Joe Hornaday
Greensburg Daily News
Greensburg —
With their headlights focused and beaming down Lincoln Street, the members of the Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) Board continued steering the project on Wednesday night.
The TIF Board received a new tentative Lincoln Street schedule from Dave O'Mara Contractors through City Engineer Gary Murray on Wednesday, which detailed the likely future of the project through November. Currently, the Lincoln Street Reconstruction Project is on track to be completed by next summer.
According to Murray, over the next two weeks, paving will take place from the Greensburg Plaza to the bypass. Traffic will once again be shifted over to the west side of the road within that time frame. While the project began with water, sewer and underground work, aesthetic touches like driveways and curbs are finally showing up along the street.
The upcoming traffic shift should progress quickly, Murray said. More storm sewer work needs to be done on that section of the roadway, though the majority of the storm work is complete.
TIF Vice President Doug Fry expressed grade level concerns as roads once again connect to Lincoln Street. He pointed out the level change near the El Reparo restaurant.
Both Murray and Street Commissioner Mark Klosterkemper were confident that the necessary changes to remedy the situation would not be a problem and would alleviate some of the area's drainage issues.
TIF President Ken Dornich shared his continued worry regarding the business owners on Lincoln Street, who have reported some slow-down in business. Dornich said he knew El Reparo had been hurt, mostly by non-local patrons. The TIF Board, Murray and Mayor Gary Herbert reiterated the need for local residents to continue patronizing the Lincoln Street businesses. Dornich said that while he does hear about a downturn in business, most owners along the street are pleased that the project is happening. Dornich drew comparisons to the problems in downtown Rushville, in which work on the city's Main Street has shut off access to several businesses and completely closed down the city's main drag.
Darren Burkhart of HNTB brought the board up to speed on the realignment of Floral Court to Lincoln Street and Montgomery Road. Burkhart explained that the next submittal to INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) on Aug. 18 would conclude the last the portion of the review process. He noted that the archaeological assessment had to be resubmitted but that the right-of-way acquisition appraisal process is complete.
Once again, the TIF Board addressed a supplemental change to Lincoln Street in the amount of $49,700 not including the property acquisition in the realignment of Floral Court. Burkhart reported that the overall cost had not changed, but rather the allocation of funds had shifted and a math error had been corrected. Ultimately, there would be a savings in cost, he reported, which was passed by the board minus Lowell Rethlake who dissented, citing disapproval of the extra expense. Klosterkemper noted that the supplement would result in a $56,000 cost reduction in total costs of the more than $6 million project. What the TIF will pay out for the parcel of land will be saved in construction costs in the Floral Court area, Klosterkemper said.
Before adjourning, the TIF Board: approved two reimbursements from INDOT; approved secretary payments and paid an invoice to RW Armstrong in the amount of $30,649.30.
The next regular meeting of the TIF Board is set for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 25 at City Hall.
