By VICKI URBANIK

Burns Harbor Plan Commission members agreed Tuesday that residents of the Harbor Trails subdivision deserve to get town snow plowing service, even if the subdivision’s infrastructure is far from ideal.

By a 5-1 vote, the plan commission agreed to have the town accept the roads in the subdivision, but only under some conditions. One of the conditions was that Harbor Trails developers post a five-year maintenance bond on the roads totaling 20 percent of the road replacement cost. Another condition calls for the reconstruction of a portion of Salt Creek Road damaged by the construction.

No one from Harbor Trails was present at Tuesday’s meeting, and the fact that there wasn’t a formal request for the plan commission to take action prompted commission member Jim Meek to cast the lone dissenting vote. “If they’re not here, I don’t care,” he said.

One issue for the plan commission that surfaced several times Tuesday dealt with a lengthy punch list of deficiencies in Harbor Trails’ infrastructure. Commission members raised concerns that the $100,000 bond that’s already been posted won’t be enough to cover all the improvements that are needed.

Another concern was raised over whether one of the roads, Boo Road, was constructed properly, since the asphalt was applied during a rainfall. Town Engineer Hesham Khalil said about the only way to know for sure if the road is suitable is to conduct core samples.

Plan commission member Mike Perrine said he doesn’t think there is much the town could do at this point, as he questioned if the town would be willing to go so far as to order any road removed. He said the Harbor Trails residents deserve to have their roads plowed. Member Virginia Bain agreed, but said the town shouldn’t accept the roads until required improvements are made.

Plan Commission attorney Charles Parkinson made it clear that the roads at Harbor Trails have never been formally accepted by the town for snowplowing or maintenance purposes. The previous town engineer informed the town that construction of the infrastructure was complete, and as a result, the bond was reduced. But Parkinson said that is not the same as the town actually accepting the roads.

Commission President Bernie Poparad suggested including in the motion a requirement that a finishing coat is installed on Salt Creek Road. Khalil said the road is in bad condition due to the subdivision construction.

In another matter Tuesday, the plan commission unanimously agreed to recommend to the Burns Harbor Town Council to call in the bond issued for a sidewalk installed at Harbor Trails. The sidewalk was built in the wrong place, Poparad said, since it infringes on the private property and not on the public right of way.

The discussion about the sidewalk prompted the plan commission to discuss a possible change in town ordinance stipulating that sidewalks are the responsibility of a developer, not an individual builder. Parkinson said the town of Chesterton has such a requirement.

From the audience, Tom Lightfoot, developer of the 200-home Corlins Landing, protested. He said the responsibility for sidewalks should fall onto whoever obtained the building permit, not the developer. He raised the possibility that with such a requirement, developers would have to post bonds for numerous years if, for example, a single lot were left unbuilt.

But Poparad raised a concern that there are other builders who have questionable sidewalk work. The plan commission seemed to agree that if there is a problem with a section of sidewalk, the town should be able to deal with just one developer, not a number of individual builders, to correct the issue. Parkinson was directed to prepare a draft ordinance.

The proposal for a new Town Center near Ind. 149 and U.S. 20 was not discussed at length Tuesday. Poparad, citing the recent town elections, noted that there will be a big change soon on the town council, so the proposal should be addressed by the new town officials.

Also Tuesday, the plan commission set a special meeting for Nov. 28 to consider final plat approval for Corlin’s Landing and possibly handle other cases as well.

Posted 11/14/2007