The Chesterton Town Council voted 5-0 at its meeting Monday night to approve a 2012 CEDIT Plan, with a total projected project cost of $1,032,000.

Which is $159,329 less than the town has in its CEDIT account, after receiving this year’s allotment of $686,245, on top of a 2011 balance of $186,626.

Total CEDIT funds available in 2012: $872,871.

CEDIT is short for County Economic Development Income Tax, which all working Porter County residents pay, a per capita share of which is apportioned to all municipalities in the county.

The project list:

•$4,000 for the ongoing annual IDACS licensing fees paid by the Chesterton Police Department.

•$4,000 for the ongoing annual Aether System computer upgrade paid by the CPD.

•$29,000 for CPD officer equipment.

•$31,700 for CPD car and computer upgrades.

•$65,500 for equipment for the Chesterton Fire Department.

•$15,000 for equipment for the Parks and Recreation Department.

•$100,000 for playground equipment. Superintendent Bruce Mathias told the Chesterton Tribune after the meeting that a safety audit will soon be conducted of all playground equipment at all parks, to determine which is in need of repair, upgrade, or replacement.

•$25,000 for phones, computers, and billing for the town hall.

•$150,000 for salaries paid to those working in economic development functions, including Town Manager Bernie Doyle.

•$22,000 for the third payment of six on the Street Department’s grapple truck.

•$10,000 for equipment for the Street Department’s Central Services section.

•$2,500 for equipment for the Building Department.

•$20,000 for unspecified miscellaneous expenses.

•$5,000 for legal fees.

•$25,000 for equipment for the new municipal complex at 1490 Broadway.

•$30,000 for the mortgage payment on the municipal complex’s land.

•$63,000 for the Emergency Fund.

•$100,000 for a proposed restroom facility in Thomas Centennial Park.

•$50,000 for any grants in need of matching funds.

•$30,000 for the Town Manager’s Office.

•$10,000 for repairs to the town hall.

•$22,000 for digital records management.

•$2,500 for a safety program.

•$6,000 for the municipal e-mail account.

•$5,000 for a narrow banding radio system.

•$5,000 for a signage reflectivity program.

•$200,000 for road paving and maintenance.

The big ticket items, accounting for 53 percent of the entire CEDIT Plan: playground equipment, salaries, Thomas Centennial restrooms, and road paving and maintenance.

Town Engineer Mark O’Dell told the Chesterton Tribune after the meeting that the town is unlikely to end up spending anywhere near the entire earmarked amount and will probably at year’s end have a balance, as it did on Dec. 31.

In other business, members voted 5-0 to reserve 50 percent of whatever its share may be this year of the state riverboat casino tax for sidewalk replacement.

Members also voted 5-0 to continue the public hearing on the petition of Lisa and Terry Pearson for a vacation of a portion of unimproved Jefferson Ave. adjacent to their residence in the 500 block of South 18th Street.

The Pearsons did not attend Monday’s public hearing—at which no one spoke in favor of or in opposition to their petition—but members want them to present their case before voting on the vacation.