By KEVIN NEVERS

The bids for Phase I of the South Calumet Business District project are in, and they’re in the ballpark.

At its meeting Monday night, the Chesterton Town Council voted 5-0 to take those bids under advisement.

The bids, from lowest to highest:

•Walsh & Kelly Inc. of Griffith: $512,086.10.

•Rieth-Riley Construction Company of Gary: $519,352.64.

•Grimmer Construction Inc. of Highland: $563,019.10.

•Haas Construction of Calumet City, Ill.: $611,949.

Town Engineer Mark O’Dell told the Chesterton Tribune after the meeting that the contracted project engineer, DLZ of South Bend, had previously estimated the hard construction costs of Phase I at around $600,000.

Phase I consists chiefly of the construction of a connector road between 100E and South Calumet Road, to be aligned with the entrance to Round the Clock; the construction of the intersection of 100E and Beverly Drive Extended; and the installation of a storm sewer link to an existing detention basin on Beverly Drive.

Phase II—scheduled for completion in 2009—consists of improvements to 1100N, 100E, and South Calumet Road, including the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of 1100N and 100E; roadway lighting; street- and landscaping; and the installation of a detention basin west of South Calumet Road.

Meanwhile, Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann told the council that land acquisition for right-of-way needed for Phase I “is moving along very positively.”

No date has been set for the permanent closure of the intersection of South Calumet Road and 1100N. But officials have said that the intersection could be closed anytime after the completion of Phase I.

Posted 5/13/2008