FORTVILLE – Fortville Town Council members covered an array of topics in a two-and-a-half-hour-long meeting Monday, with conversations at times getting heated.
The contentious part of the proceedings was over whether to allow the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) to close High Street at Broadway Street for a roadwork project.
Council member Fritz Fentz complained that the board was only notified of the vote when a board packet was emailed out Thursday afternoon, even though the proposed road work was set to start the morning after Monday night’s board meeting.
Longtime property owner Bob Ferrel, who owns the Broadway Place center at the southwest corner of Broadway and High streets, voiced his concerns about the proposal at the meeting, reiterating concerns he raised in an email to the board Thursday afternoon, shortly after the board agenda was made public.
“Please do not allow the overzealous, very hasty and unjustified closing of High Street. There is nothing to gain and a lot to lose if you’re one of those people depending on this very short but significant street in Fortville,” Ferrel wrote.
Council member Libby Wyatt stated that customers would still have safe access pulling into Broadway Place from Broadway Street, or U.S. 36.
Originally, the council denied the first motion to close the street by a vote of 3-2, but after further discussion council vice president Ryan Rummell moved to vote again, reversing his vote and granting INDOT access by a vote of 3-2.
Fentz and fellow council member Vanessa Battaglia cast the dissenting votes, both stating concerns over the amount of notice the council was given on the vote.
The High Street closure is part of the ongoing US 36 RightSizing project that has left the main thoroughfare through town in a state of disrepair since late April 2023.
Milestone Contractors is tasked with completing the multi-million dollar project, reconstructing U.S. 36 (Broadway Street) between Garden and Madison streets, removing and replacing Broadway’s existing surface while adding new curbs and gutters and upgrading drainage.
On Monday, the council heard an update on how that and related projects are progressing from project manager Steve Lindway with INDOT.
Lindway shared that 90% of the sidewalks are in place along the U.S. 36 corridor that’s being rebuilt, and that other improvements are coming along on schedule. The U.S. 36 road project is scheduled to be complete sometime in November, reopening streets leading into the downtown commercial district. Look for further updates in upcoming issues of the Daily Reporter as the project moves closer to fruition.
