By KEVIN NEVERS

The Chesterton Redevelopment Commission has appointed five citizens to a stakeholder committee whose brief will be to advise DLZ on the aesthetic elements of the street- and landscape design proposed for the South Calumet Business District, formerly known as the South Calumet Triangle.

At their meeting Monday night, members voted 5-0 to appoint the following to that committee: Linda Klaiber, owner of Books Alive at 209 W. Indiana Ave.; Elizabeth Zube, a resident of the South Point subdivision on Beverly Drive off C.R. 100E; Dean Biddle, president of Dean’s Tire & Automotive Services at 1603 S. Calumet; Laura Pannekoek, a member of the Duneland Historical Society and a volunteer at the Westchester Township Historical Museum; and Judy Chaplin, owner of Shady Lawn Florist at 726 S. Calumet Road.

As part of that vote, the commission also appointed President Sharon Darnell and Member Josh Lantz to the stakeholder committee.

Then, by consensus, members agreed to ask Darnell, as “a formal hand extension,” to draft a letter inviting St. Paul Lutheran Church at 106 E. C.R. 1100N to participate in the committee’s activities as well as the five property owners which have notified the Town of Chesterton of their intent to file tort claims alleging loss of revenue and other damages caused by the decision to permanently close the intersection of South Calumet Road and C.R. 1100N: Round the Clock, Reliable Transportation, Doler Heating & Plumbing, Mary Davies, and Robert and Antoinette Zakhar. Under the approved design, St. Paul Lutheran Church will lose its entrance off C.R. 1100N but gain one off C.R. 100E.

Besides advising DLZ, the commission’s contracted engineering consultant, on the street- and landscape design, Town Engineer Mark O’Dell said, the stakeholder committee members will also serve as “ambassadors” of a sort, who will solicit input from the community at large and introduce the design to the community.

Nevertheless, as Darnell emphasized, the meetings of the stakeholder committee will be open to the public, anyone may attend, and the only thing not on the table will be the previously approved design of the traffic improvements slated for the South Calumet Business District, including the permanent closure of the intersection.

By consensus the commission scheduled the stakeholder committee’s first two meetings for 6 p.m. Sept. 11 and 6 p.m. Sept. 25, both Tuesdays. The commission will soon distribute copies to the newly appointed members of the preliminary street- and landscape design submitted by DLZ earlier this year. At least four meetings of the stakeholder committee are envisioned, and its brief should be completed by late November, Mike Jabo of DLZ said.

Under a draft agenda for the first meeting of the stakeholder committee, members will discuss the goals of the committee, get an overview of the project and its schedule, and begin discussion of the six main design components of the street- and landscape design: the Ind. 49 focal element, the gateway feature, streetscape treatment, monument business signage, a public art garden, and storm detention and rain garden

Bond Intent

In other business, members voted 5-0 to adopt what is known as a “declaration of official intent to reimburse expenditures,” that is, a document wherein the commission formally announces its intention to float a bond issue to pay for the project. According to that declaration, the commission will incur no more than $4 million in debt from that bond issue. The debt would be repaid with revenues from the tax increment financing district.

As Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann explained, however, the declaration does not obligate the commission either to issue bonds at all or to issue them in that amount. Should the commission opt to do so, Lukmann said, he would recommend a series issue of two or more bond sales under the same issue. “You may sell more than you need and invest part of it to get an interest rate.” But the commission would have to spend at least 85 percent of the proceeds from the issue within three years.

Members also voted 5-0 to make available up to $10,000 to Ticor, a title company, to determine existing right-of-way for the roadways in the project.

And members voted 5-0 to schedule a special meeting for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 10.

Posted 8/29/2007