The LCRUD(Lagrange County Regional Utility District) held an open meeting on August 18th at the Lakeland High School. The purpose of the meeting was to gather input from users of the system and to explain a proposed rate hike for four regions in the system. Region "A" contains the area of Dallas Heights and Dallas Bay.

Approximately 50 to 60 residents of the District were present including several residents from Dallas Lake.

The meeting was called to order by President Mike Sutter who explained the format to be followed for the meeting. A guest speaker from Umbaugh and Associates explained to the audience the financial shortfalls that the District is experiencing due to the costs of operations exceeding monies generated by the District.

This was followed by questions asked of the Board by users of the system. These questions were answered primarily by the Board's lawyer since they dealt with the bonding situation for each of the several zones and the possibility of rewriting the bonds with a lower interest rate.

The topic of meters for users was brought up several times.

• It was explained that the initial cost, maintenance and data collection would add to the existing operational costs causing that part of the sewer bill to rise.

Another topic discussed was the billing of trailer courts located in the District and how their bills effect the cost of the system.

• It was explained that, under Indiana statues, trailer courts were to be metered and their costs were to be determined by a formula developed which is calculated on 1,000 gallons of water used.