BY ERIC MANN, Decatur Daily Democrat
Forty-two road, bridge, sewer, curb, and drainage projects estimated to cost almost $7 million is the list of infrastructure work throughout Adams County that county Engineer Tim Barkey has pulled together for an overall request when national economic stimulus money is made available by the administration of President Barack Obama.
The list includes 18 projects in rural areas of the county and some in each of the four communities: Decatur (three), Berne (five), Monroe (nine), and Geneva (seven). The total estimated cost is $6,808,891.
On top of that, county Auditor Bill Borne reports that he will seek up to $2 million in federal stimulus funds to renovate and repair the Adams County Courthouse, which would boost the local requests to nearly $9 million.
Aside from that, Borne said the county will seek $65,000 to $70,000 from Lilly Endowment at Indianapolis to reimburse the county for river cleanups after severe storms here last May and June. He said Lilly Endowment chose to offer help to all Indiana counties by way of reimbursing such expenses.
The economic stimulus requests will be made through the Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council, headquartered in Fort Wayne.