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CEDIT funds awarded to Markle's industrial park project

The Markle Redevelopment Commission will fund a portion of the stormwater management improvements planned at the Markle Industrial Park.

Town attorney Mike Hartburg told the Markle Town Council at its meeting Wednesday, May 28, that the town received a $50,000 County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) grant from the Huntington County Commissioners to use toward the project.

The Redevelopment Commission agreed to add up to $25,000 more to pay for the project.
Novae Corporation, which is building a 73,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the park costing $5.9 million, will be responsible for addressing stormwater management issues at its property, Hartburg added, which will drain at least 60 acres in the industrial park, ending at a county-regulated drain.

NC2, the parent company of Novae Corp., will contract to have the work done then submit an invoice to the town. Hartburg added that the improvements must be completed by the end of 2015.

The CEDIT grant agreement is still in draft form, Hartburg said. The town council unanimously authorized Council President Jeff Humbarger to sign the grant once it has been finalized, after it has been provided to Novae and NC2.

In other business:

• The council gave the nod to HJM, LLC, also known as Wayne Metals, to accept the company's compliance documents for the tax abatement it received to add a 36,000-square-foot addition to its Markle manufacturing facility. The addition was started in 2005 and completed in 2006.

• The council approved the purchase of a new mosquito fogger machine which will use less chemicals than the town's current machine, which is 23 years old. The new machine, costing $8,999, will document areas of the town that are fogged using GPS technology.
Currently, the town is using nearly an entire drum of chemicals per season, costing $2,000 per drum. Town Superintendent Rick Asher said it should only use a third of that amount.

In addition, Mike Grant, the town's general assistant, said they can no longer get replacement parts for the old fogger.

"It's kind of to a point where if you don't fix it, you might as well stop using it because you're using too much chemical and putting too much out there in the air," he said. "It's going to cause problems in the future."

Town Clerk-Treasurer Shelley Monticue says buying a new fogger will be cost-effective.

"It will pay for itself by not buying as much chemical," she said.

The council quickly voted 3-0 to give Asher permission to buy the new machine.

"If it lasts 23 years, that's not very expensive," said Councilman Eric Bower.

• The council gave Grant the go-ahead by consensus to dredge sediment out of the old river channel. Grant had contacted the Army Corps of Engineers, after sediment flowing over the levee dam settled and has built up over the years. Grant said they gave him their blessing to clean out the channel.

"They think it's a good idea because it will help increase the storage capacity and flow through," he said. The sediment will either be hauled offsite and dumped or spread out to dry.

• The council voted 3-0 to accept a supplemental agreement with the Indiana Department of Transportation to extend the beginning of construction dates to October 2015 on the Tracy Street improvement project.

However, Monticue says the town expects to be ahead of schedule, and may ask for an earlier date than anticipated, perhaps as soon as spring of 2015.

Jay Stankiewicz, project manager for engineering firm DLZ Indiana, told the council that all but one of the right-of-way parcels has been purchased. The remaining parcel is in the negotiation phase and should be closed in 60 days.

• Stankiewicz also informed the council about a drainage analysis done as part of the Tracy Street project and three possible options to address the undersized drains in the subdivision.

One option is to put in a parallel storm sewer independent of the subdivision's sewer, an option that Stankiewicz said he recommended. A second option would involve putting restrictions on the pipe sizes. Or, the town could change the pipe sizes at Countryside Drive from 24 inches to 30 inches.

"By adding the drainage from Tracy Street, for a 100-year storm it will raise on an average of 0.2, which is a little over 2-1/2 inches," he said.

The cost would run about $40,000, Stankiewicz said. At his advice, the council opted to delay making a decision until more information is received from INDOT.

• The council approved by consensus the closing of Ind.-116 from 8 a.m. to midnight on Aug. 23 for the Markle Wildcat Festival.