By VICKI URBANIK

Despite abundant pleas from the Duneland community, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles will close the Chesterton license branch in 12 days.

In an announcement Friday, BMV Commissioner Joel Silverman said the BMV will move the Portage branch from its current location on Willowcreek Road closer to Chesterton by 2008, “giving Chesterton residents better access to BMV services.”

Meanwhile, the Chesterton branch will be among six statewide that will close at the end of the business day on July 30. The BMV decided to keep two other branches open, including the one in Versailles, even though that branch is ranked lower than Chesterton in number of transactions.

The reaction to the Chesterton closing was one of frustration and anger.

State Rep. Ralph Ayres, R-Chesterton, said he is “more than outraged” and called the branch closing a “considerable mistake.”

Chesterton-Duneland Chamber of Commerce Board President Charles Lukmann said his reaction is the same as most others: “Disappointed. Unhappy. Feeling ignored by the state.”

“This is one of the more non-sensical decisions I’ve seen government make,” said Chesterton Town Council President Mike Bannon.

State Rep. Duane Cheney, D-Portage, called the closing a “political slap.”

“The issue is—what is government about? Is it about government or is it about serving the people,” Cheney said.

Ayres, who has taken an active role trying to keep the branch open, is now calling on Silverman and Gov. Mitch Daniels to delay action until a legislative study commission can address the branch closings this summer.

This morning, Ayres announced that Speaker of the House Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, has also written a letter seeking a delay on all branch closings statewide until lawmakers can study the matter.

“From a legislative perspective, it’s the fairest route. You always make decisions based on the most amount of information, not the least,” Ayres said.

Ayres said the process for closing license branches needs to be uniform, which clearly has not been the case.

“Chesterton deserves to have a BMV, especially when there are others who do not fulfill the quota,” Ayres said. “If there is no way to keep the Chesterton branch open and the BMV is proposing moving the Portage branch further east, I would propose keeping the Chesterton branch open until 2008. If that is the final decision, then that is the least that should be done.”

BMV spokesperson Adam Garrett said the BMV would welcome a review by a legislative study commission, but said the branch closing will go forward as planned. The BMV is confident the legislative committee would arrive at the same conclusion, he said.

“It’s not going to affect us at all,” he said.

Ayres agreed that the request for a study represents only a “small chance” of keeping the branches open. The BMV can close the branches administratively, and lawmakers are unable to stop it since they are not in session, he said.

The Chesterton branch has seven employees. The BMV has said that current employees are expected to be relocated to other branches.

Criteria Questioned

Local officials are questioning the criteria used by the BMV for closing branches. Bannon said in terms of the number of transactions, community growth, and the fact that this area is in non-attainment for ozone, Chesterton meets all the criteria.

“It is painfully evident they did use that criteria at all,” Bannon said.

Lukmann noted the large turnout at the public hearing in Chesterton last month, and all the arguments made in defense of keeping the branch open.

He said the BMV’s decision indicates that the “so-called public hearing was simply a formality” and that Silverman, who chaired the hearing, “didn’t listen to a word that was said.”

Bannon agreed, noting that the first list of branches slated for closure came out just after the Legislature adjourned. The BMV later announced additional possible branch closings, and Bannon noted that the public hearings were held shortly after that announcement.

“It certainly smacked of let’s jam this through‚” he said.

Bannon added that the BMV set a goal that no one should have to drive more than 20 minutes to get to a license branch, but now without a Chesterton branch, many Duneland residents will need to drive farther than that. “This kind of flies in the face” of the BMV’s goal, he said.

Versailles

The Chesterton branch was among the 24 placed on a list for possible closure last month. So far, the BMV has held public hearings on seven of those closings and announced on Friday that six of those -- Chesterton, North Judson, Syracuse, Brownstown, Odon and Bicknell -- will close at the end of the business day July 30. The one that will stay open is Versailles‚ branch.

Versailles is the county seat for Ripley County and last year, its branch handled 31,627 transactions, giving it a rank of 114th in the state. The other BMV branch in Ripley County, in Batesville, handled 31,938 transactions and was ranked 113th in the state. Chesterton, which was ranked 81st, handled 49,618 transactions.

Garrett said the decision to keep Versailles open was based on geography, since closing Versailles would have forced Ripley County residents to travel more than 25 or 30 minutes to get to a BMV branch. The Batesville branch is not centrally located but closer to the county line, he said.

But Ayres said the BMV, by announcing it will move the Portage branch, is acknowledging that the Willowcreek Road site is not centrally located for north Porter County.

Cheney said the Willowcreek Road site is conveniently located for most of Portage, but that the only place he can see it moving farther east while keeping it in Portage is in the Central Avenue area, which he said would not make much difference for Duneland residents. Relocating the branch to U.S. 20 “would not be convenient for anyone,” he said.

Ayres noted that the Duneland area has a population of 34,538 people and a projected population of 37,886 by the next census in 2010. The area has had consistent growth in the numbers of housing communities being built and in the planned projection of future building.

“The Chesterton BMV branch would have been an important resource in the future for area residents,” his statement says. “If the closings are based on the number of transactions a branch has, then branches in Hope, Bloomfield, and Berne, all of which survived the first round of closures, should be considered before Chesterton.”

BMV officials have said the branch in Hope was kept open only because it is in the district of influential Sen. Robert Garton. Bannon said the Hope branch issue only “adds salt to the wounds” in Chesterton

The Walkerton branch was also placed on the closure list, though not yet the subject of a public hearing. The BMV opted to keep Walkerton open due to its “growth of transactions” and lease issues. The Walkerton branch is ranked 70th in the state in the number of transactions.

The BMV still needs to hold public hearings on the other branches under review including Gary’s branch.

Efficiency

The BMV said in a statement that it plans to upgrade its computer system, reduce branch wait times to no more than 20 minutes, establish a training program for employees, and initiate a centralized call center.

The BMV’s statement also noted that Indiana ranked 14th in population but third in the number of state license branches, with 168. Only two states had more license branches, California and Texas. After nine branches were closed in June, Indiana ranked fourth in the nation.

After July 30, Indiana will have 153 branches, ranking fifth behind Florida’s 158. Of Indiana’s 92 counties, 36 will have more than one license branch.

Cheney said he just returned home from New York, and found it interesting how many people there complained about their license branches. The feeling was that the state needs more branches, not less, to adequately serve the public, he said.

Posted 7/18/2005