Daleville votes no on Mounds Lake Reservoir commission

00;00;00;17 - 00;00;05;04 Crowd No. 00;00;05;07 - 00;00;21;20 Stephanie Wiechmann More than 100 opponents of the Mounds Lake Reservoir picketed Daleville’s council meeting Monday night. And because of fire codes, most couldn't attend the meeting inside the Daleville town offices. So they were crowded around an open window when Daleville council members voted unanimously not to join the project's Intergovernmental commission. 00;00;21;23 - 00;00;30;07 Council Vote Scott. No. And Tom Roberts, no. 00;00;30;09 - 00;00;40;10 Stephanie Wiechmann Each council member spoke about why they were voting no before the vote was taken. For Jay Shellabarker, his vote was changed recently after hearing potential problems that the reservoir's construction could cause. 00;00;40;12 - 00;01;01;21 Jay Shellabarger Mr. president, been a voter my entire life. I want a lake. And I wanted a lake up until about three weeks ago when we had the meetings and a lot of things that came out that concerned me. And if we voted for this, I'm concerned that we can't stop at this if our fields can't drain and our tiles can’t drain. 00;01;01;24 - 00;01;09;28 Stephanie Wiechmann For most others, like Council Member Bill Walters, it was hearing from Daleville residents in an August public forum, in phone calls and in emails this week. 00;01;09;28 - 00;01;27;07 Bill Walters And the emails came in flying and, a lot of things went down. The residents of the town spoke up. Some of you I've talked to personally, and here others have, like you said, we've got elected to do what the majority of the citizens of Daleville wanted to do. And we've listened. We got inundated. 00;01;27;10 - 00;01;43;04 Stephanie Wiechmann Helen Wheen, with the heart of the River coalition, knocked on doors in Daleville to poll residents on the Mounds Lake Reservoir. She says about 96 % were against the project. The opposition came as a surprise to Rob Sparks, executive director for Madison County's Center for Economic Development and the project's leader. 00;01;43;05 - 00;01;46;20 Rob Sparks We know there's a lot of supporters here. They were inundated by outside people. 00;01;46;23 - 00;01;57;15 Stephanie Wiechmann The commission ordinance said four locales, Anderson, Chesterfield, Daleville, and Yorktown all must vote yes for the commission to be formed. With Daleville voting no, Sparks says the ordinance is dead for now. 00;01;57;18 - 00;02;13;00 Rob Sparks We could spin. We could spin hypotheticals all day long and didn't get anywhere. So right now, you know, the ordinance as structured isn't going to work at this point. And we're kind of wait and see how the weeks and months ahead play out. And the project will, hopefully find a home at some point. 00;02;13;02 - 00;02;23;09 Stephanie Wiechmann Because the ordinance is essentially dead. Sparks says Yorktown doesn't have to vote on its adoption. But Linda Hanson with the League of Women Voters of Muncie, Delaware County, thinks Yorktown council members should vote. 00;02;23;15 - 00;02;44;27 Linda Hanson Every time something goes awry for the Anderson city people, they come up with a plan. They took Delaware County out when they understood that Delaware County was going to vote no. And certainly the next one that came out said, it's all about the town. The town. They changed it again. We better have Yorktown prepared to vote. 00;02;44;27 - 00;02;59;25 Stephanie Wiechmann In August, Yorktown Council President Rich Lee said the council was not in any hurry to vote on the issue. The Yorktown Council's next regular meeting is September 21st, but that meeting's agenda has not yet been published. In Daleville, Stephanie Wiechmann, IPR news.