For years Chesterton residents have been dumping their grass clippings, brush, and leaves at the Street Department’s yard-waste recycling site at 609 Grant Ave.

But the Street Department has moved its headquarters to the new municipal facility—at 1490 Broadway—and soon will be moving the recycling site as well.

As Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg told the Town Council at its meeting Monday night, probably within the next two to three weeks the new recycling site will open for business. Material bins have been constructed on the north side of the municipal facility—access from 15th Street—and now the site only needs to be paved.

A couple of large-scale paving projects likely need to be completed first, however, Schnadenberg said: the re-surfacing of North Calumet Road between Grant Ave. and Indian Boundary Road (the northbound lane to be done by an Indiana-American Water Company contractor) and that of Woodlawn Ave. between Waverly Road and Ottawa Trail (a joint project with the Town of Porter).

Schnadenberg told the Chesterton Tribune after Monday’s meeting that it just wouldn’t be practical to run a front-end loader from the new Street Department headquarters to the old recycling site, so the decision was made to move the site.

The new recycling site will also be equipped with a video surveillance camera, it will still be open between the hours of dawn and dusk, and it will still be closed to out-of-towners, Schnadenberg noted. A fence has been installed on the far side of the site to secure the Street Department’s operations within the facility.

In related business, Building Commissioner Dave Novak reported that the contractor for the new municipal facility is currently trying to find a remedy for an emerging roof leak. The leak is minor, has so far affected only a single ceiling tiling, and there has been no water damage, Novak said.

By votes of 4-0, members also approved two CEDIT expenditures for the facility: $1,380 for a new computer and software for the Street Department’s executive assistant; and $6,712 for the wiring and installation of a key-fob system.

Member Sharon Darnell, D-4th, was not in attendance.

Meanwhile, Town Engineer Mark O’Dell reported that a number of weather days will likely extend the Downtown utility project beyond its scheduled completion date of Saturday, June 4. Or as O’Dell remarked, “It slid a bit.”

“Hopefully not more than a few days,” replied Member Jim Ton, R-1st.

“We’re hoping,” O’Dell said.

O’Dell did note that the new sanitary sewer main is in place and that crews are now at work on a new storm sewer. He added that the street lights along South Calumet Road should be re-wired sometime this week, while a sanitary lateral and water service have been extended into Thomas Centennial Park and stubbed to await the construction of a new public restroom facility there.

Members voted 4-0 to authorize Police Chief Dave Cincoski to pursue a no-match grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for bullet-proof vests. That grant would pay 50 percent of the cost of acquiring any new vests.

Members also voted 4-0 to authorize the cutting of a manual check in the amount of $28,822 for a new squad car, a 2011 Dodge Charger. The council approved that expenditure last year but the CPD has only now taken delivery of the car.