The city is bringing in experts to identify brownfield sites and provide a road map for cleaning up the properties in an effort to revitalize old industrial corridors.
Brownfields are properties such as vacant factories or gas stations contaminated by hazardous substances or pollutants. The presence of the toxins often derails plans to redevelop the site.
The Board of Public Works and Safety on Wednesday approved a nearly $297,000 contract with Indianapolis-based BCA Environmental Consultants to pinpoint sites, public or privately-owned, and carry out studies and testing to confirm whether the properties are contaminated.
The consultants will also develop remediation plans for the sites.
Earlier this year, Crawfordsville received a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess and clean up brownfields. The rest of the funding will be used for administrative work.
The city targeted areas north of Market Street and east of Washington Street for the assessments. The area around the former Crawfordsville Electric Light & Power plant and former industrial properties on Wabash Avenue and Elmore Street were also identified in the grant.
Seven companies bid for the work and three finalists were interviewed, city operations director Dale Petrie said. BCA wrote Crawfordsville’s application for the grant and is familiar with the community, he added. A company representative has an office in Crawfordsville.
In other business, the board approved sidewalk closures during times when crews are cleaning out the upstairs of Francis & Mount for renovations.
The work will be done on Sundays or at night, with the debris emptied into rotating dump trucks, restaurant owner Isaac Weliver said.
