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.
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Posted 5/8/2015
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