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By KEVIN NEVERS Since June 23 the Town of Chesterton has fined Coffee Creek Development I LLC (CCD), developer of the Village Green Townhomes at Coffee Creek Center, 26 times in an amount totaling $6,650, for violations of the Stormwater Quality Control Ordinance. So MS4 Operator Jennifer Gadzala informed the Stormwater Management Board at its meeting Monday night. Among other things, required seeding has not be done, stone has not been placed on building lots for egress and ingress, a concrete washout was found outside the designated washout area, and gaps in silt fence were not blocked. Most of the fines issued were for multiple per-day instances of the same violations. “We can write one finable violation per day of violation,” Gadzala told the Chesterton Tribune after the meeting. Gadzala told the board that not all issues have been resolved yet—though all fines to date have been paid—and that a representative of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has conducted an inspection of the site and given CCD a deadline of Friday to remedy all outstanding problems. Under Indiana Code, Gadzala said, IDEM may issue fines of its own. Since CCD began construction of the Village Green Townhomes, last fall, it has been fined a total of $16,050 for violations of the Stormwater Quality Control Ordinance, the bulk of that amount a $9,400 fine assed by the board in February. Village Green Townhomes is the first project undertaken by CCD since it entered into a formal relationship with the Lake Erie Land Company in June 2006. The project occupies 18.5 acres located south of Sidewalk Road and east of Village Point. A total of 94 units in 35 buildings is planned. CCD—whose principal is James Gierczyk, a developer based in Homewood, Ill.—is the official holder of the Erosion and Sediment Control Permit and is therefore responsible for meeting the requirements of the Storm Water Quality Control Ordinance. Office Supplies In other business, the board voted 3-0 to authorize an expenditure of no more than $10,000 to acquire office equipment and supplies for the new temporary quarters of the Engineering Department and Stormwater Utility at 802 Wabash Ave. Both municipal functions will work from that rented space until the former United Tractor facility at 106 N. 15th St. is ready for occupation. June in Review In June the Stormwater Utility ran a surplus of $23,376 and in the year-to-date is running a surplus of $74,411.
Posted 7/23/2008
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