Angola council hears plan to extend water, sewer to Pokagon State Park; bids open Feb. 10

City of Angola staff told the Common Council on Jan. 6 that the city will open bids Feb. 10 for a four-division utilities project to extend water and wastewater service to Pokagon State Park and related city infrastructure.

City staff member Amanda said the project is “kind of complex. There are 4 divisions that we will open, so we will actually open 4 different banks that night. 2 of the divisions deal with the Pokagon project directly. So that is, division 1, which is connecting water to Pokagon and Trine Wreck State Park. Division 2 is connecting wastewater from us to Pokagon and and Trine Wreck State Park.”

The two divisions that serve the state park will be financed as forgivable bonds held by the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA). Amanda said the city will accept bids, the IFA will create the bonds and the bonds will be forgiven after construction is complete; during construction the city will hold the debt. Amanda said the IFA also has offered a 0% loan option for other city projects that the city could roll into the same package, but the 0% loan would still require repayment to the IFA.

Council members were told the IFA will be the bond holder and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will own and operate utilities inside the state park after construction. Amanda said, “When it's all done, we will only own up to the state park, and then everything within the state parks, the DNR will still own and operate that.”

Staff discussed estimated cost and phasing. Amanda said the two park-serving divisions are estimated to be “over $20,000,000.” She gave a rough estimate of about $1.5 million for division 3 (wastewater rehabilitation, two lift stations) and indicated division 4 (rehab of two water towers) is in the multiple‑hundred‑thousand to low‑millions range; another council member said “3,000,000 is close on those.” Council discussion made clear the figures were estimates provided in the meeting and not final contract amounts.

Council heard that divisions 1 and 2 must be awarded to the same contractor because of the route and coordination required. Amanda said the city required a single contractor for those two divisions because “it's just too convoluted to have 2 different contractors working the same route.” Divisions 3 and 4 may be awarded separately.

Construction and public impacts: staff said the contract calls for 360 calendar days (about one year) with a likely start in May. Amanda said much of the work will be directional drilling in areas to reduce surface disruption but acknowledged the project “will certainly affect the trail use” while work is underway and that portions of the trail may be closed intermittently or have pits and work areas. Staff said they have coordinated with the county engineer and will invite that office to the preconstruction meeting and that contractors will be asked about phasing and trail access at the pre-bid meeting later this month.

Right-of-way and easements: staff said the utility route along State Road 127 will be on the west side of the road and that the city will acquire easements for the lines; in other places the conduit will run under roads by directional drilling.

Council members praised city utility staff for their coordination with state agencies. One council member said the IFA and state agencies offered the financing in part as recognition of the city staff’s work and responsiveness.

No final contractor awards were made at the meeting. Council members were informed that plans will go out to contractors the following week and that a pre-bid meeting will be held at the end of the month.