[{"_1":2,"_123":-5,"_124":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99,111],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6156199,"mediaKeyId","5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f","parentId",5471345,"title","Resident raises traffic and soil concerns after first reading of zoning change at 2240 Christman Road","audioSeconds",1074,"startMs",1492000,"endMs",2566000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f&start=1492&end=2566","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f/thumbnail_1492000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6156199/Portage-City/Porter-County/Indiana/Resident-raises-traffic-and-soil-concerns-after-first-reading-of-zoning-change-at-2240-Christman-Road","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6156199-32fe84521eba1006c1ca221b8c0188b1/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202325&Signature=MUPzsHKQSAxveZKzjnMfwdXPcgV9S0ZUzjV74aD7GKPjexgaancDgYdhJ4HFiTD84I5nKeF3VA0ZOE6Vk7g3guFWG5uBle9LvFRSvl1xdrOowyGXyFyglFJtfuJp9Q4pn-He3ImYugBobHvPsJV0Q1nWutQstLzfM8tC1PngHLvQaXnVHADpBRRPJn1ktLRXimEwe4SXJl3AwAsebPYglROZQ6nTVL5jhDJT3WBZywvGCOnsv7AOmFBW-qCR0QVe-0jYnsz3TaxAbymplFV65XC5Lq4l6P6x7AfkQZrlqn76JuIEwCe-QNbgppNRYnNZjcX7G8z0JLD2WrfO0fTPwg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of Portage, IN","date","2025-07-02T00:00:00Z","article","The Portage City Common Council held a first reading Tuesday of Ordinance 25-33, which would change the zoning at 2240 Christman Road from R-2 (low-density residential) to R-4 (city-core residential). Councilwoman Vasquez read the ordinance title as required for introduction.

Why it matters: the rezoning could allow denser residential development at a site near existing homes and a church, prompting neighbors to ask the council to weigh traffic, safety and environmental concerns before the rezoning is acted upon.

During the public comment period, resident Roberta Spaldjorek of 2212 Christman Road told the council she understood Habitat for Humanity planned to build eight homes on the site and asked the council to oppose that plan because driveways would face Christman Road or Portage Avenue and because of alleged soil disturbances when the former school was demolished. \"Some of our residents have tried to back out of their driveways and have been hit from speeding cars going down Christman Road,\" Spaldjorek said, and she urged council members to consider traffic and potential contamination risks.

Mayor Austin Bonta told Spaldjorek the zoning change is only the first step; state law requires the ordinance to have a reading and then wait until the next council meeting for a second reading and a vote. The mayor and other council members said a zoning change does not itself authorize construction; further steps — including site review, potential remediation and conditions — would be required before building could proceed. The mayor noted he could not confirm what IDEM filings existed regarding demolition or remediation and said the city will review what was reported.

The mayor also clarified property-management questions raised during public comment: a church has occasionally used the adjacent property for parking under a waiver with the city, but the city, not the church, maintains the land. He told the resident he plans to walk the neighborhood before the August meeting when the ordinance would come up for a vote and encouraged neighbors to attend and seek more detail from Habitat for Humanity representatives present in the audience.

Next steps: Because this was the ordinance's first reading, the council will hold a second reading at its next regular meeting before taking a final vote; the mayor said he expects the item to be considered in August. The council did not take a final vote Tuesday.

