Board of Public Works approves easement, event support, policies, contracts and appointments

At its April 16 meeting the Crown Point City Board of Public Works approved a group of routine but operationally important items including an easement for utility service to a T‑Mobile water tower site, event support for a local car cruise, several departmental contracts and policies, and appointments.

The board approved an easement to provide electric and gas service to the water tower site where T‑Mobile will locate equipment; staff asked that the signed documents be recorded with the clerk’s office.

The board voted to support the Cold Cup Cruise (May 24), authorizing the city to provide police and Emergency Management Agency (EMA) assistance for traffic control and public‑safety coordination. Event organizer Bob Schroeder said last year’s event drew about 100 cars and that organizers plan registration at 8 a.m., with a drivers’ meeting and a ceremonial national anthem near 10:30 a.m.

Police department updates and new policies were approved collectively. The police chief said the department has been working with a national policy provider (Nexpo) to update policies for legal and state/federal compliance; the board approved the policies and staff will forward ordinance revisions to the council as appropriate. The board also approved a memorandum of understanding with LexisNexis to allow citizens to purchase crash reports online; the city attorney said legal had reviewed the MOU and recommended approval.

For EMA staffing, the board approved adding Ben Rouse to the EMA roster. The board also approved an MOU (title VI nondiscrimination agreement) and appointed Josh Watson as the city’s Title VI coordinator; the planner noted the coordinator role includes complaint handling, training and reporting responsibilities required under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Parks staff sought approval for concrete pads at the dog park. Staff reported three quotes (Milestone $16,300; RNC Concrete $16,900; Reece Riley $49,540) and the board accepted the Milestone quote pending final staff and legal review and with timing to be confirmed.

The board approved a one‑year services contract with Christopher Burke engineering for stormwater review and development‑plan support, and separately approved a 12‑month MS4 professional services contract (not to exceed $40,000) to assist with annual IDEM permit compliance and stormwater quality management plan tasks.

Finally, the board approved replacing its previous third‑party ambulance/fire recovery billing vendor with Fire Recovery USA; the fire chief said Fire Recovery USA will bill insurance carriers for fees and consumables, that residents will not receive bills, and that legal requested two contract changes (choice of governing law and billing account identification) before final execution. The board approved the agreement pending those legal revisions.

Speakers who addressed these items included Alex (city attorney/staff), Chief (police chief), the fire chief, Doug Wright (engineering), Adam Graeber (parks staff), Bob Schroeder (event organizer), Mike (EMA staff) and Josh Watson (planner/title VI coordinator candidate).