INDOT agrees to fund majority of waterline work for U.S. 231 project

Although they probably won’t unwrap it until 2021 or 2022, Greencastle officials are getting quite an early Christmas present from the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT).

A scheduled U.S. 231 “major overhaul” in the coming couple of years is slated to include waterline work from the railroad tracks on the north side of the city to the courthouse square and down to Bloomington Street.

During its November meeting, the Greencastle Redevelopment Commission (RDC) heard Mayor Bill Dory report that the waterline work represents an estimated $1.96 million project.

After recent negotiations with INDOT, the state is asking that the community commit 10 percent of the project cost, Dory said. That computes to $248,235 as the city’s share (with it actually being 12-13 percent, Dory said).

City Councilman Dave Murray, in the RDC audience at City Hall, asked if the plan were still for the waterline to be under the U.S. 231 roadway.

Generally, yes, Dory said, although in some places the waterline may be able to go under the sidewalk or in the tree line.

“The Water Department is concerned about putting the waterline too close to some of the buildings,” Dory said, explaining that the old foundations of those structures would be a concern for any waterline work.

On the square, for example, there is not much room for the waterline to go anywhere but under the pavement.

The mayor recalled that the cast iron waterline being replaced is part of an original infrastructure from the water plant to the downtown and was installed in 1885.

“I’d say it’s served its purpose,” RDC member Gary Lemon commented as the commission unanimously approved reimbursing the Water Department for the cost of the project.

Mayor Dory noted that sometime during Mayor Nancy Michael’s three terms as mayor (1996-2007), then-city engineer Glen Morrow engineered a project where a new PVC liner was placed within the cast-iron pipe.

The Board of Works has also approved the expenditure, which won’t be paid out until the project is let by the state. That likely won’t occur until 2021.

The INDOT project will essentially encompass the length of U.S. 231 from the railroad tracks on the north side of the city to Veterans Memorial Highway on the south.

However, the amount of work is expected to vary along the length of the project, the mayor has said previously.

“North Jackson Street will see the most work,” he said, “with storm piping and inlets.”

Meanwhile, INDOT is still analyzing the Bloomington Street segment of 231, Dory said.

“Bloomington Street may be a milling and overlay project,” he said, meaning the asphalt replacement would be the major concern for that section of the highway.

The INDOT project, however, will not involve widening the road, the mayor said.

“They’re not going to be purchasing property, at least as of what we know to this point,” Dory told the City Council recently.

He also noted that once construction drawings are finalized, public hearings detailing the project are to be scheduled.

Meanwhile, the mayor also told the RDC that the Indianapolis Road project is essentially finished except for a few punch-list items.

Among the final touches have been erection of a wooden railing along the ravine east of the Kroger entrance and west of the Carkeek home and redoing the island at the eastern Kroger entrance to be a drivable divider and not concrete curbing like had been installed.

“Overall we’ve received a lot of good compliments (on the finished project), including from a number of people who are using the new sidewalks out there,” Dory said.

Councilman Murray agreed with that assessment.

“I was pretty skeptical about sidewalks on both sides,” he said, “but I think you did the right thing.”

“Not me,” the mayor responded, pointing at the RDC members, “but them.”

In other business, the RDC:

• Approved the leasing of farmland adjacent to the Putnam County Airport to Abe Hodgen at $250.25 per acre for the 26.64 acres the RDC owns, mainly along Ballard Lane. Mayor Dory said the $250-per-acre number is a common lease figure, according to a Purdue University website. Regardless, it’s a win for the RDC. “If we weren’t leasing it, we’d be mowing it,” the mayor said.

• Authorized City Attorney Laurie Hardwick to proceed with right-of-way acquisition on 24 small parcels – ranging from a quarter-acre to .0002 of an acre -- along the Zinc Mill Road for an improvement project from State Road 240 to South Street. Work will include curbs and gutters, storm sewers and a sidewalk along the west side with a pathway on the east side.

• Heard the mayor report that the Park Board bond issue was successful with the bonds sold at an average rate of 2.44 percent to help fund a $1.6 million improvement project at the Greencastle Aquatic Center and Robe-Ann Park.

The next meeting of the Greencastle Redevelopment Commission is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18 at City Hall.