The Mail-Journal, Volume 20, Number 48, Milford, Kosciusko County, 14 December 1983 — Page 12

THE MAIL-JOURNAL - Wed., December 14,1163

12

NIPSCo offers eight-point winter protection program

Edmund A. Schroer, chairman and chief executive officer of Northern Indiana Public Service Company, said Tuesday, Dec. 6, the company has an eight-point Winter Protection Program to assist its customers who require help in meeting winter utility bills. “To avoid disconnection of service, customers should contact the company before their bill becomes delinquent. This provides the customer and NIPSCo time to resolve any problem if possible and settle up the bill,” Schroer said. “We will then consider procedures beyond the basic protection offered under the rules of the Public Service Commission of Indiana, inclining stretching out repayment periods or temporarily waiving additional deposit requirements. “We will again implement more liberal terms for residential heating customers disconnected during 1983 who have been making a serious effort to pay their delinquent bills,’' Schroer said. Any customer who has reduced the outstanding balance on his overdue energy ill to SSOO or less will be reconnected following payment of 10 per cent of the total of the remaining outstanding balance, plus the required security deposit and reconnection fee Reconnection and security deposit fees may be waived in the case of extreme hardship. Customers who are reconnected under this program will be expected to enter into an extension agreement to pay off the indebtedness in weekly, bi-weekly or monthly installments over a six-month period? as well as keep current on this winter’s heating bills, he said. In addition, the company has increased it’s support of the voluntary community energy assistance programs, initiated last year, by upping its matching credits from $300,000 to $500,000. Customers having difficulty meeting their energy bills during the 1983-1984 winter heating season may be able to obtain help through their local energy assistance program. For customers who are elderly or handicapped or otherwise might overlook or forget to pay their bills, the company has a Third Party Program which allows the customer to designate a third party, relative, neighbor, social agency, or others, to receive a disconnect notice and remind or assist the customer in paying the bill, he said Schroer said that Project State Assistance For Energy recipients are assured continuity of service during the heating season, December 1 to March 15. No disconnect notices have been mailed to these customers since November 15, 1983. However, reminder notices have been sent when the accounts of Project SAFE recipients become delinquent. “An Equal Payment plan is available for customers who prefer to spread out their winter energy bills over a 12-month period,” Schroer said. “Customers are urged to join the plan at an early date to receive the full 12-month benefit of the program. However, customers can sign up for the plan at any time prior to April 1984, and their accounts will be calculated based on the months remaining in the

P^ScUEEI^ Count on us for just the right gifts. Wishing you a Merry Christmas) AND A NAPPY NEW YEAR! f BEN £> O FRANKLIN ® A Syrocu»«

budget year, June 1963 to May 1984. Schroer said, “Although we are hopeful that these programs will go along way toward preventing customers from being without heat this winter, they represent stop-gap measures at best. Ultimately, a lasting solution depends on a recognition by federal, state and local governments that utility service is as essential as food, housing and medical care and that tax-sup-ported assistance must be available, whether it be a cash payment, a credit system worked out with the utility involved or an approach comparable to the food stamp program. We will continue to urge legislative action in this area. “While the operation of a utility is based on the expectation that all customers will pay their bills so that the total cost of service is, fairly shared by everyone, we are sensitive to the problems confronting many of our citizens at this time,” Schroer said. Since 1981 NIPSCo has been providing low-cost energy audits, which outline recommended conservation measures in order that customers might reduce their energy consumption, he said. Schroer also said NIPSCo petitioned the Public Service Com-

Water management and Lake Wawasee

By ROBIN BOYER Guest Feature Writer Many property owners around Syracuse Lake and Lake Wawasee noted throughout the dry summer that the level of the lakes dropped noticebly. This was to be expected during the course of one of the driest summers on record, and people are glad to see plenty of fall moisture returning the lakes back to normal again. Mother nature still seems to have her final say in such matters no matter how hard c man tries to change her plans. Originally the lakes were formed at the end of the last ice age which came to a close about fifteen thousand years ago. As the giant ice sheets receded they left the present terrain exposed including large kettle holes. These ice sheets were more than a mile thick in many places and as the climate warmed vast amounts of water flowed from the melting glaciers into those kettle holes. These became the lakes which presently dot Kosciusko county and many other areas of northern Indiana. With all the runoff from the glaciers, many of these little lakes were much larger at first than at present. The geological formations around Wawasee indicate that up until a few hundred years ago it was as much as seven feet deeper than it is today. Then nature began lowering the lake level gradually. As the outlet of the lakes washed out the level continued to drop until it was about six feet lower than the present level. At that time Syracuse and Wawasee were not joined and much of the present wetland the lakes was above water. Then in 1834 two early settlers in the region decided to harness the water power provided by the

mission of Indiana on November 15, to allow the establishment of a Utility Residential Weatheriiation Program. Under this plan, NIPSCo customers could borrow up to $1,500 from NIPSCo for the installation of weatherization materials. The money would be paid back over a three-year period at a rate of interest to be determined by the Public Service Commission of Indiana. A hearing on the matter has been set for December 15. In addition, Schroer said that Emergency SAFE funds to a maximum of S3OO are being made available to households who have had their service disconnected for nonpayment prior to December 1,1983. The company will attempt to incorporate the Emergency SAFE assistance with the new Eight-Point Winter Protection Program for 1984, thereby reconnecting as many customers as possible prior to the heavy heating season. This incorporation will allow NIPSCo to restore service to customers with outstanding Malances up to SBOO. Customers currently disconnected with outstanding balances greater than SBOO must be reviewed on an individual basis before reconnection is approved.

