The Chesterton Town
Council is proceeding with a $1.8-million general obligation bond issue, the
proceeds of which will be used for road paving and repairs.
At their meeting
Monday night, members officially considered on first reading an ordinance
which would authorize a five-year issue of up to $1.8 million in bonds.
Members then voted unanimously to enact an ordinance which provides for the
appropriation of the bond proceeds for roadwork and sidewalk improvements.
This five-year bond
follows on the heels of a previous one, the last payment on which the town
made this year. That bond financed a number of major paving projects,
including South Fifth Street between 1100N and West Porter Ave.; South 11th
Street between 1050N and 1100N; and West Porter Ave. between South 15th
Street and 23rd Street.
Town Attorney Chuck
Lukmann told the Chesterton Tribune after the meeting that the
maximum interest rate on the issue would be 4 percent. At that rate, owners
of homes assessed at $150,000 would pay $10.30 more annually than they paid
servicing the debt on the previous bond, which was valued at $1.5 million.
Owners of home assessed at $250,000 would pay $20.57 more annually; and
owners of commercial property assessed at $100,000 would pay $15.63 more
annually.
This new bond issue
would fund, among other projects, the re-paving of South 11th Street between
1100N and Park Ave.
Lukmann is
currently expecting the bond sale on July 18 and the closing on Aug. 1.
Annexation
In other business,
members voted unanimously to approve an ordinance which annexes an
11.39-acre property on the north side of East Porter Ave. located east of
the bridge over Sand Creek, in unincorporated Westchester Township.
The property is
owned by Ballestero Living Trust and its annexation fulfills the terms of an
agreement made last year with the Chesterton Utility, which provided
sanitary sewer service to the property when the Ballesteroes’ septic system
failed.
Under policy, the
Utility will provide sanitary service to owners of unincorporated property
provided they agree to its annexation by the town.