The Starke County Highway Department has been working hard to get ready for the impending winter, and Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told WKVI that they’ve hauled in all 3000 tons of their sand and their salt contract is ready. He said the department has been checking their equipment as they get ready for winter operations, including switching to winter-grade gas and oil and prepping snowplows.
A road in Starke County will be closed for approximately three months for bridge replacement.
The Starke County Highway Department will be closing 1000 E. just north of 800 N. for bridge replacement.
Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler said the road will be closed from Sept. 4 through Nov. 30. Travelers are urged to seek an alternate route during this closure. State Road 23 will be utilized as a detour route.
The Starke County Highway Department has been staying busy, as the department recently finished their third cycle of mowing and are well into the fourth, according to Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler. Ritzler told the commissioners that they’ve also finished their chip seal operations, which ended on July 25, thanks in a large part to one highway department employee who stepped up to the plate in a big way, helping to chip seal 30 miles in less than two weeks.
The chip seal work in Starke County has been completed but many rural residents are wondering why their freshly treated roads are rough and rocky. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told WKVI that the chip seal process takes around a week before the loose stone sets, and until then, the rocks on the road are loose and can cause damage to vehicles traveling at high speeds.
Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum volunteers, Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad Company and the Starke County Highway Department will start the work on Tuesday, July 30 with the closure of the Toto Road grade crossing. The closure of the 650 West grade crossing at English Lake will take place on Wednesday, July 31. Surface work will be done at both locations on Thursday, Aug. 1.
The railroad grade crossings are expected to reopen to traffic on Friday, Aug. 2.
The Starke County Commissioners this week approved permits presented by Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler to allow CenturyLink to upgrade fiber optics in the area, requiring the company to perform work near the intersection of Toto Road and County Road 250 South.
Ritzler also presented the commissioners with his department’s monthly report and said mowing is progressing as planned, with the second cycle having been completed in most of the county. The third cycle in some areas has also been completed, though the chip-seal work has been hampered by inclement weather. He said the highway department is still working on that and has begun work in Washington Township.
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler can use funds in his budget to hire up to three part-time seasonal employees to keep up with right-of-way mowing. They will only work as needed and will not exceed the 130 hours per month limit the county has placed on part-time help in order to comply with the federal Affordable Care Act. The council also granted final approval to purchase of three additional trucks for the county highway department based on Ritzler’s recommendations. He presented detailed quotes from four vendors for five different chassis as well as two bed and body prices. Former county highway employee Richard Budka questioned the process, specifically the legality of obtaining quotes instead of sealed bids for the work. After the meeting county attorney Marty Lucas explained that sealed bids are only necessary for public infrastructure projects such as roads and other types of construction. He said in the case of vehicle purchases, quotes are standard as long as each vendor is given the same set of specifications on which to base his price. Copies of the quotes are available for review at the auditor’s office during business hours.
A new highway superintendent will be taking the reins in Starke County, having been appointed by the Starke County Commissioners this week. Stephen “Rik” Ritzler boasts an extensive history of experience and success with projects throughout Indiana, and said he will focus on bringing funds to the county and improving the highway department by providing the employees with the resources they need to do their jobs to the best of their ability.
The Starke County Commissioners this week approved a bid to purchase a new mower for the highway department, which is in new of two new mowers because the current equipment has become worn out. However, there are only enough funds in the highway department’s budget to afford one of the mowers, and not the second, so the commissioners would be responsible for the cost of the second.
The Starke County Commissioners and Auditor Kay Chaffins have instituted a new monthly report form for offices that have cash drawers. Some offices missed the turn-in deadline this month, including the highway department.
Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall explains why.
“Kay sent us out a financial statement that has to be prepared every month,” explained Siddall. “We don’t handle cash, so we have been instructed by the State Board of Accounts to fill out another type of form.”
Starke County Auditor Kay Chaffins has asked Starke County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Siddall for an accounting of all scrap metal items sold at the garage. She said her records showed there hasn’t been an accounting of these sales since 2008.
