Madison Street repairs to begin in spring

Work on Madison Street should progress rapidly, members of Greencastle Area, Franklin County, Water Authority hope, since they authorized engineer Gannett Fleming Monday night to advertise for bids on Jan. 31.

Engineer Rachel Govelovich said the timeframe allotted for the water main extension project would wrap up construction by Aug. 31. Her dates for the process were: open bids Feb. 28, award bids March 2, start construction April 1, crews done July 29, and final completion at the end of August. Greencastle could then lay a basecoat before winter hit.

"That's why there's such a critical nature for the schedule," she told authority members Greg Rock, Robert Miller and Jason Gerhart Jan. 17.

Manager Ken Womack said residents along the project path would be notified of a meeting Jan. 25 at Grace United Church of Christ to update them on the project as it affected them. Work underway by Columbia Gas would also be addressed.

The board established rates for the water service increase, effective Jan. 1. The minimum quarterly charge was raised from $8.16 to $8.40 per 1,000 gallons used, and the minimum charge was raised from $73.44 to $75.60 (based on 9,000 gallons or less of water used). Customers would pay whichever fee was higher.

Solicitor Jan Sulcove and Womack reported that the water main extension agreement with Heritage Estates West was close to being finalized, so the board gave Govelovich the green light to begin engineering once the last signature was received.

A 2005 agreement with Shadow Creek was also debated. The developer owed $553,000 for the infrastructure installed by GAFCWA. Options to collect included charging interest, or offering a declining discount to encourage earlier payment. Sulcove said he would work on some possibilities.