Thursday morning the Huntingburg Board of Public Works & Safety listened to reports from department heads on tasks that are underway in their respective departments.
Assistant Chief of Police Ronnie Bowman told the board that an open house is still in the works as the department continues to settle into their newly-renovated facility, located along the 500 block of E 1st Street, they returned to the facility on June 20th. The department wants to hold an open house by the end of the month.
STREET DEPARTMENT SUPERINTEDENT-JASON STAMM
Also Street Department Superintendent, Jason Stamm, provided an overview of the city’s interest in the Community Crossing Grant and which projects they plan to include.
According to the officials with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), the Community Crossings Matching Grant is a program launched this year to provide nearly $150 million in funding to cities, towns, and counties across the Hoosier state in order to make improvements to local roads and bridges.
Community Crossings is a partnership between INDOT and Hoosier communities, both urban and rural, to invest in infrastructure projects that catalyze economic development, create jobs, and strengthen local transportation networks.
Stamm explains that 4 key projects for Huntingburg include: Washington street from 6th Street to Church Avenue including 7th street, 400 West running from somewhere around the freezer plant all the way to Phoenix and 11th Street from Chestnut to Highway 231. Stamm says the fourth project is on 12th street also from Chestnut to Highway 231.
Stamm says the department is working with Cash Waggner & Associates on the grant. The Director of Marketing & Client Relations , Tara Damin, was on hand to represent the firm and says that the project scores higher if a proposal indicates placing more funds in a match.
This is significant as the grant requires a 50/50 match between INDOT and local governmental units and match funds must come from Local Option Income Tax, Wheel/Surtax and Rainy Day Funds.
The city of Huntingburg has $480,000 from their Local Option Income Tax distribution funds.
Stamm notes that the Washington Street project was a top priority out of the 4 mentioned and the match is being looked into becoming a 60/40 match proposal to score higher in the matching ratio.
Mayor Spinner says the City of Huntingburg is “ahead of the game” as there has been progressive work on current projects and they can demonstrate an impact on economic development.
The deadline for the grant is July 29th at 5 p.m. According to INDOT cities, towns, and counties receiving funds will be notified by the end of August of this year.
