By KEVIN NEVERS

Not even six months after John Kosmatka returned to his old seat on the Chesterton Town Council—the 1st District seat—he is relinquishing it.

At Monday’s meeting of the council, Kosmatka announced his resignation, effective June 30, after telling colleagues that he has accepted a position on the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Russia.

“I’m leaving this beautiful town,” Kosmatka said, “a town I love and have always loved.”

Kosmatka did not specify what his duties at the embassy will be, but he did say that he has been granted a “top secret security clearance” after undergoing a thorough vetting by the State Department which included interviews with—among others—neighbors, President Bob Crone, R-3rd, and Kosmatka’s own mechanic.

Kosmatka, a former employee of the bankrupt LTV Steel, said that he began looking for new employment when things went south at the mill.

Kosmatka served two terms on the council from 1992-99 and narrowly defeated political novice Tim Emmons in the Republican primary election last year, beating his opponent by a mere 32 votes: 300 to 268. Kosmatka faced no opposition in the general election.

“I’ve enjoyed living here and I hope I can come back here one day,” Kosmatka said.

His colleagues wished him well. “Well, John, we’ll miss you and your stories,” Crone said.

Clerk-Treasurer Gayle Polakow-ski told the Chesterton Tribune after the meeting that Chesterton’s Republican precinct committeemen will have to call a caucus to appoint Kosmatka’s successor.

Parking Complaint

In other business, the council fielded a complaint from the Chesterton branch of Fifth Third Bank at 302 Broadway—immediately adjacent to and west of the Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce—about European Market venders hogging bank parking spaces on Saturday mornings.

During last year’s season, Assistant Vice President Vernon Richards informed members in a letter, bank officials “had to police our bank property every Saturday morning to keep our employee and customer parking spaces open to employees and customers only. Unfortunately, last Saturday, May 29, 2004, all of our employees and many customers had to compete for parking off bank property because many of the market vendors think our parking spaces are available to them even though they are clearly marked to the contrary.”

Richards noted in the letter that the bank now installs special temporary signage on Friday evenings: five signs reading “Customer Parking Only/Unauthorized Vehicles Will Be Towed Away/At Vehicle Owner’s Expense” and three signs reading “No Parking/Unauthorized Vehicles Will Be Towed Away/At Vehicle Owner’s Expense.”

“I am totally in favor of the European Market,” Richards hastened to add in the letter, but if matters do “not improve immediately and drastically” the bank will be forced to make good on its threat and to begin the ugly business of towing.

The council took no action on the complaint, since—as Member Mike Bannon, R-5th, observed—Richards’ forwarded copies of his letter to the Chamber and to the organizers of the European Market, an initiative of the Duneland Economic Development Company, the Chamber’s not-for-profit arm.

“Sidewalk Road”

Meanwhile, the council mulled the request of Drake Builders and the Lake Erie Land Company to change the official name of C.R. 1050N, between Ind. 49 and Chesterton’s corporate boundary at C.R. 200E, to Sidewalk Road, the name by which old-timers know C.R. 1050N best.

As Paul Sharpe of Drake and Jerry Mobley of Lake Erie Land note in a letter to the council, “The name is based on the common, traditional designation of this road. For many decades local residents have referred to this section of roadway as ‘Sidewalk Road.’ The current street sign in the vicinity of the corner at ‘Dickinson Road’ and ‘Sidewalk Road’ is posted as ‘Sidewalk Road.’ Formal adoption of the name ‘Sidewalk Road’ is consistent with the recorded plat for the area, and the use of historical names throughout the Town of Chesterton. We feel this change would enhance the charm found within Chesterton.”

Members had no inherent objections to Drake and Mobley’s request, and indeed Bannon said that he for one would prefer “Sidewalk Road” over C.R. 1050N for aesthetic reasons.

Building Commissioner Mike Orlich observed too that on most plats the road is designated by both names.

The rub, however, is twofold. First, Orlich said, the Porter County 911 Dispatch Center would have to register the name change in its computer, because at the moment it does not reference a “Sidewalk Road.” Second, C.R. 1050N extends as far east as C.R. 400E—two miles into unincorporated Jackson Township—and if the name change were to be truly meaningful and transparently unconfusing then the Porter County Commissioners would have to agree to go along with the program and rename the county’s stretch of the road as well.

Both Crone and Member Sharon Darnell, D-4th, did indicate that, were the name changed, they would want to see both designations on all signage. Crone in particular said that—though “Sidewalk Road” might well appeal to locals—“C.R. 1050N” is probably easier to find for visitors.

The council took no action on the request and agreed to consider it again at its next meeting, June 28, but Crone did say that he would undertake to discuss the issue with Drake and Mobley.

Drake is currently building the first retail and office project at Coffee Creek Center, at the intersection of Dickinson and C.R. 1050N—or Sidewalk, if you prefer.

Posted 6/15/2004