INGALLS — A grant received from the Indiana Department of Health Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity will help construct bicycle and pedestrian trails in the town of Ingalls.
The award is for a maximum of $20,000 and is part of the 2022 Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Grant Program.
Ingalls Director of Planning and Development Neil Stevenson said the town was selected from among applicants of Tier 1 category, which includes communities with population under 5,000. There are no matching funds required.
“We will probably be right around $20,000,” Stevenson said of the plan that would create town-wide trails for walkers and bike riders. “It’ll cover the entire community. We’ll solicit for engineering, planning firms to do the plan for us.”
The grant will include consulting services for the preparation of the planning activities and related documents, according to the IDOH award letter to the town.
Ingalls has also recently received an award for $733,738 from the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the preliminary engineering for repairing and upgrading County Road 800 West between Atlantic Road and State Road 13.
New neighborhood
Arbor Homes recently conducted a virtual community meeting for the town of Ingalls to announce a rezoning proposal with the plan of constructing a subdivision of 171 single family homes — east of town — southeast of South County Road 650 West and Reformatory Road.
The area of rezoning, according to Arbor Homes, is about 51 acres. The homes include 17 floor plans ranging in size from 1,100 to 3,200 square feet.
Stevenson told the board at the March 28 town council meeting that the project is in its initial stages and other public hearings would be scheduled before final approval, including concerning a parcel or parcels that would need to be annexed.
“There will be a lot of opportunity for public input,” Stevenson said, noting that some residents were in attendance specifically to find out more about the Arbor Homes subdivision.
Town attorney Gregg Morelock told the board public hearings would take place both with the Ingalls Planning Commission as well as the council.
Next meeting
The town council’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 11.
Among the items to be discussed and voted on is the bid for modification to the Ingalls fire station.
The council tabled the acceptance of the low bid of $82,600 from Pendleton-based Fredericks Inc. Contractors at its second March meeting.
The bid, according to council president Justin Gardner and consultant Johnathan Moen, of Triad Associates Inc., was higher than expected.
Gardner said the town had the finances, but wanted some extra time to explore options on making sure they could pull the funds from other accounts.
Moen said bids are good for 90 days. Ingalls received the Fredericks application on March 22.