She passed out a December article from New Albany, Indiana at this week’s Starke County Commissioners meeting that stated the State Board of Accounts had released its investigation into the Floyd County Highway Department which concluded that over $11,000 in receipts were not accounted for from 2006 until the end of 2011. The report also concluded that more than $5,000 was deposited into a private account by the department’s head.
This winter has been a mild one and even though there hasn’t been much snow on the ground, Starke County Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall says he and the employees are keeping busy
“We’ve still got plenty of work to do out here,” said Siddall. “We’re cutting brush and patching potholes. With no snow, the holes are forming with the raining and the warming and thawing. We also have gravel roads that are taking a beating because of so much rain and moisture in the ground. It’s tearing them up and we’re having to fix them. I really wish we had the snow instead of this because it makes mud and causes more trouble for a lot of things.”
The thought of snow is certainly not appealing, but the thought that the County Highway Departments and the City Street Departments are ready for the snow is very appealing.
The Starke County Highway Department told us that they’re ready for winter weather. The salt shed is full with road salt and sand and the snow plows have been serviced and ready to tackle the roads.
Starke County officials closed three bridges last week and determined that at least half of the bridges in the county need to be replaced or repaired.
The following bridges were closed:
Bridge #9 over the Jane Ditch (700 N and 500 E) in Oregon Township;
Bridge #62 over the Smith Ditch (Range Rd. and 500 S) in California Township;
Bridge #156 over the Robbins Ditch (Range Rd. between 400 and 500 N) in Davis Township.
Starke County EMA Director Ted Bombagetti said this week that the total cost during the storms the first week in February was almost $81,000. Almost $7,000 was overtime pay. The rest was in materials and fuel.
On a related topic, County Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall implored the County Commissioners to set up a meeting with the Bass Lake Property Owners Association to explain the right-of-way situation at the lake. Siddall said it’s been about 10 years since residents were notified that the county has 40 to 60 feet of right of way to plow snow. Since that time, many of the property owners have been encroaching on that space to place fences, trinkets, rocks and boulders.
Starke County Highway Superintendent, Steve Siddall, appeared before the County Commissioners Monday. One item on Siddall’s agenda was the number of mailbox complaints he has received. He said well over 100 people have complained about mailbox damage. Siddall said it could not be helped during the snowstorms. Most of the damage was from the heavy snow hitting the boxes. Siddall told the Commissioners that he checked with Marshall County and they do not respond to such calls. It’s basically the homeowner’s responsibility to repair the post and box. INDOT also does not repair or replace mailboxes.
On another topic, Siddall said that there is probably going to be a problem with fences at Bass and Koontz Lakes when they start rolling the snow back. The right of way is 40 to 60 feet, and Siddall said there are a number of fences that will probably be damaged because they’re too close.
“In our right-of-ways, yes we are encroaching on people’s yards, but we still own that right-of-way,” explained Siddall. “Where we’re having the biggest trouble or concern is at Bass Lake and Koontz Lake where we can’t stack it any higher and I informed the Commissioners that we might be coming through there with a grader. What we do is what we call benching. If there’s two feet of snow, we may roll a foot of that back so when the snow plow truck comes back through in another big snow event, we have room to put it. Otherwise, it just keeps piling up and we have nowhere to go with it. Another concern was fences or trinkets left in people’s yards that we can’t see. I told the Commissioners that we weren’t going in with a bulldozer and trying to clear property, we were trying not to damage anything.”
Newsman Ted Hayes complimented Siddall on the performance of the highway crew over the winter storm, and he also praised his staff.
“I feel the guys did an excellent job,” replied Siddall. “We have an excellent crew out at the County Highway and I want to give them thanks. I know Scott and Sue and everybody that works out there that are in the offices that weren’t out there battling the elements did a great job. The guys did a wonderful job.”
If the snow and wind Tuesday night and early yesterday morning weren’t bad enough, now we have bone chilling cold.
Billed as the worst storm in decades, with snow and ice stretching 2,000 miles, the inclement weather is now moving to the northeast where they are worried about where to put the white stuff.
