TERRE HAUTE —
The seven-person Terre Haute Redevelopment Commission Wednesday approved an agreement with Terre Haute International Airport–Hulman Field to extend a sewer line under U.S. 40/Indiana 46 to allow for future commercial development on the east side of the highway.
The board voted without opposition for the agreement. It calls for a sewer line to cross under the roadway near the eastside Walmart store and then run parallel to 40/46.
Property reached by the new sewer line is owned by Terre Haute businessman Greg Gibson, according to county records.
Cliff Lambert, executive director of the Department of Redevelopment, said the agreement is part of an effort to develop the property on the east side of 40/46, which is part of an airport economic development district. Once businesses move into the area, the Airport Authority, which will collect property tax revenue from the businesses, can begin to repay the Redevelopment Commission for the sewer line work, he said.
Lambert estimates the sewer extension will cost “considerably less than” $1 million. Funding will come from property taxes collected within the city’s east-side Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district, he said.
The Redevelopment Commission, made up of members appointed by elected city officials, oversees Terre Haute’s various special taxing districts, known TIF districts. The eastside TIF, which includes Walmart, has been a big economic success, Lambert told the commissioners Wednesday.
n Also Wednesday, the commissioners received good news regarding cleanup costs at the former Terre Haute Coke and Carbon site at 13th and Hulman streets. Pat Martin, city planner, told the commissioners the cost is now estimated to be $5.4 million. It was most recently expected to be around $7 million.
In any case, Martin told the commissioners, the cleanup is being done with essentially “free money” since a discount on a city bond is covering the cost.
The Sanitary District is borrowing about $150 million to essentially replace the city’s old wastewater treatment facility. The loan is going through the Indiana Finance Authority, which is granting the city a discount on its interest rate of 0.5 percent because the loan will pay to clean up an environmentally contaminated area – the former Coke and Carbon site. That discount on the loan will save the city enough money to pay for the cleanup, Martin said.
A cleanup of about half of the former Coke and Carbon site should be completed by the end of this year, allowing the city to begin imagining how the roughly 55-acre site can be developed in the future, officials said.
Plans are not yet in place to clean up the remaining acres at the site, which are in the interior of the property, away from Hulman and 13th streets.
Soil at the former industrial site is contaminated with several byproducts of the process of converting coal into coke over several decades. The cleanup will include hauling about 80,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil to a Vigo County landfill where it will be “capped” according to state and federal environmental standards, Martin said.
Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at arthur.foulkes@tribstar.
com.
Local & Bistate
Pipeline to progress
City, airport working for sewer extension to aid development
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Vigo County Jail Log: May 21, 2013
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Monday and Tuesday, based on jail records.
-
UPDATE: Damage surveys show 2 weak tornadoes hit near Indy
INDIANAPOLIS — The National Weather Service says storm surveys show two weak tornadoes struck central Indiana.
-
Storm causes scattered Indiana power outages
INDIANAPOLIS — A line of thunderstorms that moved across Indiana caused scattered building damage and power outages for several thousand homes and businesses.
-
Kindergartner diagnosed with MD treated to a day with the fire department
“He’ll just never forget this day,” Stacey Manley said, a little bit tearfully, as she watched her smiling 6-year-old son Carter sitting happily in the captain’s seat of Fire Engine 2.
-
Casey, Illinois aims for another world record
The town of Casey, Ill., may soon weave its way into the record books as the small town with the most world records. After setting records for the world’s largest wind chimes and the world’s largest golf tee, Casey is now looking to become home to the world’s largest knitting needles and crochet hook.
-
Rose-Hulman projects will promote growth, learning for people with physical challenges
Life changed dramatically for college engineering student Drew Christy on Feb. 22, 2008 when he was involved in an auto accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
-
‘500’ gas stations being sold to Speedway LLC
After several decades in business, the area’s familiar “500” gasoline stations and convenience stores will soon be missing from the roadsides of Vigo and Sullivan counties.
-
Terre Haute woman faces 14 charges
A Terre Haute woman faces 14 criminal counts after her arrest Friday on drug-related charges.
