East Side and Harvester residents “get the lead out”

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – On Monday, Mayor Sharon Tucker joined residents from the East Side and Harvester neighborhoods, members of the City Council, and City Utilities officials to celebrate a significant milestone toward enhancing neighborhood health and quality of life.

The event highlighted the fact that over 90 percent of households in the two neighborhoods have replaced their homes’ lead service lines. The City says the work was performed through a City Utilities program to eliminate private lead service pipes.

“By working together as a community, we’re seeing noticeable progress in our neighborhoods as we enhance the quality of life for all residents in Fort Wayne,” said Mayor Tucker. “City Utilities is doing outstanding work to implement programs and complete projects that enhance the vital services we’re providing to the public.”

The City released the following:

Common during the first half of the 20th Century, homes built before 1937 likely have lead service lines on their property. Those built before 1951 may have lead service lines.

Aware of the danger of lead in all forms, a federal mandate now requires all utilities to inventory homes with lead service lines. The government is also moving toward mandatory replacement.

Anticipating the directive, City Utilities began working on a plan ahead of the federal requirement.

In late 2021, Congress approved the Federal Stimulus package, allocating some of the funds for Lead Line Replacement. The funds were to be distributed through the State Revolving Fund (SRF).

City Utilities applied, backed by data that included the number of children and the number of households in the selected areas below the poverty level. The Utility successfully secured $11 million to provide a program that removed financial barriers to Participation by offering replacements at no cost in the areas noted in the application.

“Our team was persistent and worked diligently to secure the funding. Those efforts reflect the heart of our City Utilities mission — protecting public health,” said Kumar Menon, Director of City Utilities. “This is about making sure every child, every family, has access to safe drinking water and the peace of mind that comes with it. We are thrilled that 91 percent, some 320 households with lead pipes, were able to benefit from this opportunity.”

“I’m proud of the efforts of our team working on the Lead Service Replacement program. Their efforts included sending multiple mailers to residents, placing signs in neighborhoods, knocking on doors numerous times, making repeated phone calls, and then doing it all over again, to ensure residents were aware of this tremendous opportunity,” said Matthew Wirtz, Deputy Director of Engineering. “While our staff did a tremendous job, protecting public health is a shared responsibility. I want to thank the neighborhood leaders that stepped up to help; we could not have done it without their support.”

Leaders in Harvester and East Side helped with signs and fliers. They organized meetings, allowing our team to meet conveniently with residents during days, nights, and on weekends. The neighborhood’s Adams Elementary even hosted team members as part of the end-of-the-year celebration fair, creating an opportunity to meet with families and inform them about the program.

“We were, and are, committed to making this as easy and affordable as possible,” added Menon. “Our goal is to get every lead line out of the ground and off private property.”

While full lead service line replacements are free in the designated areas covered by the grant, the program offers a significant cost reduction to all neighborhoods based on income.

We currently have crews working in portions of the Hamilton and Oxford neighborhoods and will soon move into sections of the Bloomingdale neighborhood.

Residents wanting to know more and to sign up for the Lead Line Replacement program can call 427-1234 or visit our website