Burns Harbor residents don’t pay a trash-collection or recycling fee, but a monthly fee to subsidize the cost of renting fire hydrants is in the works.

The Town Council on Wednesday authorized Clerk-treasurer Jane Jordan to research how much the fee, to be paid on Indiana American Water Co. bills, would be for business, industrial and residential customers.

Jordan said early indications are that business/industrial would absorb more of the cost, and only residents connected to the IAWC system would be billed.

Councilman Mike Perrine proposed having an enabling ordinance drafted. He said the town pays IAWC $3,800 a month for 80 hydrants and as more subdivisions are built out, many additional hydrants will be added, each at a cost of $47.51 a month.

“It’s time for us to look into alternate means of revenue,” said Perrine. The hydrant fee is meant to recover the cost of providing water for public fire protection services.

The fee first was discussed at a previous council meeting to prepare the 2010 budget. Another budget workshop was set for Aug. 21 at 7:30 a.m., at which time the council may award a bid for the demolition of the long-abandoned Standard Plaza truck stop on U.S. 20.

Town attorney Robert Welsh read the demolition bids, which he described as confusing, and the council asked that he and SEH, the consultant on the project, meet to review the submissions.

The bid of Boyd Construction of Hobart for $40,200 did not include a bid bond and was disqualified. That left Environmental Cleansing Corp. of Illinois and Bechstein Construction Corp. of Tinley Park, IL., but their bids were not in the same format.

SEH was paid $3,000 to supervise the bidding. No one from SEH was present last night.

Environmental Cleansing submitted a base bid of $33,638 with an Alternate 1 at $750 and Alternate 2 at $15,636 or a total bid of $50,024. Welsh said alternates were not on the bid specifications he was provided and he had no idea what the alternates represented.

Likewise, Bechstein’s bid, according to Welsh, showed $19,350 in one place and in another $19,350 with $4,875 listed to remove a foundation and $1,250 for environmental inspection. Under the latter scenario the bid would be $25,475.

Welsh speculated that at a pre-bid meeting with contractors SEH may have modified the bid specs to include alternates but the town wasn’t made aware of it. Perrine’s motion passed 4-0 with Louis Bain absent to toss the Boyd bid and have Welsh confer with SEH prior to the Aug. 21 meeting.

The plaza owners have refused to demolish the long-time eyesore east of Indiana 149. After the meeting Jordan said it hasn’t been decided what fund the town will use to pay for it. Council members believe removing the building will make the site more attractive for development.

In a related matter, the council unanimously accepted the $34,285 bid of Chester Information Technology to install fiberoptic cable, new phone lines and to set up the town hall and Street/Fire Department buildings for network connectivity.

Not accepted was the $31,550 low bid of CC Technology for two reasons. Council member Toni Biancardi said that firm would open trench but not repair the grounds and install four fiber strands, while Chester would directional bore requiring no repairs and install six strands.

After installation Biancardi said the council needs to decide whether to upgrade the current phone system or buy a new one. About $55,000 has been appropriated for the project.

Given two options, the council chose to have Parkwood Estates developer Dick Davis take a request not to install a portion of his subdivision sidewalks to the town Plan Commission for a recommendation.

Davis said it was a builder, not himself, who was making the request so Perrine said the builder needs to make that case to the Plan Commission, and Davis needs to indicate if he concurs.

Welsh said the council has jurisdiction over infrastructure like sidewalks and could make the decision, which Biancardi favored, but Perrine and Councilman Cliff Fleming favored getting input from the Plan Commission first.

Perrine said putting in all the sidewalks would benefit the community, but taking some out would benefit only the developer financially.

In other business, Perrine read aloud for 24 minutes a 10-page, sexually explicit ordinance regulating adult businesses in town followed by its 4-0 adoption on final reading.

The ordinance was recommended by the Plan Commission; it establishes requirements for the location and operation of adult businesses based on their adverse secondary effects such as increased crime and urban blight and decreased nearby property values. Davis commended the town for adopting the ordinance.

Also Wednesday, the commission agreed to consider an amendment to the new zoning ordinance so it doesn’t imply that some improvements under $1,000 like installation of fences and sheds don’t require a building permit. Building commissioner Bill Arney said he’s losing the ability to inspect the work by not requiring a permit.

At the request of Burns Harbor Park Board president Ron Day with three other members present, he asked and the council OK’d giving the Park Department $5,000 to carry it over to year’s end. Jordan later said she’s not sure how the funds will be disbursed but the council may just pay some park bills directly.

Perrine said while the Park Department is the first to run out of money this year, it won’t be the only one. Day said park insurance jumped with construction of a shelter and playground at new Bolinger Park, and the $2 increase in the minimum wage hit the park hard.

A bit of good news, Day added, was that last week’s Lakeland Park back-to-school pizza party was a success. Approximately 150 persons, mostly children, attended.

Posted 8/13/2009