Huntingburg Council: Councilman resigns
Huntingburg Councilman Alex Blackgrove has resigned from his position as a member of the council, effective immediately.
Mayor Denny Spinner made the announcement at Thursday’s regular council meeting. Blackgrove was not in attendance.
Spinner said that Blackgrove, who represented District 2, has moved out of the district area where he was elected to serve, rendering him ineligible to represent those citizens.
Blackgrove’s term would have ended in December. He was defeated by Jeff Bounds in the Primary for the Republican nomination for the District 2 spot in the November election.
Spinner thanked Blackgrove for his time and contributions to the council and the City of Huntingburg.
The council also took up the topic of salary increases for city employees. Last year, the council approved a 1.5 percent across the board increase with a 2 percent maximum. For three years, the council has included a merit increase component to give workers an additional raise if warranted.
The proposed increase was explained by Spinner after the meeting. “The proposal that’s going forward that will come back in ordinance form will provide for a one and a half percent raise in all positions at the high end of the range,” Mayor Spinner explained. “And provide employees with a one percent across the board (raise).”
City attorney Phil Schneider will craft the ordinance for the raises and it will be presented at the next meeting.
Also, Water Superintendent Todd Williams and Midwest Engineering’s Richard Burch reported to the council that they made a trip to Orland Park, Illinois, southwest of Chicago recently to visit a site where a significant length of water main was being improved using the insertion technology that will be performed on the 4th Street water main in Huntingburg, by the same company.
Merchants along the historic district have voiced concerns about the work that needs to be completed on the old water main. To lessen the impact, Williams has been researching this process which is much less destructive to the streets and should require few areas of it to be closed to traffic.
Williams and Burch witnessed firsthand the installation process and procedures used to insert the new liner into an old water main — older than Huntingburg’s existing line.
Both were very impressed and shared photographs of the work with the council.
The Fourth Street water main project has been discussed for several years due to the age of the line, and the frequency of breaks along the length of the main.
The portion that will be replaced runs from Geiger Street east for three blocks to Van Buren Street.
“Their recommendation to go with a ‘cured in place’ project for the entire Fourth Street project is absolutely a highly recommended and appears to be the way to go,” Spinner said. “What is very inviting about this project is that there will be a minimal disruption of traffic along Fourth Street during the installation process and there will be an extremely minimal disruption of service to businesses and homes that are along the three block area that will be a part of this project.”
He says that the cost of doing it this way is about the same as digging up the entire three block stretch. This method prevents from having to dig up and cross US 231, a major traffic route through Huntingburg.
During the meeting, Spinner also read a proclamation concerning Constitution Week coming up September 17th through 23rd. The week is set aside to celebrate the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.
