Indy Star story re 86th and Moore Rd

Schools to seek land elsewhere
Board diverts its attention away from 86th and Moore Road.
By Howard Smulevitz
Star correspondent
April 16, 2005
Residents applauded the announcement that the Pike Township School Board will not buy property at 86th Street and Moore Road.
Although the board obtained appraisals for 38 acres along Moore Road, it did not make a formal offer to property owners and decided in February to continue discussing possible land acquisition.
Thursday, the board received a copy of a letter from the attorney for owners of at least some of the land. The attorney's letter, sent to the school district's real estate broker, said the owners "have opted to sell (parcels at 8796 Moore Road and 7220 West 88th Street ) to a party other than the school board."
A spokesman for Historic Traders Point Association argued why the board should look elsewhere in the township for land for a future school.
Board secretary Alicia Ramsey, who presided in the absence of the president and vice president, told the 40 residents present they had nothing to worry about, and applause broke out.
Mark Dollase, of the Indiana Historic Preservation Commission, said the land could be declared a rural historic preservation area because of landmarks dating to American Indian burial mounds and population from the 19th century.
Dollase said a school on the land would harm the plan to declare it a historic site.
Steve Jones, a professor of finance at the Indianapolis campus of Indiana University Kelley School of Business, told the board it should be cautious about building to meet "spikes in enrollment instead of plateaus."
Jones said an enrollment spike already may have subsided, and that enrollment at most Pike schools is within capacity.
Board member Nancy Poore said Jones' definition of school capacity is too narrow.
"There are classrooms that are not configured to their capacity" and are crowded, she said.
Poore said 33 fifth-graders in a classroom is not the ideal capacity that a parent seeks, and that the School Board is responsible for considering beyond numbers.
Superintendent Nathaniel Jones said after the meeting that the search for property is for the future, not necessarily immediate construction.
"I have appointed a Superintendent's Blue Ribbon Committee to look at our future development for 10, 20, 30 years," he said.

WONDERFUL NEWS on FARM FIELD

The Pike School Board will not be bidding on or buying the farm land at Moore and 86th because the sale of the land to Sheila Fortune was confirmed on April 13, 2005. Copies of the letter from the seller's attorney to the school district's real estate broker were available at the school board meeting on April 14th to confirm the sale. The board announced that it would not be considering any action related to the land acquisition. Nevertheless, our Historic Traders Point representatives gave the presentation we have been trying to provide to the school board since two board meetings ago.

Pike School Board Meeting April 14

The Pike School Board meeting is this Thursday, April 14th, at 7 PM, in the Administration Building, 6901 Zionsville Rd. The meeting agenda has been posted on the school district's web site. You may access the agenda here.

You can also link to the school district's web site from the link on the right.

Our group, Historic Traders Point, is on the agenda as the second presentation to the board. I have learned that we are to be allowed 30 minutes to give our presentation to the school board.

There is also an agenda item, For the Good of the Cause, which is supposed to be when citizens can speak to the board. The agenda note says speakers are limited to three minutes. This is when anyone may state their position to the board. It would be in our best interest, for the preservation of Traders Point as we know and love it, to have a BIG, BIG attendance of neighbors at the school board meeting to show our resolve against the school district's purchase of the farm field at Moore and 86th.

(Posted for Mary Ann Stevens.)

Results: 86th St Bridge Public Meeting

Enough residents attended the public meeting about the rehabilitation project for the 86th Street Bridge over Eagle Creek that the meeting organizers had to push open the partition to an adjacent room to allow for more seating.

Here's the information provided on the project (as it registered with me --a non-engineering type so the details of construction may have escaped me):
Rick Brost of Indianapolis Department of Public Works is the Senior Project Engineer (327-2306) (pager 367-2673)
Imelda Oglesby is the DPW Neighborhood Coordinator and she said to please call her with any concerns about the project as it proceeds. (327-5238)

The project construction is to be done by Gohmann Asphalt and Construction Company which was the low bidder. Mr. Steve Robertson is the company's superintendent. (If there was a business card available for him, I didn't get it.)

The bridge was originally constructed in 1947 with riprap added around its foundation in 1997 to control erosion. Mr. Brost said that structurally the bridge is in good condition which is why it doesn't have to be replaced but can be rehabilitated. The project will include removal of the side concrete railing, the driving surface asphalt, and guard rails. The finished bridge will look as the original did with "Texas" style concrete railing--the open ovals in the side concrete work.

The price tag on the project is $560,000 of which 80% is federally funded and the remaining 20% is state money.

