Crawfordsville is seeking funding from the state to conduct a comprehensive review of the city’s stormwater and wastewater systems.
The city has applied for a $60,000 planning grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs for the project. Crawfordsville will contribute $7,500 of the cost out of the stormwater operating fund.
“We’ve had this stormwater program for a number of years and we’ve addressed a lot of the serious issues, but we think it’s time to step back and really create a … long-term plan that really plots out where we go next,” Mayor Todd Barton said Wednesday during a public hearing at a virtual meeting of the Crawfordsville Board of Public Works and Safety.
The recent projects include the separation of sanitary and storm sewers downtown.
The study will look at current conditions and facilities and future capital projects at the utilities, said Mike Kleinpeter, president of Whiteland-based Kleinpeter Consulting Group, who assisted with the grant application.
Consultants will also work with city employees to identify at least three alternative projects and processes for the departments, Kleinpeter said.
The wastewater treatment plant was first built in 1938 and has been expanded three times since the mid-1960s, according to the city’s website. The system currently treats an average of 3.01 million gallons of wastewater daily, but is capable of treating up to 4.7 million gallons a day, according to the website.
In other business, the board:
• Approved an extension of the Crawfordsville Fire Department’s agreement with Brown Township for ambulance service through 2021 in the amount of $9,900. The city keeps the money from all emergency responses in the township.
• Approved an agreement for $47,921.99 with Intelligent Systems LLC to install technology upgrades for virtual and hybrid government meetings. The improvements include equipment for the mayor’s conference area and city council chambers in the City Building, an interactive board for consultant meetings and a mobile equipment cart for Fusion 54.
