By KEVIN NEVERS

Chesterton Town Engineer Mark O’Dell has been green-lighted to estimate the cost of extending sanitary sewer service to the new hospital proposed by Community Health Systems Inc. (CHS) for the northwest corner of Ind. 49 and U.S. Highway 6 in Liberty Township.

At its meeting Monday night, the Town Council, acting on the recommendation of Member Jeff Trout, R-2nd, voted 5-0 to authorize O’Dell to begin his calculations.

“I’d like us to be as prepared as we can from our end,” Trout said, for any future meeting with CHS officials.

For his part O’Dell said that, for the best possible numbers, he will need some ballpark figures from CHS: some rough flows, for instance, the number of beds, that sort of thing.

Trout said that such information will be forthcoming.

No official representative of the Town of Chesterton has yet met formally with a representative of CHS on the matter of sanitary sewer service.

Under its current policy, the Utility Service Board will extend sanitary sewer service to the owners of unincorporated and unannexable property under the following conditions:

•The Service Board must determine that a sewer connection will benefit both the Utility and the town.

•The owner of the property or his or her successors must waive the right to remonstrate against any future annexation.

•The wastewater treatment plant must have a sufficient reserve of capacity.

•The owner of the property must pay all rates, fees, and charges required of other Utility customers and must pay all costs of the Service Board and staff.

•Until such time as any additional property owner is allowed to tap into the connection, the cost of all sewer lines and necessary equipment as well as repair and maintenance must be paid by the property owner who sought the connection.

The re-zoning of the new hospital—projected to have at least 225 beds plus a campus—has been finalized. Plans have yet to be submitted to the Porter County Plan Commission.

From the Streets

In other business, Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg declared the frost law in effect as of this morning. Temperatures are forecast to rise, he said, and as the frost works its way out of the ground roadways will soften and become liable to particular damage from trucks hauling heavy loads.

Truckers who plan on making deliveries in the town must obtain a permit from the Street Department and are encouraged to obtain current information on best times and routes for their deliveries. Call 926-2222 to arrange for the issuance of a permit.

Meanwhile, Schnadenberg said, he was able—after a number of phone calls—to determine who is responsible for the maintenance of the private drive at the entrance to the Indian Oak Mall, directly across from Plaza Drive. It’s a management company, he told the council, and within 48 hours of his informing the company of the monstrous potholes in the drive threatening to swallow vehicles those potholes were filled.

Re: The Dip

In South Calumet Road

In response to the query at the council’s last meeting from President Jim Ton, R-1st, O’Dell said that a Utility crew was unable to find any problem with a 15-inch sanitary sewer main to account for a pronounced dip in the northbound lane of South Calumet Road, immediately north of Porter Ave.

O’Dell did speculate that there may be an issue with a water main beneath the road but at the moment he has no hard information at all to explain the dip.

Re: Water Main

Planning Director Steve Yagelski informed members that he has received plans from Indiana-American Water Company for the upgrade of the water main along the east side of North Calumet Road, including the construction of a pump station. If all goes well, Yagelski said, that project should be completed by the end of the year.

Local 4600

Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann announced the Local 4600 of the International Association of Firefighters, representing the career firefighters of the Chesterton Fire Department, has unanimously elected Jamison Hicks to be its representative. Hicks, he said, has exercised the local’s right under the Meet and Confer Act to meet with the town’s representative to “discuss issues and proposals regarding wages, working conditions, and terms of employment.”

“We will comply with the law,” Lukmann said.

Re: The Brickyard Trail

Members Dave Cincoski, R-3rd, and Sharon Darnell, D-4th, along with O’Dell, have volunteered to represent the town in a meeting with state officials in regard to the Town of Porter’s plans for the Brickyard Trail, a hike-and-bike trail intended to link the Prairie Duneland Trail and the Calumet Trail.

The purpose of the meeting, Ton said, is to represent the Town of Chesterton’s interests at that meeting.

The CPD

Police Chief George Nelson told the council that the Chesterton Police Department responded to 902 calls in February and so far in March has responded to 311.

The CFD

Fire Chief Warren “Skip” Highwood told the council that the Chesterton Fire Department responded to 92 calls in February and in the year-to-date has responded to 216.

Posted 3/11/2008