The Duneland
Business Initiative Group will receive $2,000 from the Town of Porter in
partnering for the Family 4th Festival in Hawthorne Park.
The Town Council at
its meeting voted 4-0 to match what was given last year with County Economic
Development Income Tax funds (CEDIT), on a motion made by member Bill Lopez.
Absent from the meeting was Council member Erik Wagner.
Laura Layman,
representing DBIG, presented a letter to the Council asking for support of
the event without a specific dollar amount.
“I’m leaving it up
to you guys. You know your budget. I don’t,” Layman said.
The festival, as in
years past, will start July 4 with a pancake breakfast by the Chesterton
Lion’s Club at 8 a.m. There will be a parade at 9 a.m. starting at Yost
Elementary which will end at Hawthorne Park. There will be family fun games,
live music, karaoke and a beer garden, concluding with a fireworks show at
dusk.
The Town will also
provide police and fire services as an in-kind donation.
“It a lot of work
but it’s a lot of fun,” said Council President Greg Stinson.
Park news
The past month has
been a particularly busy one for the Parks Department and it is likely to be
even more so next month.
Parks Director
Brian Bugajski thanked those who helped out during the Rebuilding Duneland
Together Work Day on Saturday, April 29. Volunteers scraped off the old
paint on the swing sets at Hawthorne Park before getting rained out halfway
through the day. The department will finish what’s left of the scraping and
will paint next, Bugajski said.
Bugajski thanked
the 23 volunteers who helped with the playground install at Hawthorne Park
on May 4 and 5.
“They were a
dedicated group who worked in the rain and mud, mud up to your waist in some
instances. We got everything in and opened it up. There were kids already
using the equipment within 20 minutes of us dropping fences,” said Bugajski.
Stinson and Town
Clerk-Treasurer Carol Pomeroy said they are thrilled to see families with
young children playing each time they drive by the park now.
“There had to be
ten or twelve cars, about four or five families with all their kids. It’s
being used. Everybody is really happy,” Pomeroy said.
Businesses
sponsoring the install were K Clean Systems who sponsored a lunch and Family
Express who provided doughnuts. Employees from Custom Fitz LED came to
provide a few hours of work, Bugajski said.
The department is
now taking registrations for Kids Summer Park Programs, which are free to
kids ages 6-11. The first session starts June 5. Information on how to
sign-up is on the Park Department’s Facebook page or residents can call
219-983-1042, Bugajski said.
More upcoming
events are the Summer Concert/Movie nights in partnership with the
Westchester Public Library. The first night will be Friday, June 9, at
Hawthorne Park with the Valparaiso Community Band playing at 7 p.m. followed
by “The Angry Birds Movie” at dusk.
The next day, the
department will host its sixth annual Summer Safety Fest from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Bugaski advised residents that there will be loud noises around
Hawthorne Park during that time and there will be two helicopters landing.
A practice landing
with one of the helicopters will be on Wednesday, May 31, he added.
Memorial Day
Service
Hawthorne Park will
host the annual Memorial Day Service at 1 p.m. next Monday, May 29. The
towns of Porter, Chesterton and Burns Harbor will be represented, Bugajski
said.
Bugaski said that
the Porter Fire Department will be presenting the Color Guard this year
instead of the American Legion.
Plow truck
In other department
reports, Public Works Director Brenda Brueckheimer put in a request to
receive bids on a new or newer truck that could also double as a snow plow.
The Town had
considered the request last year but the Council canceled the proposals.
Director of
Development Michael Barry said the truck request would cost approximately
$180,000, up slightly from last year. The payment could be done in five-year
installments at about $40,000 per year, Barry suggested.
The Town has money
available in CEDIT funds, according to Pomeroy, but Stinson said he would
like to consult with the Town’s financial advisor Umbaugh and Associates
before the next meeting to see what other options are available prior to
seeking bids.
“That’s a good
chuck of CEDIT,” Stinson said.
Bugajski also
requested the Council consider purchasing a new zero-turn mower to replace
the one now that is fourteen years old.
Road paving
In other business,
the Council passed on first reading an ordinance to allocate funds to match
the state grant for road paving projects this year. A public hearing for the
appropriation will be scheduled at the next Council meeting.
Barry said there
will be a meeting prior to the June 13 Council meeting to open bids for
paving.
Swimming pools
Meanwhile, Pomeroy
said she asks residents to not fill their swimming pools until after June 16
when the Town’s summer sprinkling credit takes effect.
“If they fill their
pool beforehand, it’s going to be pretty big depending on how many gallons
of water they use. It would raise their sewer bill up,” she said.