Board of Works hears sanitary sewer, street repaving plans

Sanitary sewer replacement projects are coming for three sections of Greencastle, the Board of Works learned at its August meeting Wednesday evening.

The board was informed by City Water and Wastewater Supt. Oscar King Jr. that sanitary sewer replacement projects are in the offing for:

-- Draper, Leach and Crosson streets off Wood Street just north of Robe-Ann Park, removing and replacing 605 feet of sanitary sewer.

-- Moore Court off Shadowlawn Avenue on the city’s North Side, removing and replacing 260 feet of sanitary sewer.

-- Primrose Lane off U.S. 231 (Bloomington Street) on the South Side, removing and replacing 305 feet of sanitary sewer.

The project is awaiting design and then will go out for bids at a later date.

The Primrose Lane project will also reconnect four sanitary sewer laterals to new sewer pipe and reconnect a two-inch force main to the new sanitary sewer.

King said the current sewer is plagued by tree roots and other invasive issues.

Mayor Bill Dory noted that the Primrose Lane project is also a timely addition and should “help the new townhouse development going in” west of U.S. 231 and south of South Street.

The Moore Court project, meanwhile, will see two new manholes installed, one at Moore Court and another on Shadowlawn.

The work on Moore Court will also reconnect eight sanitary sewer laterals to a new sewer pipe.

The Draper Street work will reconnect 15 sanitary sewer laterals to a new sewer pipe.

Mayor Dory noted that Draper Street has been on the city list for repaving for quite a while but that has been delayed until the sanitary sewer work could be resolved.

“Nothing bothers me more,” the mayor said, than to repave a street and then have to dig it up for underground repairs.

Under questioning by the board, King assured that his department is always in contact with city officials about resurfacing issues and status of underground utilities in such areas.

Meanwhile, the board also learned that street repaving bids will be opened Aug. 28 on what the mayor called “simple milling and overlay” projects.

Streets to be repaved in the 2023 project list and paid for with local Motor Vehicle Highway dollars are:

-- Illinois Street, Ohio to Howard, one block, 360 feet.

-- Olive Street, College Avenue to Locust Street, one block, 527 feet.

-- Elm Street, Locust to Maple, four blocks, 1,478 feet.

-- Jefferson Street, Washington to Columbia, two blocks, 538 feet.

-- Madison Street, between Columbia and Liberty, one block, 215 feet.

-- Kirkwood Drive, between Evensview and Albin Pond Road, one block, 961 feet.

-- People Pathways, the Big Walnut section and section along Zinc Mill Road. To be done with EDIT funds.

Alternate resurfacing work, if additional funding is available, includes:

-- Jefferson Street, Walnut to Washington.

-- Jefferson Street, Columbia to Liberty.

-- Illinois Street, Sycamore to Ohio.

-- Longcastle Drive, Indianapolis Road to north end (also fixing a storm drain).

-- Locust Street, Howard to Berry.

-- Robinwood Place, Shadowlawn Avenue to Fawnview Lane.

The Board of Works will meet in special session at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 31 to approve or reject the repaving bids.

In other business, the Board of Works:

-- Welcomed back Thom Morris to succeed Craig Tuggle, who resigned at the end of the July meeting because he is moving out of town. He joins Trudy Selvia and Mayor Dory on the board. Entering his second tenure on the board, Morris previously served 10 years on it during the administrations of Nancy Michael and Sue Murray after being appointed to succeed George Murphey.

-- Heard Water and Wastewater Supt. King report on the recent annual inspection of the wastewater treatment plant by Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) officials. “Everything’s good, everything passed, everything’s in good shape,” King told the board. He later confided that “it’s hard to get a satisfactory inspection from the state.”

-- Approved a $973.84 sewer leak adjustment for property owned by David Zeiner at 617 E. Seminary St. where a busted underground waterline was the culprit.

-- Authorized fulltime firefighter status for John “Matt” Wolff, who joined the Greencastle Fire Department last Sept. 16. His elevation from probationary to fulltime firefighter is effective this Sept. 16. GFD Chief John Burgess said Wolff has all of the qualifications needed currently and will be attending hazardous material technician school in the near future.

-- Approved a construction inspection agreement with Align Engineering not to exceed $91,200 for inspection work on the city’s Community Crossings grant project involving full-depth pavement repair to several blocks of Poplar Street, stormwater work and more along Madison Street and milling and overlay work at other locations.