The Ind. 49 Corridor project—which would extend sanitary sewer service well into unincorporated Liberty Township as far south of the Indiana Toll Road as U.S. Highway 6—is in the queue for federal dollars.

At Monday night’s Chesterton Town Council meeting, Member Sharon Darnell, D-4th, announced that on Friday she, Member Jeff Trout, R-2nd, Town Manager Bernie Doyle, and Porter County Council Member Bob Poparad met with staffers from the office of U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-1st, who has submitted the town’s request for grant funding.

“We’re still in the queue,” Darnell said. “It’s an excellent project. It’s not a Chesterton project. It’s a project that benefits the county as well as the region. And it’s a smart-growth project. Our goal is to run utilities to (U.S.) 6 for the betterment of the area.”

The immediate beneficiary of the project could be Community Health Systems (CHS), owner of Porter hospital, if CHS opts to send its wastewater to the Town of Chesterton for treatment. CHS, however, has not yet made that commitment, as—at last word—it’s still mulling the possibility of flowing sewage through the private Damon Run Conservancy District on its way to the City of Portage’s treatment plant.

Meanwhile, Member Nick Walding, R-3rd—who has volunteered to sit on the stakeholder steering committee for the Ind. 49 Gateway project, being pursued by the Town of Porter—reported that later this summer the Indiana Department of Transportation will begin enhancements of the Ind. 49 overpasses spanning U.S. Highway 20, U.S. Highway 12, and the CSX railroad to accommodate pedestrian and bike travel.

The steering committee is also discussing the feasibility of incorporating an “alternative method of transportation” which could conceivably carry folks who’ve stopped at the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center to Indiana Dunes State Park and other points in Duneland.

In other business, Doyle told members that, in advance of the groundbreaking this summer for the 24-hour freestanding emergency medical department being developed by the Sisters of St. Francis Health Systems Inc.—operator of Saint Anthony Memorial Health Center in Michigan City—the Sisters hope to meet soon with members to discuss the trajectory of the project.

Earlier in the meeting, Paul Tharp took the opportunity to respond to comments made at the council’s last meeting by Member Jim Ton, R-1st, who noted offhandedly that he would favor a study of the feasibility of so-called “voting centers,” which he said could save money.

“You’re the first politician to say it like that,” Tharp observed, “and I commend you for your honesty.”

The problem is this, Tharp continued. Under the proposal, the 111 precinct voting places would be trimmed to 17, manned by many fewer poll workers. “This is not going to be convenient,” he said. “Everyone is going to be funneled through these 17 places. People will drive past, see long lines, and drive on. Maybe they’ll come back or maybe they won’t.”

“I like the idea of saving money,” Tharp added. “I don’t like the inconvenience that’s going to crop up. What’s going to be the cost of saving money?”

　Posted 5/25/2010