Franklin Board approves multiple infrastructure contracts, change order for Active Adult Center and agrees joint-use terms with INDOT

The Franklin City Board of Public Works and Safety met Jan. 6, 2025, and voted to approve a series of construction and maintenance actions, including a change order for the Active Adult Center project, a joint-use and maintenance agreement with the Indiana Department of Transportation for the U.S. 31 project, award of a roadway contract for Paul Hand Boulevard, release of subdivision performance bonds for West Wind at Cumberland Section 2, and approval of Greenlawn Cemetery headstone repairs. The board also voted to waive the two-year golf-cart registration fee for a vehicle purchased by the prosecuting attorney's office.

Why it matters: The votes move several ongoing capital and maintenance projects forward in Franklin City — advancing a large community center build, municipal sidewalk/lighting work adjacent to a state highway project, neighborhood street improvements and cemetery preservation work — and set short-term responsibilities for city staff.

The most consequential vote was approval of change order No. 9 for the Active Adult Center contract. City staff said the change order adds a double door between the program room and the theater to create more flexible capacity, adjusts sink and counter heights and cabinetry to meet ADA requirements, and provides electrical/data connections for an electronic bingo board that was donated to the center. Joanna Tennell, filling in for Mark Richards, said the change order is $5,710.68 and would bring the contract total to $4,944,292.13. Board members recorded that cumulative change orders on the…