Cloverdale moving forward on water, wastewater projects

CLOVERDALE — With consecutive projects relating to wastewater in the wings, Cloverdale leaders are figuring how to shore up costs to the town.

Eric Smith of HWC Engineering addressed how these projects are coming at the Cloverdale Town Council’s regular meeting Tuesday evening. In this, he brought a contract for a water asset management plan and a plan for an agreed order from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Smith reiterated that the Indiana Department of Transportation is to cover most of the costs associated with removing water mains so as to widen U.S. 231 at County Road 800 South. With this, the removal would leave a gap to accommodate a 10-inch pipe to run from a storage tank down along the right-of-way.

Town Manager Jason Hartman said the overall cost of putting water mains from POET Biorefining to INDOT’s garage was about $600,000. This is only for one section along the west side of the roadway, with the other being from the garage to Interstate 70.

Hartman related that the Putnam County Commissioners agreed to consider setting aside $100,000 of economic development income tax (EDIT) money for the prior section. This is set to be voted on when the Commissioners meet on Monday.

Meanwhile, removing a forced sewer main would be a $20,000 project. The majority, Hartman said, could be covered through funding from the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI).

“That line is very old,” Hartman said, adding that it is currently a six-inch line that serves six-or-so customers now. “We’ve had a lot of issues with it. The material is one we’re not real fond of, either.”

Moving to the town’s broader water considerations, Smith stated that the town needed a utility asset management plan to receive funding through the State Revolving Fund. This project is to be funded through loans from the SRF.

“Basically, what they want to know is they’re going to loan you money for a project, that you have the fiscal plan to manage your utilities,” Smith said. This was only for water, as one for the broader wastewater project has been made. The new plan has to be turned into the state by April 1.

The plan is a working document that Smith said should be updated regularly as the town’s assets change.

The council agreed on a contract with HWC to draw up the plan, including a fee of $30,000 that can be reimbursed when the project is eventually approved by the state.

“It’s a matter of when,” Smith said. “The other unknown is, will you get any grant money, some grant money, how much. It’s just a matter of when how much you’re able to get that’s not loaned.”

As to the town’s large wastewater project that will cover multiple concerns, Smith said it is now moving into planned development. This also includes connecting the town to Lieber State Recreation Area to treat its sewage.

With preliminary plans and permitting expected by the beginning of March and April, respectively, the goal is for the project to be bid-ready by the end of June.

Smith finally spoke on an agreed order with IDEM that the council signed off on in December with regard to wastewater overflow issues. He as such presented a compliance plan that covers these issues and to submit to the state on the town’s behalf.

“I’ve taken the schedule that we have for the wastewater project and added some time to each step,” Smith said about the plan before the council approved it.

In other business:

• The council slated its new president and vice president. On respective nominations from each other, Brandon Tancak and Brice Howell were voted as such. Greg Jay, meanwhile, nominated Larry Fidler for both.

• The council approved a request by Town Marshal Steve Hibler to purchase a Hot-N-Pop deployment system for the Cloverdale Police Department’s K-9 vehicle. Sgt. Adam Hull explained that the system was needed to run through before a recently-approved cage is installed.

With it to be covered by the department’s K-9 fund, the cost for the system was stated as $1,400.

• The council opened two bids for planned repairs to Bennington Way. One was from DC Construction in the Indianapolis area for $853,937.38, while the other was from Feutz Contractors of Paris, Ill., for $1,158,740.60.

On advice from both Smith and Town Attorney Richard Shagley, the council took the bids under advisement until its meeting next month. Smith noted that the construction contract was due by April 6.

• Brought by Water Treatment Manager Richard Saucerman, the council approved a quote for $12,360 from Bastin Logan to completely replace a high service pump at the town’s water treatment plant.

• The council adopted Resolution 2023-1 declaring a fund for credit card service fees as dormant. Clerk-Treasurer Kelly Maners explained that said fees were deposited into this fund, after which money was transferred to the Operating Fund to pay bills. Instead, she said she created a revenue line specifically for this.

The fund had a balance of $6,609.64 to be transferred to the Operating Fund.

• The council approved renewing the town’s contract with EAS Technology, which provides IT support for the town’s computer systems.

With new member Scott Stierwalt and Cloverdale Police Sgt. Adam Hull partly covering for Hibler, the entire council joined Hartman, Shagley and Maners for the meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Cloverdale Town Council is set for Tuesday, March 14 at 7 p.m. at the Cloverdale Town Hall.