Ferdinand Town Council: Getting the most bang for the buck on roads and streets
No doubt about it — a cool $500,000 or so would go a long way towards improving many of the streets and sidewalks in the Town of Ferdinand’s road inventory.
And right now, the Indiana Department of Transportation had a 50/50 grant match program with $100 million in the coffers.
According to Ferdinand Town Attorney Bill Shaneyfelt, 50 percent of those funds are earmarked to go to communities in counties with a population less than 50,000.
Dubois County and the Town of Ferdinand fit that profile to a tee.
Additionally, the State has made a one-time distribution of money generated in Indiana communities collected in prior years from those communities and held by the state for emergencies.
Ferdinand received a check totaling $165,000, at least 75 percent of which must be spent on roads, streets and ADA sidewalks. A
ll this was explained during the Town Council meeting Tuesday night (May 10) and while the Town does not have an additional $335,000 earmarked for street improvements, it did budget $168,000 for 2016 and the additional funds could be borrowed from other departments or a bank to get the biggest bang for the buck.
What’s the catch? A very limited time frame. But there has been serendipity as well.
Shaneyfelt attended and suggested Property and Street Superintendent Tom Lueken attend a webinar, conveniently held at the Indiana 15 Regional Planning Commission offices in Ferdinand, to explain what the town needs to do to apply.
Part of the webinar was a learning session on how to rate the roads.
Lueken is already hard at work on as Asset Management Plan and an inventory of roads, grading the condition of each. To qualify and meet the June 30 deadline, he must also project cost estimates for needed repairs/replacements for the next five years and come up with traffic counts for these future projects.
“That’s a tight time line, but if you don’t apply [for a grant] you can’t get it,” opined Councilwoman Debra Johnson.
Lueken has asked that the two summer interns returning from last year (Anna Hagedorn and Demi Jahn) assist with inputting the data as he amasses it. He is also receiving assistance from the wastewater department, as well as all Town Office staff.
He rates each block, something he must do physically, scores each and identifies any issues.
“All hands on deck for Tom,” Johnson added.
While it may be a long shot, all council members agreed the possibility is worth the effort so Lueken and his posse will keep at it.
The good news is, the grant awards will be announced by July 15 and funds could be released by mid-August.
How can you, as a Ferdinand resident help?
“I’d like to remind residents not to blow mown grass into the street,” Lueken noted.
The grass clogs storm inlets and creates problems for his department and right now he is focused on the assessment that would greatly help with street repaving and possibly more sidewalks.
After the meeting Lueken noted that many of the roads in town subdivisions are aging. The project he would most like to tackle — and the costliest — is West 23rd Street.
Knu LLC
No one voiced any objections to the Town selling a parcel of land and serves no purpose to Knu LLC, a subsidiary of Best Home Furnishings, so the deal was done.
Steve Wahl, representing Best, said he appreciated the town’s cooperation and Shaneyfelt noted the deal is a win/win for both the furniture manufacturer and the town. Plans for the new facility are still in the design phase and the actual closing must still be arranged, but possibly by fall construction will begin on West 23rd Street near Fire Station No. 2.
Phosphorous
The waiting game has begun.
The town is waiting for Rural Development to release an Obligation of Funds, ideally a combination of a grant and loan. The town is also waiting for approval of a requested extension from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Meanwhile, according to Superintendent Roger Schaefer the sludge is piling up, so much so it is backing up into the system and something must be done to avoid violations. Schaefer has analyzed his options and concluded the best solution will be to inject the sludge into farmland, which will cost $19,400.
The council gave approval for Schaefer to approach farmers and Shaneyfelt to write a contract. However, the work cannot commence until the rain stops and the ground dries out.
For his department on the good news front, the council gave approval to purchase a mobile data collector to be installed in the new wastewater truck ($9,100 split among three departments) that will save time and labor.
Water Department Superintendent Henry Haake had a bit of a conundrum. The DNR did not complete an inspection following upgrades to the New Lake in 2012 and the work is required. He sought and received permission to update a contract for the work that will assess upgrades to the property, including verification of restored vegetation, drawings of the work, etc. The $8,400 cost was in the original plan and is still available to fund the inspection.
Other business
The council learned 91 respondents had answered a survey about adding a dog park at 18th Street Park, the majority of which were favorable to the plan.
The new shelterhouse at 5th Street Park is about 90% complete and is already being rented with no increase in cost from 2015.
The council agreed to look into a noise ordinance or some other type of containment for large truck engines, per the request of resident Denise Wilhite, who has lived on Main Street for 16 years but notes the problem is worsening.
Council members also asked Haake to seek out additional bids for water main replacement on the west side of Main. A contract from one engineering firm put the price tag for designing the project at close to $50,000, which council members agreed seemed exorbitant.
The council also:
•Adopted a Purchasing Policy Ordinance (No. 2016-09).
•Approved a compliance report from Promising Properties for a real estate tax abatement.
• Set the 2016 Insurance Committee to begin discussing employee health insurance and the 2017 budget workshops for July 27, starting at 6 a.m.
•Heard updates on the Leadership Academy and plans for the 2016 Folk Festival from Town Manager Chris James, who praised MasterBrand for accepting a Diamond sponsorship and Kris Lasher for working with the cabinet company.
•Learned the next meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. on June 14, following the Economic Development Commission meeting at 6 p.m. BZA and Plan Commission will meet May 25 at 6:30 and 7 p.m. respectively and the Park Board will meet June 1 at 4:30 p.m
