Ferdinand Council: Racing towards the finishing line on a challenging course

The heads of two Town Departments are in a race against the clock.

Property and Street Superintendent Tom Lueken is preparing 18 separate projects to submit for Indiana Department of Transportation grants by the July 29 deadline.

According to Town Manager Chris James, reporting for Lueken, his department is going through a checklist on each project for the Community Crossings 50/50 Matching Grant.

For each, he must complete a four page application form, attach a PDF with preliminary cost estimates, an Asset Management Plan, project location map and a financial commitment letter, along with letters of support from the community. If even one item is missing the application is forfeited.

The Asset Management Plan is ready to go and Lueken has reached out to every road source possible for advice and additional information to help buoy the applications.

Meanwhile the town’s two summer interns (Anna Hagedorn and Demi Jahn) are handling the data entry — something town attorneys Bill Shaneyfelt and Sharon Bohnenkemper are greatly appreciative of as Shaneyfelt said the two of them are technologically challenged, but the girls are undaunted.

In preparation for the application, the council adopted Ordinance 2016-12, allowing the town to dedicate approximately $363,000 for the match, which translates to $725,000 in street, sidewalk curb and other improvements should the projects be awarded.

They also adopted Resolution 2016-02, transferring $29,000 from the Motor Vehicle Highway (MVH) Fund and $57,465 from Local Roads and Streets (LRS), along with $110,352 from the EDIT Fund into a special Rainy Day Fund so this money and the LOIT distribution made in May is available for the grant matches should the town be awarded full funding. If the grants are not awarded, the MVH and LRS funds can revert to normal use.

Shaneyfelt praised Bohnenkemper in addition to the interns, saying she has been working diligently to make sure all the t’s are crossed and the i’s dotted.

Meanwhile, Wastewater Superintendent Roger Schaefer — along with Jon Wetzel from Midwestern Engineers and Shaneyfelt, have been chipping away at the phosphorous abatement project. Contract language with Rural Development to finance the project is being reviewed by RD at this time, but the wheels turn slowly. The town must borrow about $7 million (and hope some of that will come in the form of grants). Rural Development is pretty much the only source for the funding.

Meanwhile, the powers that be at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management have started the clock for the final deadline to complete the project.

Council President Ken Sicard said he thought a visit to IDEM headquarters in Indianapolis should be scheduled to explain the hold ups in person.

Schaefer and Shaneyfelt sent a letter to the agency in April outlining the situation but have not received a response.

Councilwoman Debbie Johnson noted her contact at RD offered to intervene, saying the two agencies work together all the time.

Shaneyfelt advised Johnson to take the contact up on his or her offer.

RD also requires special language in the engineering contract so the council approved a revised contract with Midwestern Engineers and rescinded the old one, the adoption contingent upon Shaneyfelt’s final review.

So as not to fall completely out of compliance, Schaefer told the council he is switching to a polymer with less phosphorous, but that is a temporary solution at best. He is also hauling 400,000 to 500,000 gallons of sludge to be land-applied on a regular basis — partially due to the illegal dumping last year from an out-of-town source that wreaked havoc on the system. However, the land lease expires in December, another reason for the race to get the abatement facility built.

The council also:

-Approved the low bid from the Lochmueller Group to engineer the water main replacement on the west side of Main. While the company was the low bidder, the council’s approval was for its higher bid of $28,700, as this includes surveying on both sides of Main Street.

-Will go forward with a plan to put a fiberglass liner in a sewer main on Third Street between manholes 327 and 329 — approximately 547 feet. The project was originally scheduled for 2015 but got switched with a project on Alabama Street to meet the Sisters of St. Benedict’s timeline. The project will cost $22,451 but if there are root problems in the back-up mains that need to come out, the additional work — potentially around 100 feet — would cost $4 per foot.

-Approved the clerk-treasurer’s job description as prepared by Clerk-Treasurer Bev Schulthise to fulfill a new requirement but also as a work outline for the next clerk-treasurer/office manager.

-Gave the go ahead for Dean Gogel to attend his final lineman schooling August 29-September 2. The class costs $1,350 and approval was given for transportation, lodging and meals as well.

-Heard Schaefer has been doing a lot of line televising for homeowners. Much of the problem has been the torrential rains that are clogging gutters and storm drains. He also said the sewer tap has been installed for Caseys.

-Learned from Park Board President Mike Steffe the 2016 Heimatfest was quite a success. He praised the set up and offered a big public thank you to the committee. Steffe said the Park Board gave the go ahead for the Dubois County Leadership Academy to seek funding to purchase a decorative bike rack for one of the parks. This would be the capstone project for part of the class. According to James, the other Academy group is hoping to extend a trail around the VUJC campus.

-Heard James attended a Title VI Workshop with the Federal Highway Administration and will also attend the INDOT version to help come up with a more de ned plan for Title VI. He explained that without the training, the town could not apply for federal road funds.

-Were told the Toyota Foundation gave the town a $1,500 grant for the Ferdinand Folk Fest and when Demi and Anna are finished with the grants will work on musician and vendor packets. They are already processing acceptance letters.

-Heard from Police Chief Lloyd Froman that Officer Eric Hopkins graduated from the Police Academy and with his return, the department is now fully staffed again. Froman said the three new Reserves are making progress as well.

-Heard from Fire Chief Dan Lindauer that his department answered 10 calls in June, four for fire and six First Responder runs. Lindauer invited everyone to the Ferdinand Fireman’s Ball July 23, with serving of chicken dinners starting at 5 p.m., an outdoor beer garden and live band on Community Center grounds.

Upcoming meetings include the Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday, July 26 at 6:30 p.m.; the Plan Commission at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27, the Park Board on Wednesday, August 3 at 4:30 p.m., the Economic Development Commission at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9 at 6 p.m. and the Town Council at 7:30 p.m. that same evening. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise noted. The Budget Workshop will be held at 6 a.m. on July 27.