Ending: Neighbors who want updates or to raise concerns were invited to the next meeting and to contact the mayor's office for details about testing, remediation and traffic analysis that would accompany any subsequent site review or development proposal.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","COP City Council Mtg 07-01-25","oneSentenceSummary","The Portage City Common Council held a first reading Tuesday of an ordinance to rezone 2240 Christman Road from R-2 (low-density residential) to R-4 (city-core residential).","taxTitle","Portage City, Porter County, Indiana","taxId",53966,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6156203,"Portage officials outline IT review that could cut roughly $87,000 from annual costs",896,452000,1348000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f&start=452&end=1348","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f/thumbnail_452000.jpg","/articles/6156203/Portage-City/Porter-County/Indiana/Portage-officials-outline-IT-review-that-could-cut-roughly-87000-from-annual-costs","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6156203-67f352b24dc53cded4ddfaac2e1484c2/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202325&Signature=FkOKnCUMCFN6Lt66dOnGm9Rkf3Ku5gCTRr6rN9hbSA2dG40hWLXFg6OLf7oncbKFrPfPAwDiIDBygosSD0bgafn75JCsUZsPny1SO9rHGT4rAqxW4ZlFgAM5EVJsiiQklCnIDFonkFPKU2U3rZ0w0auyRxmYi7dWRqOAPtNIyWhleD0FYAR3A23EO52C9nRN2AO0G3nRzh8XM-urybFqW4s-JMv~S~sr2ad0ZxOVYBxbM9EBHLyT25NAjw~g~9dDTYcXk4~bXOnLNRQW2EmQMCEIySTovnfQg0-WZBji5qRZ5ls-A37OHICGiU9auijBsGEqeaYCBAcDIgbhZEexQA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Portage Mayor Austin Bonta and city IT staff told the City Council on Tuesday that an internal IT review and vendor audit has identified immediate and ongoing savings for the city, chiefly by disconnecting legacy phone lines and shifting services to the city's voice-over-Internet (VoIP) system.

The review, conducted by the city's one-person IT office (Trevor) with volunteer help from Bill Lehi, a former head of IT at Valparaiso Public Schools, identified roughly $87,000 a year in savings the city expects to realize and estimated the total benefit could be as high as $101,000 when related line costs are fully accounted for. \"Everything that we're cutting and reducing here is either something we no longer use or a service that we can now get better for cheaper,\" Trevor said.

Why it matters: the savings affect the city's operating budget and could reduce recurring telecom and cybersecurity spending while the city migrates services to lower-cost, consolidated providers. Council members were told the changes will affect systems across departments but were vetted with department heads to avoid interrupting critical services such as emergency communications.

Most important details: the city currently pays Frontier roughly $7,000 per month for alarm and elevator lines that staff say run over antiquated copper infrastructure. Bill Lehi told the council the copper in some locations dates to mid-20th-century installations and that Frontier invoices are difficult to interpret: \"It's like reading the Da Vinci code,\" he said. Staff said many of those lines are unused or can be migrated to the city's VoIP system, which would be less costly.

Staff estimated replacing necessary lines with alternatives would cost about $42 per line (about $5,000 annually for the lines discussed), a fraction of the current annual expense. City staff also said it has spent about a month and a half contacting carriers and testing endpoints to disconnect unused lines safely.

On cybersecurity and licensing, staff said they reduced the city's cyber-insurance premium from about $29,000 last year to $25,000 for the coming year by enabling security settings and enforcing protocols. The city leveraged a state grant to obtain antivirus protection for about 70 police laptops that staff initially estimated at roughly $10,000 per month if purchased outright; the grant covered that at no direct cost to the city. The council also heard the city is using a state-funded training platform (KnowBe4) to run phishing simulations and staff training at no cost through a state grant.

Staff described other near-term actions: auditing Comcast and cell-provider bills, moving eligible devices to usage-based plans such as FirstNet hotspots, migrating from commercial (.com) email to a dot-gov address at no cost, consolidating multiple security vendors to a single provider and taking advantage of state QPA (negotiated pricing agreements) for Microsoft and Cisco licensing.

What happens next: Mayor Bonta said more work is ongoing and that some line disconnects will be a multimonth process. Staff said they will continue coordinating with department heads to ensure no interruption of vital services and will pursue state-negotiated licenses and grants where possible.

