Wal-Mart stoplight coming

Portland may finally get its stoplight.

A city official announced Monday night that work to install a stoplight at Votaw Street and Industrial Park Drive is expected to begin next month. The city learned it would be getting the light nearly two years ago.

"I think it certainly is long overdue," Bruce Hosier, mayor of Portland, told members of the Portland City Council while making the announcement.

The project has been delayed several times because of negotiations between officials with the Indiana Department of Transportation and Wal-Mart. The retailer is paying for the light to be installed.

Hosier said Monday that all agreements between INDOT and Wal-Mart have been signed. He said he expects the work to progress quickly.

City officials feel the light is needed because of increased traffic due to the Wal-Mart Supercenter located near the intersection. Also, the intersection is busy because Industrial Park Drive is used to access several factories.

INDOT officials approved the installation of the light in July of 2007 and estimated that installation would take 90 to 120 days. The city's first request for a light was denied by INDOT officials in late 2006.

Also Monday, council members reviewed the 2010 city budget and approved it on first reading.

The total budget would be $8,080,136 and is expected to be reviewed by the Jay County Council on Wednesday.

This year's budget was $7,332,484 after cuts were made by the Department of Local Government Finance.

The budget includes funds for the airport, the police department, the fire department, the mayor's office and the street and park department.

Council president Bill Gibson suggested that the $10,000 allotted each year in the city's budget for the John Jay Center for Learning be removed.

He said the renovations to the Weiler Building, which is the home of the JJCL, are completed and the higher education center does not need the money.

In other business, council members held a public hearing on the city's application for a Community Focus Fund grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs for the Steen Addition project. The city is asking for $600,000 for the estimated $975,000 project. If the city's grant request is approved, there is enough money available in the city's budget to pay the remaining costs, Hosier said this morning.

The Steen Addition project is designed to eliminate combined sewer overflows. During heavy rains, the combined storm and sanitary sewers back up and overflow into yards in the addition.

The addition includes Reed and Marion streets, and Hagins, Detroit and Massachusetts avenues.

The storm and sanitary sewers will be separated, the streets will be repaired and curbs will be replaced or added.

No one in the audience spoke during the public hearing.

Also Monday, council members:

•Postponed making a decision about a request for a streetlight to be installed along Alexander Street, in between High and Walnut streets.

Mike Norris, 927 W. High St., made the request because the area - which is near Judge Haynes Elementary School - is very dark at night. He said that several of his neighbors have seen suspicious activity in the area at night.

Council members decided to go down and look at the area and possibly make a decision at the next council meeting.

•Approved a five-year tax abatement on the installation of a new roof at Pennville Custom Cabinetry, 600 E. Votaw St., Portland.

Bill Bradley, executive director of Jay County Development Corporation, told council members on Monday that the Portland Tax Abatement Advisory Committee recently reviewed the request and decided to recommend that the council approve it. The roof is expected to cost $117,000.

Normally, tax abatements granted for building improvements are for 10 years and cost more than $200,000. Since the cost of the roof is lower, Bradley said he thought it made sense for the abatement to instead be for five years.

•Voted to add an identity theft prevention ordinance, as required by the Federal Trade Commission.

The ordinance is designed to identify red flags that will alert employees when new or existing accounts are opened using false information, to protect the city against false accounts, to make sure that existing accounts were not opened using false information and to provide guidelines for how to respond to such problems.

•Voted to delete a section in the city's ordinance dealing with sewer taps.

City attorney Bill Hinkle said two sections in the city's ordinance contain information about the city's tap in fee. When the fee was increased to $500 from $300, only one of the sections was changed to reflect the higher fee.

Hinkle recommended that one of the sections be deleted to make the ordinance clearer.

•Heard councilman Kent McClung ask whether requiring people who tap into the city's sewer line to waive their rights to fight future annexation violates state law.

Hinkle said it would not violate the state law, and that the state gives the city the authority to decide whether or not to require residents to tap in. He added that homes located outside the city limits would not be required to tap in because city ordinances and guidelines do not apply to those outside city limits. Those living outside city limits would be subject to county and state laws, Hinkle said.

Several residents of county road 100 North and county road 150 South attended a meeting of the Portland Board of Works on July 23 and said they did not want to sign the remonstrance waiver. County health officials recently sent these residents letters stating that they must connect to recently-installed city sewer lines that run near their homes.[[In-content Ad]]