City moves forward with hydrant project

Warned last December about a lack of fire hydrants, particularly in areas just outside the City of Greencastle, city officials are moving forward with a plan to install those much-needed hydrants.

The Board of Public Works and Safety took the official first step at its recent March meeting, approving engineering services with Curry & Associates, not to exceed $28,000, for fire hydrant installation work outside city limits.

“Our team has done a lot of work on this” Mayor Bill Dory praised, noting that the city will purchase and supply the necessary hydrant equipment to the eventual contractor.

“They can’t buy them (hydrants and hardware) as cheap as us,” City Clerk-Treasurer Lynda Dunbar added.

Board member Trudy Selvia wondered about bidding the project out both ways -- with the parts supplied by the city and with no parts supplied.

“Our thought was to get it done quickly and have the parts available to put in,” City Attorney Laurie Hardwick explained.

Selvia subsequently made the motion to move forward with the engineering work and to allow Mayor Dory to sign the contract.

Water Department spokesman Ed Phillips interjected that there are already three contractors ready to bid on the hydrant project, which was triggered by an Nov. 18 fire along Range Line Road.

It was that blaze that sparked comments from homeowner Kevin Williams, who told the board last December that there was no fire hydrant nearby. He said in the area where he resides there are 41 city water customers and no nearby hydrants.

At the board’s January meeting, Phillips reported on a community-wide fire hydrant inventory, noting that not only should the city install nine hydrants along Range Line Road, but it should add 71 new fire hydrants overall across the city and its outskirts.

Nineteen hydrants are needed within city limits, the report outlined. Mayor Dory said the city will try to work those into its Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (IOCRA) grant.

That leaves 52 hydrants outside Greencastle but within areas on city water and receiving city fire protection.

Mayor Dory noted that one strategy might be to initially put in every other hydrant to at least provide some protection.

With the hydrants costing approximately $5,000 apiece, the expected cost of the project would be in the $350,000-$400,000 range, it was noted.

After Curry does the engineering work, the project will go out to contractors for bid.

In other business, the board:

-- Signed an interlocal agreement with the Town of Filmore that will add the chemical Nitra-Nox to the town’s sewage at the Fillmore lift station to help curtail a build-up of hydrogen sulfide and its corrosive qualities that can has caused problems with the sewer main, city lift station and city manholes. The city has had to rehab its lift station and manholes at a cost of $207,559 due to the corrosion. The agreement, which runs through Dec. 31, 2027, makes the city responsible for the equipment, chemicals and maintenance. Fillmore is responsible for the electricity necessary to operate the equipment and allowing the wiring to be attached to an existing electrical box at the Fillmore lift station.

-- Approved sewer leak adjustments for Greencastle Acres LLC (formerly Ottawa Park), $6,619; Castle Mobile Home Park, $1,158; and Heartland Automotive-owned property at 720 Kirkwood Drive, $919.12. All three paid full monthly water bills but had the sewage portion of the leaked water reduced in a one-time waiver.

-- Approved a change order on the wastewater treatment plant phosphorus removal building. A $16,500 additional expense was approved for the inclusion of a barrier layer and spray-on foam insulation. “They’re moving along pretty well out there,” Mayor Dory said. “Maybe later this spring we can take a tour once they get the equipment all in.”

-- Tabled action on acquisition of a new sewer jet/Vactor truck to replace one that is 16 years old. The new, larger model will allow the machine to be used to clean out tanks at the wastewater treatment plant, Dory said. The low bid received was for $434,851, Approval was tabled until that figure can be compared with the state bid price.