lakes. Henry Ward and Samuel Crosson built a wooden dam somewhere in the vicinity of the Huntington Street bridge in Syracuse. That dam promptly submerged the fishtrap which had been built just a few years earlier near the present Pickwick bridge. That fishtrap had been successfully used to trap large numbers of fish, but the dam now left it under six feet of water rendering it useless. The water power provided by the dam was used by Crosson and Ward to run a small grist mill. When this mill and dam were destroyed by high waters flowing down from Wawasee in 1837, another dam was built. This was used to run both a grist mill and a saw mill. Then in the 1880 s a group of farmers owning marshland around Wawasee made an attempt to gain control of the dam at Syracuse. They wanted to destroy the dam allowing the lakes to drain back to their original levels and in the process leave more arable farmland. Their attempt was stopped by a group of local citizens and the B & 0 Railroad. Again in 1893 the farmers tried to destroy the dam. This time local citizens and the B & O formed the Syracuse Water Power Company which acquired the dam and saved the lakes from drainage. By 1922 the town of Syracuse finally purchased the dam and has controlled it ever since. Unfortunately, the controvery over the proper level of the lakes did not end. The town of Syracuse has to be continually concerned with drainage and sewage problems. Lake property owners with low lying lots want the lake level lowered, while others on the lakes would like higher levels of water. Farmers downstream on Turkey Creek are more interested in strict flood control. North Webster police answer 32 calls North Webster Town Marshal Greg Nance submitted the monthly report for the North Webster Police Department to North Webster Town Board. The report was submitted at the December 7 board meeting. The police department answered 32 calls during the month and issued one warning traffic ticket made five traffic arrests and two misdemeanor arrests. There was one operating a vehicle while intoxicated arrest. Police officers received two dog complaints and impounded one dog. There were two fire and first aid calls attended. Officers found five doors open and extended four courtesy services. The department received eight theft reports and made 15 escorts to local banks. There was one traffic accident investigated and one alarm answered. The police cars were driven 1,437 miles and offices worked 352 hours. North Webster Police assisted Kosciusko County Police on one occasion and the state police on three occasions. There were six title checks made. Admits alterations Lester Brown, a member of the Democratic staff of the House Government Operations Committee, has resigned after admitting that he made unauthorized alternations in the transcript of a 1962 hearing on environmental issues.

H I v . FROM NORTH POLE TO NORTH WEBSTER — Despite the cold winter chill Santa and Jaimee Smith, daughter of Shirley and Charles Presley, Sechrist Lake, were on the lawn of the Palace of Sports and posed for this photo. Santa’s Saturday visit to North Webster was sponsored by the North Webster-Tippecanoe Township Chamber of Commerce. (Photo by Cathy Brill)

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SCS studies erosion in county

The Soil Conservation Service is currently working on the Northeast Indiana Erosion Study. Kosciusko County is pert of the 19 county area included in the study and the study area in Kosciusko County consists of 1,693 acres located between Hammond Ditch and CR UQON between Waubee and Dewart Lakes in Van Buren Township. The soils in this area are susceptible to both wind and water erosion, so the purpose of the study is to identify areas of critical soil erosion and develop (dans to solve them. Solutions for sedimentation and water quality will also be formulated. All of the acreage in the study area was inventoried and field inspected to locate the areas of critical soil erosion. The cropland, pasture and hayland was field inspected by the SCS while the woodland was field inspected by the Indiana Division of Forestry with recommendations made for woodland improvement. After locating areas of critical soil erosion, alternatives' were developed to reduce and control soil erosion, sedimentation and to improve water quality. The alternatives are being evaluated to determine the most cost effective

method to control soil erosion. Suggested alternatives to reduce sheet and hill erosion include conservation tillage, no-till farming and crop rotations. Grassed waterways are the most practical alternative to control gully erosion. Generally no-till farming is the most cost effective alternative to control soil erosion*by water and wind. The results of the study will be evaluated by the Indiana Conser-

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Name:

vation Committee and the State Association of Conservation Districts. The Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District Board will determine priorities for the implementation of soil conservation programs in the county.. Further information on the Northeast Indiana Erosion Study can be obtained by calling the Soil Conservation Service office in Warsaw at 287-5726.