Chesterton Building Commissioner Dave Novak wants folks to know that the issuance of building permits is not a rubber-stamp deal.

Or as he told the Town Council at its meeting Monday night, “The permit process isn’t instantaneous.”

“People are applying for permits with the contractor in the driveway,” Novak said. But it can take as long as a week to issue a building permit for a new house, “a little less” for other things.

Novak urged folks not to sign a contract before the permit is issued and to plan ahead, as a signed contract can really put you in a bind if some problem later emerges during the permit process.

Member Sharon Darnell, D-4th, had a plea of her own on Monday. Hey people, do the responsible thing and police the street after you cut the lawn.

“It’s summer, everyone’s cutting their grass. Please folks, keep grass out of the roadway and gutters. Take pride in your neighborhood,” Darnell asked.

Meanwhile, Town Manager Bernie Doyle reported that residents and non-residents alike are impressed by the new look of the South Calumet District.

“We’ve had an overwhelming number of positive comments about the district, in both phone calls and e-mails,” Doyle said. “And not just from locals. People from Michigan City and Valpo have been extremely complimentary.”

Town Engineer Mark O’Dell noted that the street- and landscaping of the district is right now expected to be completed by the end of May.

For his part Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg thanked Eric Kroeger and all the volunteers of the Chesterton Hometown Improve-ment Project who did such a great job on Saturday during the annual Cleanup Day in Downtown Chesterton.

In particular, Schnadenberg said, the work done on the traffic islands at the intersection of Indian Boundary Road and North Calumet Road looks terrific.

“Thank you for taking pride in our community,” Member Emerson DeLaney, R-5th, said later in the meeting. “Thanks for the volunteerism and the donations. It’s a great improvement.”

DeLaney also expressed gratitude to the town employees who lent a hand during the Cleanup Day.

While he was at it, Schnadenberg also reported that delivery has been taken of the Street Department’s grapple truck. “It does many different things,” he said. “We actually used it a bit today. It think it will be a definite asset to the department.”

Member Jim Ton, R-1st, called the acquisition of the grapple truck a safety issue. “Crews won’t have to roll things into a front-end loader anymore,” he said.

President Jeff Trout, R-5th, expects the grapple truck to save man-hours as well. “I think it’s a piece of equipment that will pay for itself,” he said.

The grapple truck—equipped with apparatus capable of lifting large items like trees—is a demo model with around 2,000 miles on it. At their last meeting, members voted unanimously to release $22,000 in CEDIT funds to make the first of six lease-payments on the vehicle.

In other business, members agreed by consensus to authorize the Chesterton Fire Department to solicit donations for Relay for Life from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, June 5, at the intersections of Eighth Street and West Porter Ave. and Fifth Street and 1100N.

DeLaney took a moment at the end of the meeting to say that Chesterton Cruise Night will return to the Downtown this summer, although the details have yet to be finalized.

“The focus will be on the last Saturday of the month,” DeLaney said.

Cruise Night was originally going to go into hiatus this year with the Downtown sanitary sewer and replacement project, but with that project’s postponement to next summer DeLaney is trying to get the event re-organized.

DeLaney also wants two additional portable restrooms to be placed in Thomas Centennial Park, with the town picking up the tab for one of them. The other he rather hopes the Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce will provide.

Posted 5/11/2010