This and that: Thursday morning catch-up edition
This and that: Thursday morning catch-up edition
County adds West Point to rural broadband rollout. WL looks for your thoughts on Public Safety Center design. City, schools playing doubles on West Side tennis courts rehab. Pub site rezoning advances
Thanks to today’s sponsor, Stuart & Branigin, for continued support of the Based in Lafayette reporting project.
Playing catchup on a Thursday morning …
COUNTY PUTS $1.57M TOWARD ADDING WEST POINT TO RURAL BROADBAND PROJECT
A rural broadband expansion project using federal funds funneled through Tippecanoe County will expand to the West Point area. County commissioners agreed Monday to put $1.57 million in federal grants toward work by Wintek to include West Point, along with other parts of the county outside the reach high-speed broadband in Greater Lafayette.
Wintek officials said engineering work was expected to start in June 2025, with broadband services available in and around West Point in November 2025. The West Point project is expected to include 12.5 miles of fiber lines and reach 258 addresses.
The project is part of what Tippecanoe County officials in 2022 called what was then a $14.8 million centerpiece of the county’s plan for $37.9 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money.
Tipmont and Wintek had been working since spring 2019 to deploy fiber internet, following existing lines in an electric service territory to get rural broadband to its 24,800 members in parts of Tippecanoe, Montgomery, Fountain, Clinton, Carroll, White, Benton and Boone counties. The co-op’s $100 million project, spurred in part by rural broadband initiatives by the state and other sources, is expected to reach its members by 2025. The county’s investment, via the federal money, will take that project outside Tipmont REMC’s coverage area, in parts not covered now by Xfinity, Metronet and other major broadband players, for nearly 2,000 rural Tippecanoe County address.
Rob Ford, a Wintek spokesman, said West Point wasn't initially included in Wintek's build because another provider had promised service to that area. Commissioner Tom Murtaugh said that service never materialized, prompting the county to expand funding for the project.
“We’re pleased to bring this service to West Point, a community passed over for too long by other internet providers whose intentions never came to pass,” Ron Holcomb, Tipmont president and CEO, said.
For a map of construction schedules for the rest of the project, go to: tcfiber.wintek.com/
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WEST LAFAYETTE LOOKS FOR MORE INPUT ON PUBLIC SAFETY CENTER DESIGN
The city of West Lafayette continues to collection suggestions this week about the design of its proposed Public Safety Center, a project that would replace Fire Station No. 2, built in 1963 on Navajo Street, with a new facility on the site of the former West Lafayette City Hall. During a public session Monday, city officials rolled out more detailed designs of a fire station that would be joined with a renovated West Lafayette Police Station next door on Navajo. The project is expected to include a fire station with 3½ bays that would allow firefighters to drive trucks through, rather than back them in. It also includes space to expand crews from nine to 11 firefighters per shift, decontamination spaces for turn-out gear, consideration for EV charging, storage space and a hose-drying tower that would incorporate fire training opportunities. And it would add sharing training and fitness areas for firefighters and police officers.
The project, initially estimated at $45.5 million, is expected to cost in the $60 million range, with design work continuing into 2025.
City officials used this week’s session to collect ideas on four areas: the art and outdoor design; wellness and mental health aspects of the space; sustainability features; and how well it ties into the neighborhood. They set up an online survey that keeps that process going through 3 p.m. Friday.
To see the full presentation, check here.
The city is taking input on the initial designs through 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, at: https://wlmoves.com/project/west-lafayette-public-safety-center-virtual-input-session/
CITY, WEST SIDE SCHOOLS WILL COLLABORATE ON TENNIS COURT WORK AT CUMBERLAND ELEMENTARY
Resurfacing tennis courts at Cumberland Elementary – one of the priorities laid out in a proposed general obligation bond for West Lafayette schools – now will be a shared project with the city, school and city officials said this week.
Shawn Greiner, West Lafayette school superintendent, told the school board Monday that negotiations were in the works with the West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission to share what is expected to be a $2 million project, according to school district estimates.
School board members, looking at a list of potential maintenance projects for a proposed $6.2 million bond issue, in August had questioned whether the school corporation could put off the tennis court work on the Cumberland Elementary campus and focus on things that more directly related to students in classrooms. They also had asked about whether the project could be shared with the city parks, in some fashion.
Greiner, who had made the case that the tennis courts were coming to the end of their useful life, told the board this week that the city was open to sharing the costs.
On Wednesday, the West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission added the tennis court project to its 2025 spending plan. Larry Oates, redevelopment commission president, said the city was working on an agreement that would split the cost for ongoing assurances that the 10 courts would be available to the public anytime they weren’t in use by the school’s tennis team. Oates said the agreement also would include provisions for dual striping four courts for pickleball use and automated lighting for play until 11 p.m.
Oates said the agreement would be similar to work the redevelopment commission paid for on the track at West Lafayette High School’s Leslie Field. In that case, the track is reserved first for the school activities but then doubles as part of the city’s trail system.
The West Lafayette school board is expected to consider approval of the general obligation bond at its Oct. 7 meeting at the former Happy Hollow Elementary, 1200 N. Salisbury St.
For more about the proposal and the other maintenance projects the district is lining up, here’s a recent account:
THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …
A rezoning request that would clear the way to build 36, owner-occupied townhouses near the corner of Union and Fourth streets – on the former site of The Pub – received a unanimous recommendation Wednesday from the Area Plan Commission. The planned development, laid out as Centennial’s Edge in APC documents, includes two-story, connected townhouses featuring two bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms and a two-car garage on 1.4 acres along Union, Fifth, Wall and Fourth streets. Developer John Teibel told Based in Lafayette last week that the townhomes would be in the 1,300-square-foot range and likely would be listed near the $300,000 range. The Lafayette City Council will consider final approval of the planned development rezoning request on Oct. 7. For more on the plans, this is from a conversation with developer John Teibel:
In case you missed it … Purdue and county Election Board officials are proposing a day of early voting at the Co-Rec after taking flak for not initially scheduling an on-campus polling place during the upcoming election. Voting advocates reaction came to this: That’s progress, but will Election Day site happen, too? Here’s an update, via a Wednesday evening edition of Based in Lafayette
In the wake of a massive budget shortfall for Indiana’s Medicaid system that caught state lawmakers by surprise, Indianapolis Star reporters Tony Cook and Kayla Dwyer led this way on new related lawsuit: “A federal whistleblower lawsuit accuses insurance companies and hospitals of defrauding Indiana's Medicaid program of up to $700 million ― money that could have helped prevent a $1 billion shortfall that prompted state officials to cut services.” For the full story: “Whistleblowers: Indiana Medicaid overpaid up to $700M amid lobbying, political pressure.”
This water story out of Lebanon and the LEAP district isn’t connected to the proposed pipeline that would tap-and-take from western Tippecanoe County, but if offers a look at how state officials and Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry are looking to get water supply to the town and to the 9,000-acre site as an alternative. Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Leslie Bonilla Muñiz has the story: “Citizens Energy, Lebanon to tap drinking water fund for $700 million supply project.”
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