-
Two adults injured in ATV accident
Two adults were injured Sunday evening while riding an all-terrain vehicle near Lexington Farms Subdivision off Moyer Drive in southern Vigo County.
-
Vigo schools’ medical claims down 4 percent
The Vigo County School Corp.’s medical claims were about $13 million over the last 12 months, down 4 percent from the prior year, said Diane Titchenell, an Anthem account manager that works with the school district.
-
2013 Government Directory now available
The 2013 Government Directory is now available.
-
UPDATE: 5 killed, 6 injured in I-70 van crash in Illinois
ST. LOUIS — A van carrying church members returning from a California gathering careened off of a southern Illinois freeway and overturned several times today, killing five people and sending six others to hospitals, authorities said.
-
2 children reported dead from Indianapolis fire
INDIANAPOLIS — Authorities say some autistic children lived in the Indianapolis condominium unit where a fire has killed two children.
-
Tighter Indiana drunken driving law seems unlikely
INDIANAPOLIS — Some key Indiana legislators say it’s unlikely that the state will any time soon go along with a federal safety board’s recommendation that the threshold for drunken driving be cut nearly in half.
-
Vigo County Jail Log: May 20, 2013
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, based on jail records.
-
Life-Size Ping Pong: Valley pickleball tourney draws large crowd to Brittlebank Park
It’s been described as “ping pong on steroids.”
Some people call it “life-size ping pong where you stand on the table.” -
Boat trip aims to raise awareness about Lewy Body Dementia
In 2013, the Year of the River, it makes sense to link a grand adventure on the Wabash River with a good cause.
-
Legislature had little taste for alcohol bills
When it comes to alcohol, the 2013 legislative session may be marked more by what it didn’t do to boost booze sales than what it did.
-
STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Is it regulation that doesn’t make sense or evening the playing field?
I’m not much of a drinker, so I haven’t spent much time thinking about how Indiana’s alcohol laws personally impact me, but that changed last fall when my daughter got married.
-
RESTAURANT INSPECTIONS: April 29-May 3
The Vigo County Health Department inspected the following food establishments April 29-May 3:
-
For Piper: Annual ‘Rush the Punter’ event dedicated to Dixie Bee student who died Wednesday after a short illness
Steve Weatherford’s “Rush the Punter” fundraiser at Fairbanks Park on Saturday was dedicated to a little girl who lost her life unexpectedly to pneumonia.
-
Vigo schools prepare to tighten belts
State funding for the Vigo County School Corp. will remain “pretty flat” for the next two years, said Donna Wilson, chief financial officer.
-
Veterans take to the trees
Cristal Bednar took photos of her husband, Justin, as he laboriously climbed his way up a “Dangle-Duo” to get to a zipline at Indiana State University’s Sycamore Outdoor Center.
-
Property owner seeks halt to Hulman Lake dam project
A Terre Haute property owner is seeking an injunction that would at least temporarily halt the city’s work on the Hulman Lake dam project.
-
Tornado veterans balance preparedness, practicality
Few things in nature are less predictable than a tornado. They can form quickly. They strike weirdly, leveling one building while leaving its neighbor untouched. They can fling a car a half-mile and turn a piece of lumber into a wall-piercing missile.
-
ISU unveils interactive Bayh Family Legacy Wall at school
A who’s who of Indiana Democrats paid tribute to Evan Bayh and several generations of the Bayh family Friday during a dedication of a new interactive display at Indiana State University.
-
Can you smell me now?
A contraband cell phone has been discovered by the Vigo County Jail’s youngest and most unique officer.
-
GIVING BACK: Steve Weatherford buys shoes for kids day before charity run
Terre Haute’s Steve Weatherford, punter for the 2012 Super Bowl champion New York Giants, showed once again his generosity Friday by donating new athletic shoes to more than two dozen Vigo County kids.
-
N.Y. Giants honor Weatherford as ‘Man of the Year’
Dan Tanoos, superintendent of Vigo County schools, remembers the first time he saw Steve Weatherford as a freshman at Terre Haute North Vigo High School.
-
Sunday recital at The Woods
A recital featuring songs from well-known composers is at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
Vigo County Jail Log: May 21, 2013




