Valparaiso seeks $14 million from feds' stimulus

BY PHIL WIELAND, Times of Northwest Indiana
pwieland@nwitimes.com

VALPARAISO | Equipment, pathways, sewer projects and an industrial park are among the items on the city's economic stimulus funding wish list.

The list totals almost $14 million in projects and equipment. It was completed and forwarded to the Indiana Economic Development Corp. on Wednesday, which was the deadline. The IEDC has hired Ball State University to collect all the projects and give them an initial review for possible funding from the approximately $4 billion the state is eligible to receive.

Topping the city's list was $3.65 million for public works equipment.

"A lot of it's just heavy equipment replacement from snowplows to garbage trucks and pickups that have pretty hefty price tags that add up pretty quickly," Public Works Director Bill Oeding said.

Equipment ranges from a $24,000 pickup truck to $210,000 for a garbage truck. The department's list of needed equipment is 2 1/2 pages long. The second largest funding request came from the city's utilities department for $2.88 million to do six projects.

The utility projects include two water main projects, two sewer department projects, a sewer relief project on Evans Avenue and a combined sewer overflow facility at the sewage treatment plan, and two stormwater projects, one on Union Street and the other on Campbell Street.

The utilities department also is asking for $780,500 worth of equipment, split almost evenly between the water and the sewer divisions.

To do paving and handicap ramps, the city is asking for almost $2 million. The biggest projects would be $753,534 to mill and pave Roosevelt Road from LaPorte Avenue to Glendale Boulevard followed by $293,520 to mill and pave Calumet Avenue from Vale Park Road to Glendale.

The Fire Department is seeking $1.4 million for an ambulance, a tower truck and a pumper. The Police Department request is for $723,000 to buy 20 squad cars and four SUVs along with the light bars, radios, mobile data units and markings for the squad cars.

The city is asking for $150,000 for pathways and $1 million for a speculative industrial park on the southeast side. The final request is on behalf of Porter Starke Services for $1.39 million for the expansion of its facilities.