City must redo Sheller-Globe study

Portland will have to pay thousands of dollars to renew a study for the Sheller-Globe south building just months after it was first completed.

Portland Board of Works voted Thursday to allocate $2,250 to The ELAM Group to renew its exterior study of the property located at 510 S. Bridge St., a step required by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to sell the building.

The board also approved a preliminary agreement that, if enacted, would utilize what Portland Mayor John Boggs called “an overcalculation” of materials from Milestone Contractors to pave a majority of the driveway of a Portland resident’s property in exchange for the city gaining rights to utilize his land beyond the right-of-way easement.

Boggs said he has received verbal and written assurance from IDEM that its chemical inspection of the Sheller-Globe south building is complete. That step is the biggest step in clearing the building for a sale, but IDEM cannot sign off on it until the city renews the exterior study of the building that was completed in the spring.

That study, which originally had a $5,200 price tag, has since expired and it has to be renewed in order for IDEM to sign off on it.

“We have to accept this to get the ball rolling,” Boggs said.

IDEM is paying for its chemical inspection of the building; however, since IDEM took several months to inspect the building, ELAM’s study expired, leading to the need to renew it, Boggs said.

After the needed inspections and paperwork are complete, the city plans to sell the building to John Goodhew of Goodhew’s Roofing and Metals for $52,500. Goodhew’s bid was selected by the board in June 2019.

Jerry Leonhard, the only remaining board member from last year, said he’s excited to see the project completed.

Boggs said IDEM prohibits whoever owns the building from using it as a residential area, from drilling into the foundation over a concern of harmful gas residue and from building a water well.

Goodhew plans on using the building to store equipment, Boggs said.

Boggs said Milestone, which was contracted to mill and pave 12 streets as part of the Community Crossings grant program (see related story), will pave Red St. Myers’ driveway at 1313 Blaine Pike, Portland, using extra materials acquired through the program. Boggs said St. Myers signed the agreement Thursday afternoon.

Indiana Department of Transportation paid for 75% of those materials as part of the grant program with Portland paying for the rest.

Board members gave a mixed answer when asked whether INDOT would allow those materials to be used beyond the streets specified in the grant application, concluding it was justified not specifying why.

This morning, Mallory Duncan from INDOT said the department does not allow any materials purchased through the grant program to be used outside of the specified roads.

After hearing about the INDOT response, Boggs consulted with city attorney Bill Hinkle and said the city will look to enter a new agreement with Milestone that doesn’t use materials funded through the grant program to pave St. Myers’ driveway.

Hinkle was unavailable for a phone interview.

In other business, board members Steve McIntosh, Leonhard and Boggs:

•Discussed the mayor’s intention to add a stormwater tax for Portland residents in 2021. The tax will make the city eligible for grants of up to $500,000 from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, Boggs said, and is utilized by 150 cities in the state.

The new tax is expected to be introduced as an ordinance at Portland City Council’s meeting Tuesday.

•Signed off on the inspection of property lines around Randy Fisher’s home at 121 W. 200 South, Portland, to determine if it’s able to be added to the city’s sewer line by digging up land around nearby Ruth Street within the site’s right-of-way easement.

•Heard from Boggs the four-way stop sign located in the middle of the intersection of Ship and Main streets will be eventually replaced with four flashing stop signs after it’s paved