INGALLS — Ingalls approved plans to spend thousands of dollars on road salt this winter, as the town council also considered a local traffic issue on a busy stretch of road.
Safe streets, the possibility of annexing a subdivision and the fate of a former town hall building were some of the topics discussed at a recent council meeting.
On the salt front, there is an anticipated shortage of salt for the upcoming season because of mining conditions and labor strikes, town manager Tim Millikan said.
To be proactive and prepared, town workers have reconfigured the salt barn to hold a larger order. Millikan requested and received approval from the council to purchase 80 tons of salt at $85 per ton for a total of $6,800 payable to Central Salt.
The salt will be delivered by Heavy Duty Hauling for $2,400 ($30 per ton).
Millikan also got approval for another salt purchase option as he is still looking at a state order that might save a few hundred dollars. State officials haven’t released bids yet, but Millikan wanted to be prepared to purchase from the state up to $6,500 of salt using the same $2,400 haul rate to which the council agreed.
Millikan will then make the most cost-effective deal for the town once all the pricing falls into place.
In other town business, the council heard from Larry Higgins, precinct committeeman for Green Township, and Gregg Valentine, Green Township trustee, who described traffic issues near Interstate 69, County Road 800S and State Road 13.
Higgins and Green requested the town add a traffic light near Love’s Travel Center, 3191 Capac Road, near Interstate 69 and State Road 13.
Higgins suggested going around the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and take the issue straight to the State House.
Councilman Tim Green suggested someone touch base with state Rep. Bob Cherry.
With an anticipation of hundreds of homes coming to the area in the future, Valentine said it would be wise to get a stoplight installed as soon as possible.
Victor Rose of Carefree Homes said it is very difficult to pull onto State Road 13 in the area.
Lou Savka from Indianapolis engineering firm Triad and Associates said INDOT decides when to add a stoplight on a state road, a decision usually determined by traffic studies showing a need.
The last traffic study in the area was two years ago, town officials said. The issue was not resolved as no determination was made as to what town officials might do to get a stoplight installed.
While at the meeting, Valentine talked with town officials about the local Madison County Food Pantry and the good it does for the community. Valentine suggested the town sell the former town office building to the township for the food pantry for the price the town paid for it when the town bought it from a bank — $1.
However, town officials said they were hoping to sell the property for considerably more and did not determine if giving the old town offices to Valentine for $1 was an option.
On the issue of expanding the town’s boundaries, Green asked about annexing Summerlake Estates, located at County Road 800S and State Road 13, into town.
Town attorney Gregg Morelock explained the annexation process, and after a discussion, town leaders decided to have a study done on the issue.
