City to pay for erosion (06/06/08)

The city of Portland is going to pay for an erosion problem at a former sports park.

Members of the Portland Board of Works voted Thursday to hire TJ's Concrete Work LLC, Portland, to fix an erosion problem at the site of the former XPLEX Extreme Competition Park, located on county road 100 North. The cost is $18,265.

"It's eroding very badly," Jeff Harker, street and park department superintendent, told board members this morning about one of the retention ponds at XPLEX. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management recently sent the city a letter stating that the erosion must be stopped.

Bruce Hosier, mayor of Portland, said after the meeting that dirt around the pond is eroding during heavy rains. The runoff could flow into rivers and streams, he said.

Glynn Barber, who owned and operated XPLEX, currently is in the midst of litigation with the contractor who was developing the park. The park has been closed for about two years. When asked why the city was paying to stop the erosion instead of Barber, Hosier said, "Right now, basically, it's all falling back to the city of Portland."

TJ's will move some of the dirt near the retention pond and smooth everything out, Hosier said. Then, fertilizer and grass seed will be applied near the pond.

Harker said the work would start immediately and take about a week to complete.

Also submitting quotes were Limestone Products, Inc., Portland, which quoted $24,400, and A. Landon Excavating LLC, rural Portland, quoted $19,950.

Also this morning, board members voted to purchase five combined sewer overflow meters from Gripp Incorporated, Westfield, at a cost of $37,041.

Geotivity Inc., Indianapolis, also submitted a cost estimate of $105,996, and ADS Environmental Services, Indianapolis, quoted $33,990.

Gene Amlin, a consultant engineer for the city, suggested board members chose Gripp, even though the company did not have the lowest quote. He said the ADS quote did not include all of the specifications he requested.

He said the Geotivity quote was high because it included a three-year service agreement and the equipment was very high-tech.

The city needs the meters to monitor how much water is flowing through the city's CSOs. A CSO is when storm and storm and sewer water overwhelm the capacity of city sewer lines and the treatment plant and is discharged into area rivers, streams and ditches.

The meters will determine which CSOs have the heaviest water flows and need to be eliminated first.

In other business, board members:

•Approved two change orders for the recent replacement of the city hall roof.

The first is for $1,550. Hosier said that when the old roof was torn away, employees of Fort Wayne Roofing and Sheet Metal Corp. discovered that some of the wood near the front of city hall was rotten and had to be replaced.

The second change order is to add a metal extender at a cost of $280. The extender runs around the perimeter of the roof, Hosier said.

The change orders bring the cost of the new roof to $31,430, he said. The roof has a 15-year warranty.

•Voted to sign a contract with the Indiana Department of Transportation for the river path project.

The contract states the timeline for the project, the cost of the project and the cost. The trail system will begin near Freedom Park and run to and through Hudson Family Park.

INDOT awarded the city a $560,000 Transportation Enhancement Grant to help fund the creation of the trail system.

•Voted to purchase two electric air pumps for the Portland Wastewater Treatment Plant's aeration tanks.

The pumps will be purchased from Fuller Engineering Company LLC at a total cost of $11,200. Bob Brelsford, superintendent of the wastewater treatment plant, said the current pumps are about 12 years old and the amount of air the pumps release can no longer be adjusted. The old pumps are pumping too much air and using too much electricity, he said.[[In-content Ad]]