Annexation approved for more property along Highland Road

In the last two months, the borders of Highland have expanded to incorporate a little more than 50 acres on the western edge of the city, which includes two homes and one prominent business.

At its meeting on July 5, the Highland City Council agreed to annex several additional properties along Highland Road. The properties included the homes of Matthew T. Harr, 12203 Highland Road; Jay R. and Jean Brown, 12136 Highland Road; and the corporate headquarters for Korte & Luitjohan Contractors (K&L), which is owned by Cyril “Pete” and Jane Korte, at 12052 Highland Road.

“All of them wanted to get on the city’s water and sewer,” Latham said.

K&L wanted to be part of the city when it built its new headquarters years ago, but negotiations with owners of other necessary parcels located between the city limits and the business broke down, leaving the construction firm outside the city.

“We tried to do this 10 years ago, but we (couldn’t),” said City Manager Mark Latham. “The problem was that we couldn’t get a contiguous area.”

However, that situation recently changed when Dr. William Drake, owner of Grandview Farm, purchased land on Highland Road, which was the last piece of the puzzle. The Grandview Farm property, 28.5 acres located on the north side of Highland Road, was annexed into the city last month.

Also on July 5, the council approved a 30-foot-wide easement with Grandview Farm Limited Partnership in order to run utilities to the property owners.

Part of the reason the city wanted to annex the property out to the business was because of the surrounding property, which Latham said may be useful for future developments, both commercial and industrial.

Bid approved for Walnut Street project

The board also approved the resurfacing project for Walnut Street with Stutz Excavating Inc. for $587,124.88. The project will focus on resurfacing the road from U.S. Highway 40 to Broadway.

Director of Public Works Joe Gillespie said in a memo to the City Council that Madison County has agreed to pay $140,000 of the city’s portion of the project, leaving the city only responsible for $35,000 if there are no changes to the project. The city’s portion will be paid from the non-home rule sales taxes.

The rest of the funding will come from a federal grant for $412,500.

The project is set to begin in August.

Purchase of ambulance approved

The board also approved the purchase of a 2006 Medtec Ambulance from Sugar Creek Ambulance Service in Trenton.

The current model exhibits significant electrical problems. The old ambulance’s reliability is so bad that the departments keep it in reserve status as often as possible. The newly purchased unit has 65,000 miles, while the current ambulance has 250,000 road miles, and the equivalent of over 1 million road miles, if you take into account 15,500 hours of engine idling.

Additional work needed on Rinderer Park water main

The board also approved a final change order for the Rinderer Park water main directional boring project for a cost of $1,814. The reason for the change stems from an additional 60 feet of 6-inch-diameter water main inside the park itself. The project is paid through the water fund account.

Change order for sewer rehabilitation project approved

Director of Public Works Joe Gillespie advised the council of changes that need to be made under a contract focused on rehabilitating the sewer mains in town.

Gillespie said various sewer mains were identified by city crews as having significant sources of inflow and infiltration.

There were 446 linear feet of one 10-inch sewer main on Lemon Street; 1,443 linear feet of an 8-inch sewer main on West Lake Drive; and 23 laterals on West Lake Drive, Lake Shore Drive, and Park Hill Drive. Each of these need to be lined with CIPP. The additional work will maximize the use of — and the benefit realized from — funds from sewer bonding.

The approved change order will cause a net increase of $118,738.40 from the original contract price, bringing the new total for the project to just over $2.2 million. The original cost of the project was around $2.1 million. Some of the funding comes from savings within the CIPP from the estimated number of pipes that couldn’t be lined. The department took those funds and was able to line more piping.

Bids sought for Street and Alley storage building, police vehicle

The board voted in favor to seek bids for a new storage building for the Street and Alley Department and a new police vehicle.

The proposed storage facility will be a building with dimensions of roughly 72 by 98 feet and have a metal truss arch with a canvass exterior on the Street and Alley division’s lot located at 12263 Highland Road.

The board also voted in favor to seek bids for a 2017 model year Police Interceptor AWD SUV package.

Actuarial services approved for police pension

The council approved a proposal focused on providing actuarial services for the Highland Police Department’s pension fund. TCG Public Consulting Ltd. submitted a proposal to the City Council, which provides services that focuses on the preparation of the required actuarial information in the amount of $2,700.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Annexation approved for more property along Highland Road."