The South Calumet District project is drawing to a slow close.
A great deal of work remains, of course: the reconstruction and re-grading
of 1100N between Ind. 49 and 100E as well as all of Phase III, the street-
and landscaping, projected to be completed by early this summer.
But the bulk of the work is nevertheless done and now the Chesterton
Redevelopment Commission—whose municipal charge is the administration of tax
increment financing funds and the use of those funds for capital projects—is
mulling a next project.
At a special meeting Monday night, Member Sharon Darnell urged her
colleagues to begin thinking about the next leg of South Calumet Road: from
the bridge just south of the Chesterton Post Office to Morgan Ave. “What
would you like to see done?” she asked. “That’s what the moneys are for.”
Town Engineer Mark O’Dell did note that the scope of such a project would be
a much more limited than that of the ongoing one: decorative street
lighting, for instance, and sidewalk, curb, and gutter improvements.
Member Jim Ton, on the other hand, broached the feasibility of
re-reconstructing the unaligned intersection of South Calumet Road and
Porter Ave., or at least of adding left turn lanes where possible: for
south- and westbound traffic. “That intersection has always been one of
those splinters you can’t quite get at,” he said.
Could we acquire land for additional right-of-way at the intersection?
Darnell asked.
“We’d have to look at that,” O’Dell said.
Darnell is hopeful of receiving input from her colleagues at the
commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25.
TIF Draw
In other business, Clerk-Treasurer Gayle Polakowski informed the commission
that she has received the 2009 TIF draw, totaling $1,247,484.69.
As far as she knows, Polakowski told the Chesterton Tribune after the
meeting, that check represents the entirety of the draw.
2010 Officers
By votes of 5-0 the commission elected Member Ed Schoenfelt to the
presidency for 2010, Darnell to the vice-presidency, and Polakowski to the
secretary-treasureship.