Engineering contract wins city approval

The Portland Board of Works approved an $8,376 contract with Choice One Engineering Thursday morning in an attempt to gain a dollar for dollar state grant.
“This is something new that came out of state legislation … for street funding,” Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman told the board. The grant, from the Indiana Department of Transportation, would provide dollar for dollar matching funds for work on city streets if the city completes a street assessment. The assessment must be completed by July 29, but the city is not guaranteed the grant even if the assessment is done in time.
Geesaman told fellow board members Bill Gibson and Jerry Leonhard that Choice One had been chosen, because it offered the most cost-effective option to meet the state’s deadline.
Geesaman went on to tell board members that he thought the grant would be a great way to repave Industrial Park Road, which he estimated could cost the city upwards of $700,000. With the grant, he said, the city’s portion of that would only be $350,000.
Gibson initially questioned whether the $8,376 contract was worth “only the chance” of getting a grant. He said he was hesitant to gamble more than $8,000 on the chance of receiving state funds for road repair. Geesaman said the odds would be in Portland’s favor, because few other cities would be able to meet the assessment deadline.
Ryan Lefeld, vice-president of Choice One, told the board that this year would be the prime year for jumping on the grant. “The pot of money available next year will be dramatically decreased,” he said.
The board also approved a $5,800 contract with the National Land Advisory Group of Columbus, Ohio, for a housing study of the city. The city will pay $2,900 of the contract with the remainder being covered by a grant.
Geesaman said he’s been approached repeatedly in his last four years as mayor about the lack of housing in the city. “[CEOs and professionals] are working here,” he said. “But they don’t live here.” He mentioned that many people who are employed in Portland live in Muncie or Celina, Ohio, and commute to work.
He said he hopes the housing study would show the city what needs to be done in order to draw residents to the city and encourage people to build within the corporation limits.
Geesaman said the Office of Community and Rural Affairs is suggesting that cities begin focusing more on their residents than on their industries. This housing study, he said, would help Portland do that.
In other business, the Board of Works:
•Heard an update on the city’s long term plan for eradicating combined sewer overflows. Brian Haughton of Jones and Henry presented board members with a couple of options to choose from moving forward. The board members chose to look over the options before their next meeting on July 15, where they will make their decision.
•Was informed that Justin Detro had transferred from the wastewater treatment plant to the Street Department on June 5. Per city guidelines, the position was posted internally before being opened to the public. Detro’s transfer leaves an open position at the wastewater treatment plant.
•Heard an update on police officer Jamie Baughman, who had been on leave per the Family and Medical Leave Act since May 1. Geesaman informed board members that Baughman has put in his letter of resignation.
•Heard fire chief Mike Weitzel’s recommendation for a new Portland firefighter. Weitzel said of the five applicants, Brandon Clifton was chosen for the position, with Travis Theurer as a secondary option, per completion of state accreditation.
•Was informed the city had advertised for bids for construction of sewers at a couple of the city’s CSOs. The bids are due by 11 a.m. July 15 and the board will meet at noon to review the bids.
•Was introduced to new Portland police officer Jessica Ooten. Ooten has a bachelor of science in criminology from Ball State University and was approved as a police officer at the board’s previous meeting.