Here’s a spot of good news: the Town of Chesterton is going to get its own piece of the stimulus pie.

At Monday’s meeting of the Town Council, Town Engineer Mark O’Dell announced that Chesterton is scheduled to receive a total of $345,891 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to re-pave three roads:

*West Porter Ave. from 15th Street to 23rd Street. Estimated cost: $104,067.25.

*11th Street from West Porter Ave. to 1100N. Estimated cost: $153,366.50.

*And Wabash Ave. from Fourth Street to Waverly Road. Estimated cost: $358,309.50.

The only problem--and it really isn’t a problem, given the sheer size of the government grant--is that the estimated cost of the three projects exceeds the scheduled allocation by $12,418.50. And in order to receive the funding the council needs to commit, on paper and right now, its willingness to make up the difference between the actual construction cost and the scheduled grant allocation, O’Dell advised members.

The council agreed to make the commitment.

There’s one other prerequisite for receiving the government’s largesse: the sidewalks at the intersections of all three roadways must be equipped with ADA compliant handicapped ramps before construction may begin. Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg told the council that crews will start installing the 28 ramps after the Wizard of Oz Festival.

The Indiana Department of Transportation is scheduled to go out for bid on the re-paving projects in December, with the work to be done sometime in 2010, O’Dell said.

Posted 9/15/2009