Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Student designs considered for Sunset HIll Farm pond dock

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By JEFF SCHULTZ

Professional engineering firms are typically sought for construction projects by the Porter County Parks Department, which is instead taking advice from high school students in making plans for a new dock on the “No-Can-Do” pond at Sunset Hill Farm.

Porter County Career and Technical School students Sofia Munguia and McKenna Haynes, along with their teacher Bill Guinee, attended Thursday’s park board meeting to present designs their architecture and construction class drew up.

The project is a partnership between the PCCTS, the Parks Department, and ArcelorMittal, which awarded a $20,000 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Grant late last year. The dock will enhance the field trips out at the park where Porter County students learn about wildlife, Parks Superintendent Walter Lenckos said.

Munguia made her design to look like a sunset, with sections of the dock extending into the pond made up to look like the rays of the sun, while Haynes’ design suggested a wider and longer dock that arches at the end so students can look out into the water.

Board members liked aspects of both designs and suggested making a combination of the two. They also liked an idea in another student’s design, with a top level and a bottom level, where students can be closer to the water’s surface.

Parks Planner Ray Joseph said he will work with the County’s Building Commissioner Mike Hallar on specifics to make the dock ADA compliant. He said one dock could be built now and another on the other end of the pond could be done in a few years or so.

Lenckos said he was impressed with the plans the class came up with and said he is working with “the finest and brightest engineering minds in Porter County.”

Joseph also showed the board plans he’s worked on for new trails around the pond and prairie restoration at Sunset Hill Farm that would be done along with improvements to the amphitheater.

Brincka-Cross trails funding

In other trail topics, the parks department learned it’s run into a bit of a snag with the trail construction at Brincka-Cross Gardens.

Last week, bids were received from four firms, all of which exceeded the $150,000 grant money available for the project. The lowest bidder was Hasse Construction, at about $190,000, while the highest was G.E. Marshall, at $789,000, Joseph said.

Lenckos said he was “significantly disturbed” at the disparity between the bids and the engineering estimate of $114,000 it received from SEH Engineering. “This is an undue burden on the parks department,” he told the board.

Board member Drew Armstrong suggested seeking new bids, but Joseph said the costs could come down if the trail width is narrowed from 8 feet to 6 feet, which would still be acceptable by ADA standards.

Board attorney David Hollenbeck said the parks department can negotiate with the lowest bidder on costs but the project cannot be significantly altered out of respect to the other bidders.

The board voted favorably 4-0 on the suggestion by board member David Canright that Joseph see if the reducing the trail width would lower the price enough to meet the grant amount or have another bid proposal if it cannot.

Lenckos said it could be cheaper if the work were to be done in-house but the maintenance staff will be busy this summer with upkeep for the parks.

Hog operation, State Park

banquet center draw fire

Speaking on the principle that it is the park board’s role to enhance quality of life for county residents, board member Craig Kenworthy joined the chorus of objectors to both the banquet center at the Indiana Dunes Pavilion, which is being pursued by Pavilion Partners, LLC, and the proposed confined animal feeding operation, on Smoke Road in Morgan Twp., that it is said will hold over 5,600 hogs.

Kenworthy, who resides in Morgan Twp., said he is not against agriculture or farmers but the amount of manure generated by the CAFO “will affect anybody living in Porter County.”

As for the Dunes banquet center, Kenworthy said “it’s a horrendous building that should never be built.”

Canright said he agrees with Kenworthy on opposition to both projects, and commented that the DNR changed the design specifications for the State Park pavilion project without allowing anyone else to bid on it.

In other business:

-- Lenckos reminded that Saturday, May 16 is the annual Spring Out to Sunset Event at Sunset Hill Farm. The Northern Indiana Historical Power Association will be offering wagon rides at the event.

-- NIHPA President Mike Andrews told the board that his group has finished work on two granary doors for Sunset Hill Farm and will paint and hang them.

-- Hollenbeck said that the parks department looks to close on purchasing the 137 acres along Old Chicago Rd. and CR 500 East by July 31, to be paid for with funds from three separate grants and no local tax dollars. The board last month agreed to pursue the purchase at $890,000.

-- The Porter County Parks Foundation received $3,000 from Valparaiso University that will go toward removing the playground equipment at Sunset Hill Farm and beginning work on the Native American section for the new natural playground. Lenckos said more grants will be sought for the project.


 

Posted 5/8/2015

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

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