Ending: Council members asked no substantive questions during the presentation and heard staff say the technical and procurement work will continue over the coming months. The mayor said the IT savings will affect the current and next fiscal-year budgets as staff complete their audits and migrations.","City staff and two IT specialists told the Portage City Common Council that an audit of phone, internet and cybersecurity contracts identified immediate savings and next-year efficiencies, including shifting legacy phone lines to the city's VoIP system and using state-negotiated licensing and grants for antivirus and training.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6156185,"Portage police to add staffing for July 4 events; city adds sensory-quiet zone and cool-down area at festival",942,1892000,2834000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f&start=1892&end=2834","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f/thumbnail_1892000.jpg","/articles/6156185/Portage-City/Porter-County/Indiana/Portage-police-to-add-staffing-for-July-4-events-city-adds-sensory-quiet-zone-and-cool-down-area-at-festival","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6156185-41f4652abc6c13defae4ad76f59d65ec/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202325&Signature=foRXXvKT~1y5q2ertEmG4j34dJy0LveAARbE-Nj6MUKn3YYU-0WaWqZQQw3LkiO-aOADpW0ADTY8wvITfoTJNWUuWow3q50c4rKgre8MtY5pm4FVgx8GDP1XyFTS6aQR4m0TDpRJVGs29gf6FH~yp5g3IswFotwRVHA6rnrYbIs1Mrse-sji5-3sMTcMZOqRlS9-EnY8~sjyywSrD~5RnuVsBh02cFdNzRLcLOtkgm1NxYxvXgAuCGZ3l3LILUZLtB2fZqWo-O~xrUjawnCmXrI7T1K7SfFPaOdrburIStEN0QOIAbOEF5rE3MF~Q7FeNgH09Osoy0jfYC2YoAzWGg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Portage police and city officials on Tuesday outlined public-safety and accessibility plans for the city's Fourth of July parade and accompanying festival, including extra staffing and new festival features intended for families and others sensitive to loud noises.

Why it matters: the parade and festival attract thousands of attendees to Founders Square Park and surrounding streets; police staffing and safety planning aim to reduce hazards, manage crowds and provide services for vulnerable attendees.

Chief Krell told the council the department will add 16 extra shifts to cover the parade, the evening festival and other Fourth of July activity. \"We're gonna end up bringing on 16 extra shifts,\" he said, noting the city expects the festival and associated events to draw between 8,000 and 10,000 people to Founders Square Park and that overtime and staffing account for much of event-related costs.

Mayor Austin Bonta and staff provided event details: the parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the Portage Mall entrance, proceed out on Vivian Street, turn onto Central Avenue past City Hall and continue south on Willow Creek, ending near Nativity Church on Sunrise Avenue. For the first time the event includes a sensory-quiet zone for people who prefer reduced noise and stimulation; officials said the quiet zone extends approximately from the gazebo at Frank Gilbert Park down toward Sunrise with quieter conditions beginning near Mulberry.

Festival organizers also will provide a cool-down area and, as a new feature this year, a free live pro-wrestling show planned for attendees. Police said they added an extra officer for Market on the Square after earlier crowd-control issues and that recent market events have stabilized after changes to patrol patterns.

Ending: Officials urged residents to plan for route changes and to use the city's accommodations if they need quieter spaces during the parade or festival. The council closed the meeting shortly after the report and motions to adjourn.","City officials said the Fourth of July parade will start at 10 a.m. from the Portage Mall entrance along Central Avenue to Willow Creek and end near Nativity Church; the police department plans 16 extra shifts for parade and festival safety, and the festival will include a sensory-quiet zone, a cool-down area and a free pro-wrestling show.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6156189,"Council tables consumer fireworks ordinance indefinitely",40,1418000,1458000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f&start=1418&end=1458","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f/thumbnail_1418000.jpg","/articles/6156189/Portage-City/Porter-County/Indiana/Council-tables-consumer-fireworks-ordinance-indefinitely","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6156189-0f1e99b0ef6b4354200d3adc9517c153/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202325&Signature=JVv5DmRmjungc0R-bEC~Xvs4lK5t-prlmAfFxNY-X2CxD474F8VsVheDrBp1kHYNPRMSZDz3n-3S~fzbuRNNL0e~3FVlre2bbyIlw1Q4ejBcIheCTRDCyur3xAlfSmljMQF5M5jLCQJr5nwJ3-T0Gg94Ct3YZSB5b2VsHOOyNeQItk9l6Fgn-9UAR4~Pdq~VyybOqpuv5hbuI1AgFKpPAXrvjrjwDUNWcjjlx2kuFA-vokLUUQKA2peGO9GbhPswzaCn~ZXrXMiaB6cUJR6EqLThlkkVbLri~9OGmV8RdFJNbmPjnvzvOz4qi7nQzORvlW5p1sAQXCM0kpZQM0qLlg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Portage City Common Council voted Tuesday to table Ordinance 25-22, a consumer-use fireworks measure, after the council president said parts of the draft still needed legal review.

