Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Town Council rejects all fire engine bids; CFD will re-spec it

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By KEVIN NEVERS

Preparing bid specifications for a complicated piece of equipment likely to cost half a million dollars or more requires a nit-picking sort of attention to detail.

So it’s got to be frustrating when the lowest bidders on that piece of equipment were the lowest only because they listed as optional certain features designated in the specs as required.

For that reason, Chesterton Fire Chief John Jarka urged the Town Council at its meeting Monday night to reject all seven bids on the CFD’s new engine, with the idea of re-writing the specs from scratch.

Members accordingly voted unanimously to reject the bids and release the bid bonds.

“When you start adding up everything you need, you’re already up to your price,” noted Member Emerson DeLaney, R-5th, the council’s liaison to the CFD. “There are some things that can be trimmed. We don’t need all the bells and whistles.”

“It makes sense to spend the money carefully,” agreed Member Jim Ton, R-1st. “So let’s do it over again.”

The best bid was on a demo model priced at $329,800. But as Jarka observed in a memo to the council, the demo lacks multiple features, all need by the CFD: a foam system, tool and EMS storage compartments, a Federal Q siren, an on-board generator, and a light tower. It’s also equipped with a 1,250 gallon-per-minute pump, when the spec was for a 1,500 gpm pump; and a 380 horsepower engine, when the spec was for a 400 hp engine.

Signal Update

In other business, Town Engineer Mark O’Dell reported that work on the upgraded traffic signal at the intersection of Indian Boundary Road and North Calumet Road is continuing.

The new signal has been installed, O’Dell said, along with the posts and mast arms. The general contractor is now waiting for NIPSCO to provide an electrical service point, at which time service which will be switched from the old signal to the new one.

Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg did say that he’s currently exploring options for new low-maintenance landscaping options for the traffic island.

The upgraded signal is being funded with an 80/20 grant, in the amount of $223,578, from the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. Project specs include a new LED signal, a new controller box, new conduit wiring below ground, a battery backup system, and decorative posts and mast arms.

The Bucket Truck

Meanwhile, Schnadenberg announced that the Street Department’s bucket truck will be out of service for some time, after an engine failure common to this 2003 International model--antifreeze leaking into the oil--materialized.

The cost of repair: $6,000.

The Street Department bought the bucket truck used from a Wisconsin company several years ago and it has since proved a valuable addition to the fleet.

 

CPD to mark Police Week in ceremony on Thursday

The Chesterton Police Department will observe National Police Week with a ceremony at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14, in front of the station at Broadway and Eighth Street.

The public is invited.

The ceremony will be followed by an inspection of officers and their squad cars.

Then, at 6 p.m., the Police Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting.

In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as Officers Memorial Day and the week of May 15 as National Police Week, to honor and remember the men and women in law enforcement who gave their lives in the line of duty.

Deadline for removing political signs has expired

Chesterton Interim Building Commissioner Mark O’Dell took a moment at the Town Council’s meeting Monday night to thank the candidates for removing their political signage before the five-day deadline established by Town Code expired.

In the event, however, of a candidate’s possibly having forgotten some fugitive sign, the Code Enforcement Officer will be taking a quick sweep through town this week, O’Dell said.

 

 

 

Posted 5/12/2015

 
 
 
 

 

 

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