By KEVIN NEVERS

Next week in the Town of Chesterton is beginning to look like a construction witching hour.

As early as Monday or Tuesday Walsh & Kelly Inc. could begin milling Broadway between Eighth Street and 19th Street in preparation for re-surfacing. At the same time a Walsh & Kelly crew could also be asphalting Porter Ave. between Fifth Street and Eighth Street—but only if R.V. Sutton Inc. has completed the emergency replacement of the corroded sanitary force main running from the Dickinson Road lift station.

If R.V. Sutton has completed that project, it will turn next to Phase I of the South Calumet Business District project. Initially a crew will be sinking a stormwater sewer along Beverly Drive, and 100E, 1100N, and South Calumet Road will remain open to traffic in the short-term.

Meanwhile, Walsh and Kelly will try to duck in, when time allows, to put a new surface on the crumbling portion of Eighth Street between Broadway and West Morgan Ave.

Right now crews are putting the finishing touches on Phase I of the Westchester-Liberty Trail, re-grading the edges of the sidewalk which stretches along the north side of 1100N from Dogwood Estates to Rose Hill Estates.

The whole body of work will require some coordination and choreography, Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg told the Chesterton Tribune after Monday’s meeting of the Town Council, but with a little luck motorists should not be overly inconvenienced. During the milling of Broadway between Eighth Street and 19th Street, at least one lane should remain open. And once Walsh & Kelly finishes asphalting Porter Ave. between Fifth Street and Eighth Street, that artery will at long last be re-opened, just in time for Broadway to be closed for re-surfacing.

Utility Superintendent Steve Yagelski did tell the council that R.V. Sutton has so far found no good pipe at all beneath Porter Ave., that presumably the sanitary force main has corroded all the way east to Fifth Street, and that the plan is now to link the new PVC pipe to an air release valve at Fifth Street and for the time being not worry about the condition of the force main further east.

Member Jeff Trout, R-2nd, took a moment at the end of the meeting to thank all staff and employees for their hard work on Porter Ave. “Hats off,” he said. “You’ve been working around the clock.”

Vacation Petition

In other business, members voted 3-0 to hold a public hearing on Aug. 11 on the petition of Marguerite Domsic for the vacation of a portion of unimproved Park Ave. just south of her home at 620 S. 21st St. Domsic has lived at that residence for 44 years and has been maintaining the right-of-way all of that time.

CPD

The Chesterton Police Department has responded to 552 calls so far in July, to 1,278 in June, and to 6,980 in the year-to-date, Police Chief George Nelson told the council.

CFD

The Chesterton Fire Department has responded to 315 calls so far in July and to 570 calls in the year-to-date, Fire Chief Warren “Skip” Highwood told the council.

Two engines are currently out of service, Highwood added.

Appointment

The council took no action Monday on the appointment—per new state law—of a representative of the Duneland School Corporation (DSC) to the Redevelopment Commission. Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann noted that he has been in communication with the DSC about the matter but that the DSC has not yet offered the name of a person willing to serve as a non-voting member.

Lukmann did observe that each of the Tri-Towns has a Redevelopment Commission and that the DSC will have to find a representative to be appointed to each one.

Budget Meeting

The council will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. July 23 on the 2009 budget.

Posted 7/15/2008