In April the
Chesterton Town Council promised residents of the Tamarack subdivision that
Porter County authorities would be contacted about the possibility of using
unincorporated right-of-way along the west side of C.R. 100E, immediately
south of 1100N, for the construction of a sidewalk.
At issue: Tamarack
residents say that the lack of a sidewalk along 100E puts runners, walkers,
and bicyclists in jeopardy.
The problem: C.R.
100E between 1100N and Spencer Court is not a Town of Chesterton road and
any unused right-of-way along it belongs to Porter County, meaning that the
town is not at liberty to build a sidewalk on it.
Now, though,
revisiting the issue at their meeting Monday night, members aren’t sure
whether sufficient right-of-way even exists along C.R. 100E for the
construction of a sidewalk.
That would mean,
unless all of the property owners along C.R. 100E were willing voluntarily
to part with a ribbon of their land, that it’s unlikely a sidewalk could be
built at all, Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann said.
Street Commissioner
John Schnadenberg and Town Engineer Mark O’Dell said that they would take a
look at the maps and determine before the council’s next meeting, Oct. 25,
exactly how much unused right-of-way is available along C.R. 100E.
Someday, although
probably not someday soon, the Westchester-Liberty Trail will connect
Dogwood Park to Tamarack--and from there to Rail Road and Coffee Creek
Center--by way of 1100N. But the W-L Trail will not actually extend all the
way east to C.R. 100E. Instead, it will run along the north side of 1100N
from Dogwood Park to a point several hundred feet west of C.R. 100E, where
it will cross the roadway and connect to Tamarack via a thin corridor of
municipal property owned by the Parks Department but surrounded by property
in the unincorporated county.
CFD Open House
In other business,
Fire Chief John Jarka expressed his gratitude to everyone who attended the
CFD annual open house on Saturday and to everyone who made it such a
success.
The latter include
the LOK Wishing Tree Foundation, which gave away free carbon monoxide
detectors; Porter Regional Hospital; National Park Service firefighters from
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, with Smokey the Bear in tow; the Northwest
Indiana Commuter Transportation District, promoting Operation Lifesaver; the
Burns Harbor Fire Department, which performed an extrication exercise; Joe’s
Towing Inc.; and Local 4600 of the International Fire Fighters Association.
“And the Lights &
Sirens Parade was awesome,” Jarka added.
“Yes it was,”
agreed member Emerson DeLaney, R-5th.
Thanks from
Frontline Foundations Inc.
Meanwhile, Amber
Hicks, Jon Hicks, and Debbie Spurling from Frontline Foundations Inc.
thanked the council from the floor for its support of the 10th annual Hooked
on Art Live Street Art Festival on Saturday, Sept. 24.
Amber Hicks in
particular thanked department heads and their crews for the great job,
including Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg and the Street Department,
Park Superintendent Bruce Mathias and the Park Department, and Police Chief
Dave Cincoski and the Police Department.
“Chief Cincoski
volunteers a lot of his time,” she noted. “He spends the Friday night before
in the park, guarding our stuff. And then in the morning the police officers
come out and really work the crowd.”
Body Armor Grant
Cincoski reported
that the U.S. Department of Justice has awarded the Chesterton Police
Department a federal non-match grant in the amount of $2,500 for the
purchase of new bulletproof vests, which have expiration dates and need to
be replaced periodically.
Cincoski said that
the purchase would have to be made anyway and that the grant will cover
roughly half the cost.
Early Voting
Member Dane Lafata,
D-3rd, took a moment at the end of the meeting to encourage Chesterton
residents and all Dunelanders to take advantage of the early-voting center
conveniently located in the meeting room of the town hall, 790 Broadway.
“How lucky
Chesterton is to have an early voting location,” Lafata said.
Early-voting hours:
* 8:30 a.m. to 3:30
p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
* Plus 4:30 to 7:30
p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
* Plus 8:30 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, and Saturday, Nov. 5.
All early-voting
ends at 12 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7.