In order to accomplish the bridge rehabilitation, West 86th approaching the bridge from its east side and beyond Moore Road on the west side of the bridge will be entirely closed to traffic. The closure of the road is thought to begin April 18, 2005. The stated contractor's completion date is set for October 15, 2005, but Mr. Robertson of Gohmann Asphalt said he expects the project to be completed by mid September. There was talk of possible repair work on the support piers in the creek, and the construction on the driving surface may appear done but the bridge not open to traffic while work is done underneath the bridge.

The daily work hours for the construction workers are 7 AM to 3:30 PM. (That's more civilized than the midnight clanging from the construction ongoing at the 86th - 465 bridge.)

The official detour routes are Lafayette Road south to 71st Street then east to Zionsville Road and north to 86th Street (and the reverse). Road closure ahead, detour ahead, and road closed to local traffic signs will be placed as necessary at Lafayette Road and 86th Street and at 86th and Zionsville with appropriate signs at the junctures of the detour routes.

On a final note, I approached Mr. Brost and told him of our Greater Traders Point area clean up of roadside trash last Saturday. I also advised him of how unhappy residents have been with the huge amount of trash left by the Water Company construction crews along Moore north of 86th to 96th. Mr. Brost assured me he would make special mention to the workers not to leave trash, and he told me he would personally be observing the project site several times per week. I promised him I'd let him know if I receive complaints about workers leaving trash. He made his business card with phone numbers readily available if anyone has dissatisfaction with the workers' conduct.

86th Street bridge closes April 18

Rehabilitation of the 86th Street bridge over Eagle Creek will begin on April 18 according to Rick Brost, senior project engineer for the Indianapolis Department of Public Works. On that date, the bridge will be closed to traffic until work is completed sometime from mid-September to mid-October.

Brost briefed attendees about the project at a public information meeting held April 5 at the Pike Township Government Center. He was joined by Steve Robertson, a superintendent with Gohmann Asphalt & Construction Company, and Margie Smith-Simmons, DPW's public information officer. Three employees of the engineering firm involved with the project were also present.

Throughout the duration of the project, the official detour route will use Lafayette Road, 71st Street and Zionsville Road. Signs and barricades will be placed on 86th Street at Zionsville Road and at Lafayette Road.

Several residents expressed concern about increased traffic on unofficial detour routes, including Conarroe Road, 79th Street and Moore Road. Smith-Simmons said she would contact the Marion County Sheriff's Department about increasing patrols in those areas, but could not guarantee enhanced enforcement.

Brost and Robertson said that the entire concrete bridge deck would be removed and replaced, and that new railings will be of a style that allows motorists to enjoy a view of the creek. New guard rails will be installed at the ends of the bridge, and rip-rap will be placed on the embankments to allow runoff and control erosion. The existing arched piers, which are structurally sound, will be retained and repaired.

Responding to a question from the audience, Smith-Simmons said that there are no plans to widen 86th Street or the bridge through at least 2020.

While the official completion date of the project is slated to be mid-October, Robertson said he planned to have the bridge open in mid-September.

April 5th - 86th St Bridge Public Meeting

Don't forget tonight, Tuesday, April 5, 2005, at 5:30 PM, is the public meeting with Indianapolis Department of Public Works about the rehabilitation project for the 86th Street Bridge over Eagle Creek. The public meeting is at the Pike Township Government Center, 5665 Lafayette Road.

Fox Haven Defeated

The Hendricks County commissioner's meeting had a good outcome for residents opposed to Fox Haven. The commissioners voted 2 to1 against the rezoning to allow Fox Haven.

In listening to the commissioners who voted against the project explain themselves before the vote, they both said they had considered the large amount of e-mails and public sentiment against the project that had been sent to them. It goes to show that public input is important. Keep this in mind with regard to the Pike School Board and the Moore Road land purchase proposal. Keep check on the school board's web site. The next school board meeting is scheduled for April 14th. Watch for news on www.historictraderspoint.org

Hendricks Co Commissioners April 5th Meeting

Regarding the Foxhaven proposed development in Hendricks County just west of the Marion County line along 86th Street:
The Hendricks Co. Commissioners' Meeting on April 5th is at 9:30 AM, 355 S. Washington St., Danville, IN. Drive west on Route 36 to Danville and turn left at the Dairy Queen and proceed to the Government Center Building. Attendance might influence the commissioners. This proposed 720 houses on 380 acres will add greatly to our traffic on 86th street and the sewage from the development is to be discharged into School Branch Creek, a tributary to Eagle Creek, and end up in Eagle Creek Reservoir.