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Hammond council approves $20.5M in claims, reviews capital allocations and hears public concerns about bridge and outreach
Summary
The council approved $20,512,960.89 in registered claims, heard five Capital Improvement Board allocations (totaling several small contracts and one $50,000 supplemental engineering item), and received public comments criticizing a proposed $8M pedestrian bridge location and Mayor's Night Out engagement.
The Common Council approved registered claims from Jan. 7 through Jan. 21, 2026 (claim numbers 199–788) totaling $20,512,960.89 by a unanimous roll-call vote. Councilman Salinas reported five Capital Improvement Board funding allocations, including small retainage to Gary Up Construction ($2,027.99) for the Little Calumet River pedestrian bridge, emergency siren electrical work ($5,494.50) to Hassay Construction, a $50,000 supplemental engineering allocation for Summer Street due to utility delays and contaminated soils, a $49,890 contract for Sheffield storm sewer modeling to Donahue and Associates, and a $50,000 general electric services contract to Midwestern Electric.
During public expression, Mary Shone questioned an $8,000,000 pedestrian bridge's siting and whether the project would address child-safety crossings or instead reflect mayoral real-estate ambitions; Ken Rosick criticized Mayor's Night Out procedures, alleging residents from the 6th District were not allowed to ask questions and expressing frustration with transparency around a project he called Briar Eastwoods. Comments were recorded for the public record; council did not take substantive action on the public comments at the meeting.
