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the plan down. We are currently relooking at this plan and trying to find a way to take the $700 <br />million plan and make it significantly less than that. <br />There are two (2) phases of the plan currently as it is conceived. Phase one (1) is mostly done. <br />The East Bank Project is being completed this year and there are a few projects at the waste- <br />water treatment plant. Once those projects are done, phase one (1) will be complete. <br />Committee Chair White asked what was the total cost of phase one (1). <br />Mr. Horvath responded that it was $148 million. The good news in all of this is that we have had <br />significant success getting sewage out of the streams and river. Mr. Horvath referenced a graph <br />displayed in his PowerPoint that showed the amount of overflow to the rivers has been <br />decreasing over the past years. In 2006, we had over two (2) billion gallons of sewage overflow <br />into the river. The most recent data we have for 2014 and 2015, we had right around four <br />hundred (400) million gallons of overflow into the river. That is approximately a seventy percent <br />(70 %) reduction of overflow. We have yet to see what happened with the most recent historic <br />rainfall but there will be significant amounts. We had a lot of streams that were flowing directly <br />into our sewers for quite a while. We will get some updated numbers and that may skew 2016 a <br />bit going forward. <br />Committeemember John Voorde asked how water quality is tested in a stream and how do we <br />determine where the contaminants are coming from. <br />Mr. Horvath responded that it is very difficult to determine what is coming from South Bend or <br />Mishawaka or Elkhart. There are ways to try to break down in the testing what is human E. coli <br />verse animal E. coli. We have a water quality model that takes different inputs and models and <br />completes a water quality analysis. It calculates what component of the E. coli is coming from <br />wildlife and what is coming from humans. This is a good tool as we move forward with the EPA <br />to show that the water quality is improving significantly and even if we don't have any <br />contributions there will still be a bunch of E. coli in the stream that you are going to have to deal <br />with on these storm events. <br />We will do a tour out at the treatment plant because we have a lot of construction to activate a <br />sludge pump station and a couple of very large clarifiers. These are really important to have <br />better control of our waste water but also to have better flow through the plant. <br />Going forward for phase two (2), we have a multi - party, multi - disciplinary team currently <br />designing solutions. That includes a citizen's group that is made up of residents, attorneys, <br />engineers, accountants and councilmembers. They are helping us get through this process and <br />trying to make sure the community has a stake and voice in what the ultimate plan is. We know <br />there is going to be a lot of discussion with the EPA, Department of Justice, and IDEM as we try <br />to find a more affordable plan for South Bend. This citizen's group is a key to getting there so <br />those government agencies can see this is not just the City Administration saying we need a less <br />expensive plan but it is the entire community saying it. <br />2 <br />