning Commission and Town Council will still have to approve the project before construction could begin at the 55.7 acre site.

Gary Aker testified the Army Corps of Engineers, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and Indiana Department of Health all approved the plans.

Attorney Snyder disputed a claim that the proposed conservancy district and its septic system will be beneficial in general, suggesting the only benefit to the conservancy district would be to developers for creation of the PUD.

Registered soil scientist Tim Monaghan, of Lang, Feeney, & Associates detailed the proposed flow of storm water on the property already touched upon by Aker, noting storm water is treated for sediment control before entering wetlands on the Aker property, which he said would be the “final repository” for storm water.

Monaghan also said the proposed system is designed to hold up under heavy rainfall. He acknowledged a “pretty small probability” the wetland areas could overflow. However most water overflow, he said, “will percolate into the ground.”

Monaghan and Dan Papcyznski of Aerotech — the company which manufactures the system of sanitary waste disposal proposed for the site — described the “cluster septic” setup there in some detail, noting the system is designed to handle up to 25,000 gallons of sewage per day and that the plan had been approved by Indiana’s Department of Health. The Aerotech system, Papcyznski added, is in place in municipalities throughout the country.

Attorney Snyder focused much of his questioning on what would happen should the septic system fail. Papcyznski, questioned by Snyder, admitted the largest sewage flow handled to date by Aerotech is 3,000 gallons per day, a significantly lesser amount than the 25,000 gallons per day the Aker system is designed for. The Aker plan, said Papcyznski, ties together multiple 3,000-gallon systems in order to accommodate the large capacity here.

Also testifying at the hearing was contractor Alan Collins of Construction Management and Design, Inc., who described the economic viability of the project, countering opposition attorneys’ suggestions that the PUD’s lack of lake access makes it less likely to sell to prospective buyers.

Attorney Welch inquired as to whether Collins has had any “litigation or administrative enforcement proceedings” on any Culver-area construction projects in the past. Collins defended his actions in several Culver-area cases in which enforcement proceedings or disputes had arisen.

Several employees of JF New took the stand, including Culver resident Chris Kline, who outlined the history of the Kline wetlands, adjacent to the proposed conservancy district.

Kline said JF New had been conducting work on the wetlands almost since the firm’s 1989 establishment. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources purchased 80 acres of the wetland in 1976, he explained. Studies from the 1980s showed the Kline ditch was the main nutrient source for lake-harming phosphorus, and a large project ensued to restore the wetland as a result. The LMEC and DNR, Kline said, raised funds for a restoration project at the wetlands completed in late 1991. Studies from 1999 showed “significant improvements” in water quality and clarity there.

Kline also said agricultural runoff continues to stress Kline ditch at the wetlands’ inlet, though the wetlands remain an important filter for water coming into Lake Maxinkuckee.

Botanist and Ecological Resource Specialist for JF New, Scott Namestnik testified he was involved in a site assessment in 2009 at the Kline wetlands and discussed the overall quality of the area on a number of levels. He said development in general in the “extremely fragile and interconnected” ecosystem of the area causes degradation of the wetlands, adding the Kline wetlands are important in filtering harmful sediments before they reach Lake Maxinkuckee. During his cross-examination, attorney Jones pointed out Namestnik’s findings show the Kline wetland areas closest to the Aker-owned marina property are actually the highest quality areas. Namestnik also agreed with Jones that if proper steps were taken during construction of the PUD, the wetland would not be affected by the work.

JF New employee and professional engineer Andrew Bender testified he had reviewed plans for the proposed district’s cluster septic system. He said a reserve area “to account for any kind of failure in the system” could be set aside by developers — though doing so, he said, is not required by law — to best protect the wetlands and local ecology.

Bender also said some waste affluent from the district would likely enter the soil there and could migrate off the property towards the lake, though he acknowledged he couldn’t tell whether it would do so or not. He also said the proposed septic system is “a good system” provided it’s maintained properly, adding it appears the majority of water runoff from streets and driveways at the PUD will stay on the site.