Evansville Public Works board approves housing contracts, fuel RFPs, permits and waivers

The Evansville City Board of Public Works on June 5 approved a series of contracts, procurement requests and permit actions affecting housing assistance, home rehabilitation, fuel procurement and local construction permits.

Among the items the board approved was a $72,000 contract with Aurora Inc. to provide tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) vouchers for Aurora reentry clients for the 2024 fiscal year. "We're here to ask for Aurora's yearly contract for homeless reentry for their homeless reentry program, in the amount of $72,000," Lisa, DMD staff, told the board. The board voted to approve the contract.

The board also approved an owner-occupied home rehabilitation agreement to complete work at 1335 Southeast Riverside Drive. "We're partnering with, with Cape, to rehab the home at 1335 Southeast Riverside Drive. The owner is currently in residence there, so, they will work around the homeowner," Miss Foster, DMD staff, said. The total contract amount for that project is $38,250.

Separately, the board approved an amendment to a contract with the Evansville and Annenberg County Building Commission to reimburse code-enforcement activities paid from Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The amendment increases reimbursement by $43,853.24, bringing the total contract amount to $256,188.48. A staff member explained the work is reimbursement for code-enforcement time spent on behalf of the Department of Metropolitan Development in the Jacobsville Promise Zone area.

The board approved a contract with Action Staffing Inc. to provide staff training and support related to HUD-funded programs, not to exceed $25,000. The spending authority is split across two accounts: $10,000 (account 22267210431050) and $15,000 (account 250772634311050). A DMD staff member said a former city employee provides ongoing training and project closeout support under that agreement.

On procurement, the board authorized three requests for proposals (RFPs) to advertise for fuel services: commercial fuel supply and fuel management, natural gas supply, and bulk fuel supply with a fuel-management system. Sasha Neistreeter of the purchasing department said the commercial fuel RFP is for vehicles that do not have on-site fueling and that typical field vendors will be eligible. She said the commercial and bulk fuel agreements are expected to be joint city–county contracts, while the natural gas RFP will be separate to the city or county. Neistreeter identified CenterPoint and Constellation as potential natural-gas vendors.

The board approved a set of right-of-way permit applications (nos. 2173, 2175–2179, 2181–2186) with no exceptions as submitted and directed that Indiana Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (Indiana MUTCD) traffic-control procedures be used at each site. One permit application, no. 2180, was taken as an exception and tabled pending additional information about the proposed sign location. "We just wanna make sure that, this won't be a site obstruction. They had a site plan, but they did not upload it with the permit, so we're waiting on that," Mr. Wise, City staff, told the board.

The board granted a drainage-plan waiver for the proposed Berry On Michigan 2 subdivision, which consolidates parcels owned by Blair by Berry Global and incorporates a portion of Michigan Street east of First Avenue that was recently vacated. "It is already, as you know, a developed area, so they won't be adding any new impervious there. So we ask that the board consider waiving the drainage plan requirement," Mr. Waugh, City Engineer, said. The board approved the waiver.

The board also approved the final assessment roll for the 2024 Barrett Law sidewalk project as part of closing out the project and approved bills and payrolls. The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn at 1:40 p.m.

Votes at a glance: all listed motions that were moved and seconded on the record were approved except permit application 2180, which was tabled pending additional site information.