Sewer backup floods Chesterton clerk’s office

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

CHESTERTON — Chesterton utility workers hope to finish up Thursday with repairs and replacement of sewer piping that backed up sometime over the weekend, causing the clerk, building, and utility offices to be flooded and relocated into the town hall meeting room.

“I came in to work Monday morning, and it was all over my office,” said Clerk-Treasurer Gayle Polakowski.

She said personnel from all town departments assisted with moving the desks, computers, and office equipment by 12:30 p.m., keeping the office open while repair crews were called.

She said the damage was about $14,000.  Wet carpeting and baseboards had to be removed, leaving the lowest two feet of her office wall open.

Utility worker Jay Iler said finding the trouble was “almost like solving a mystery” with only the 1961 plans of the town hall and its complex sewer system to work with.

Two six-foot-deep holes were opened up in the front lawn and the old clay piping was broken and removed, revealing tie-ins between the building’s roof drainage and the sanitary sewer.

“It’s a pretty complex system.  That’s the way they liked to do it back then, before modern standards that have sanitary and storm, sewers separated,” he said.

New PVC piping was installed in one of the holes before it was re-filled.

“It will keep out groundwater and roots better than the old tile.  We’ll be back tomorrow to do some more dye testing to see where the rest of the roof drains come out,” Iler said.

He said he hopes work can be completed Friday, so that the offices can be moved back.

Polakowski said the money to fix the sewer will come out of the town’s County Economic Development Income Tax funds.

The downtown sewer replacement project, a joint effort among the town, NIPSCO, and Indiana-American Water Company that will result in a portion of Calumet Road being closed this month, will begin Monday.

Businesses in the affected area will remain open and accessible by sidewalk, according to town engineer Mark O’Dell.