Plan for NW Ind. river levee district appears dead

HAMMOND, Ind. — A Hammond City Council member who sponsored an ordinance that would have allowed the Lake County surveyor to seek a judge's permission to create a district to pay for Little Calumet River levee maintenance says he no longer supports it.

Michael Opinker tells The Times of Munster the plan is "pretty much a dead issue," saying opponents politicized the plan.

The plan would have charged homeowners $20 if they were in the northern and western parts of the district and $15 if they were farther from the river.

Opinker says the best option is to let the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission decide the issue. The commission has oversight of the ongoing construction of levee projects and maintenance of the projects when they are done.