Why it matters: the ordinance would have regulated consumer fireworks in Portage; tabling the item indefinitely means no immediate change in local fireworks rules as council legal staff completes review.

During the unfinished business portion of the meeting the council president said \"there's still some sections in the ordinance that needs legal review,\" and requested a motion to table. A council member moved to \"table indefinitely so we don't keep putting it on the agenda,\" the motion was seconded and the motion carried by voice vote with no recorded opposition.

Ending: The ordinance remains tabled; council members indicated the action was intended to avoid repeatedly placing the item on future agendas while legal review continues.","The council voted unanimously to table Ordinance 25-22, which would have regulated consumer use of fireworks; council president said sections still require legal review and a motion to table indefinitely carried without recorded opposition.",{"_33":112,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":113,"_41":114,"_43":115,"_45":116,"_47":117,"_49":118,"_51":119,"_53":120,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":121,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":122,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6156194,"Council adopts 2025 salary ordinance to match police contract increases",164,1637000,1801000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f&start=1637&end=1801","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5471345-55d3ee2b1130873081b1cf20926d8b8f/thumbnail_1637000.jpg","/articles/6156194/Portage-City/Porter-County/Indiana/Council-adopts-2025-salary-ordinance-to-match-police-contract-increases","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6156194-94c37689967889c5e5cff8641271f1b1/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202325&Signature=GOrtGkD8vNpcdVpL2E2BG-KoolJBu0LemwThA1BAU3qr4-tSPcFLj-KFIqXb5rFv0mzRp2IMT4PhL7rOkPu0x0yuqeQYOMOIXWYmBIFEUX3ldcp~dVSlithGJsiLFQnI9uRwsCFasLJC87FTzvdb8BjfLSLLUGJmK3M1FjTtHC51ZnOxSxuUiqcmb0MJkHGi5jYYQGSm2RiGtPIKRMrwd8XRfnirrzho5B5Mu8jaQ6MncBIbYDFcQS3~CdkCNt1yAvKRwOS~a5pqr11sZRODOPcjZVwkvLakkiXlTj1TBCYGU4FLrVvAXKRmRSJ~vjdXj68ScOyLuN5g3gN7XDKixw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Portage City Common Council voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt Ordinance 25-34, the 2025 salary ordinance establishing salaries and compensation for appointed city officers and employees.

Why it matters: the ordinance updates pay schedules to align with a recently negotiated police contract and extends corresponding increases to police administration and other affected positions, ensuring internal pay proportionality across departments.

Council suspended the rules and moved to adopt the ordinance during the meeting. Mayor Austin Bonta presented the salary schedule to the council. Council members said the ordinance matches previously approved contract amounts; one council member noted an Excel date error in the sanitation treatment plant, sanitary field and stormwater departments and the council confirmed those effective dates are Jan. 1, 2025.

The council's action followed motions to suspend the rules and adopt the ordinance; both motions were seconded and the ordinance passed unanimously. No abstentions or recorded dissent were recorded.

Ending: The ordinance will take effect on the first pay date in January 2025 and remain in force for the 2025 budget year. The city clerk and payroll departments will implement the adjusted salary schedule consistent with the contracts and the ordinance language.","The City Council suspended rules and adopted Ordinance 25-34, adjusting the 2025 salary schedule so police administration and other covered positions match recently approved police contract increases; the ordinance passed unanimously with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2025.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Resident raises traffic and soil concerns after first reading of zoning change at 2240 Christman Road

Portage officials outline IT review that could cut roughly $87,000 from annual costs

Portage police to add staffing for July 4 events; city adds sensory-quiet zone and cool-down area at festival

Council tables consumer fireworks ordinance indefinitely

Council adopts 2025 salary ordinance to match police contract increases