The Porter County Drainage board on Monday received bids for a total of eight projects planned for the coming weeks including clearing and constructing a new storm sewer pipe to be installed along the Gustafson ditch area in Liberty Twp.

Board president Dave Burrus said the county issued two requests for proposals regarding the project. The county will first need to clear the nearly one-mile of regulated drain before the sewer system can be installed.

The area is located near the CR 1050N and CR 200W intersection where frequent flooding has been reported.

Burrus said the reason for the blockage along Arm 1 of the ditch is due to broken field tile that had been installed years ago by local farmers who used the underground tiles to maintain their fields. The older 18-inch sewer pipe had been broken up by tree roots throughout the years and will be replaced with a 24-inch sewer pipe.

The intersection will also be fitted with inlets that would be used as a catch basin to mitigate flooding.

The board approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the county and the town of Chesterton. Chesterton has offered to pay $50,000 for the improvements while the county agreed to pick up the rest of the tab using funds from the County Economic Development Income Tax.

“We are really grateful for that,” said Burrus. The drainage board said they are waiting to hear a response regarding the MOU from the Chesterton Stormwater Management Board which was scheduled to have a meeting Monday night.

The sole bid for the clearing was made by Misch Trucking and Excavating of Wheatfield for $47,500. Feeling there may be an opportunity to cut costs, the board approved a motion to work with Misch and hold further negotiations with them about the scope of the project.

The board did however approve a $240,000 bid from R.V. Sutton Excavation of Chesterton for the installation of the storm sewer system. Burrus said he was not sure when the contractors would reach completion, but work is expected to begin in the fall.

R.V. Sutton was also chosen by the board to replace a manhole on Meridian Rd. just north of the CR 700N intersection. County Surveyor Kevin Breitzke said replacement will be made for public safety. He said the current manhole is becoming “rotted out.”

Sutton will be paid its asking price of $6,818 for placing the new manhole.

In another discussion, the board received comments from several property owners in agreement to let the county use their easements to fix flooding troubles at the CR 900N and Meridian Rd. intersection near the CSX railroad. The county is planning to place culverts underneath the railroad and will dig a ditch that will run aside it.

Burrus said that the intersection has been a large concern for a number of years.

Also on Monday, Board member Harvey Nix, who is also an engineer of the Soil and Water Conservation District, said the district is willing to give the drainage board $1,000 from a state grant that could be used for future projects.

The board voted to accept the money and is planning to fund seeding that would be used for erosion control.

Burrus after the meeting told the Chesterton Tribune the board is considering whether or not it will restore a pond that has dried up east of Brummit Road near the eastern boundary of Westchester Twp. The pond drained as a result of efforts to control flooding in the nearby properties including the Greenville subdivision.

The county cleared parts of the connecting ditch and replaced a culvert under Brummit Road with the county highway department last fall after several residents asked that the water level be lowered to prevent flooding.

Burrus said erosion around the pond cut a channel which drained the remaining water.

Since wetlands surround the area, both the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have inspected the pond and may continue to work with the county on further engineering, but no definite plan is in place, Burrus said.

He said the reaction from residents on whether the pond should be restored is mixed as restoring the pond may bring back flooding problems in the surrounding ditches. The pond, he said, is only two to three feet deep.

Tanner Trace resident Mary Borns alerted the drainage board that the pond adjacent to her property has turned brown, which she said she has never observed in the thirty years she has lived in the subdivision.

Borns said she noticed the change in mid-June, about the same time construction began on the new hospital facility just yards away.

The pond also contains fish, she said, which she has not been able to see due to the change in color.

“I have seen a direct impact on this pond.” she said. “Something is happening.”

Breitzke said the county building department could look into what is happening with the pond and said there are “many possibilities” for change in appearance. He mentioned the water from the subdivision connects to Damon Run and also that Tanner Trace subdivision sits above a number of older field tiles.

Borns said she and her neighbors also have a large concern about the quality of the groundwater in Tanner Trace with the new developments going in.

Towards the end of the meeting, Burrus mentioned he “heard a rumor in the county building” that the surveyor’s administrative assistant, Peggy Urello, will be retiring soon.

Urello said she will, in fact, be taking leave of her post on Aug. 31 after completing 25 years of working in the surveyor’s office.

“I’ve met many wonderful people and friends,” Urello said, reflecting on her experience. Urello mentioned she plans to volunteer at the hospital.

The board gave Urello a standing ovation as Burrus thanked her for years of service.

Posted 8/17/2010