Posted on July 19, 2018
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
The Town of Hamlet is joining Starke County’s effort to become a Stellar Community. The county government plans to team up with the county’s three incorporated municipalities to apply for a regional Stellar designation in 2019. The Hamlet Town Council voted Wednesday to move forward with the process, along with the rest of the county.
Council member Brian Earnest said he read about the program and discussed it with community members, as well as Knox Mayor Dennis Estok. “It seems to be that every town and even some of the different people are going forward with this within the community,” Earnest said, “and I think it’s something that the whole county should be behind, honestly.”
A Stellar Community designation would likely bring millions of dollars in state funding to the county, through grant opportunities with a smaller local match. Before joining the application, though, Hamlet would have to complete a five-year comprehensive plan. That’s expected to cost the town about $5,000.
Meanwhile, the Starke County Economic Development Foundation plans to hold a second informational session for local officials on August 15, according to Special Projects Coordinator Ron Gifford. “Gerry White from OCRA, our representative there, is bringing somebody else from OCRA that deals just with Stellar Communities to talk about what the next steps are, what to expect, what’s needed from each one of the communities that’s involved,” Gifford told the Hamlet Town Council. “And we’ll just talk about where everybody is in the process.”
In addition to Hamlet, the Starke County Commissioners and the North Judson Town Council have also taken action to join in the application. The Knox City Council has not taken a formal vote yet.
Showing posts with label Hamlet Town Council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hamlet Town Council. Show all posts
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Hamlet Interchange Recommended, As U.S. 30 Improvement Discussions Begin
Posted on October 12, 2017
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
As Starke County prepares to put together its wish list for the proposed upgrade of U.S. 30, one of the things it’ll be pushing for is an interchange at Hamlet. That’s what Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Charlie Weaver told the Hamlet Town Council Wednesday.
He explained that installing an interchange at Starke Street would be difficult, due to the amount of land that would need to be acquired, but there are other options. “Take an example, where Old 30 meets New 30 east of Hamlet. That might be an opportunity,” he said. “It’s an easy route to the town, plus the schools. So I mean those are things are a long ways out, but the whole idea is, even among ourselves we said, ‘You’ve got to respect Hamlet. You can’t limit it to 35.'” They’re also hoping for an interchange at State Road 23.
A committee of local stakeholders will meet for the first time on October 25. Its goal will be to come up with recommendations for the Indiana Department of Transportation to consider, if and when they decide to upgrade U.S. 30 to freeway standards. Weaver said the members were chosen by the Starke County Commissioners. “We have the gentleman that owns Gun Town. He’s on there. I think we have the fire chiefs from Hamlet and Koontz Lake. We have several farmers that farm on both sides, so we can get their reaction to what’s going on. We have the hospital. We have emergency management. We have a county commissioner, county council, a representative from Knox City Council.”
The Hamlet Town Council’s representative is Brian Earnest. He said he plans to work with the town’s fire department to come up with a list of the routes it uses to respond to different locations. “I know with talking to some of the state people that that’s one of the things, like emergency time is one of the big arguments you want to use,” Earnest said.
Meanwhile, Weaver said that Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler is doing traffic counts on all the cross streets. “He’s going to be doing it monthly because you’re going to see different traffic counts whether it’s harvest season, whether Hensler’s are having tree sales and that sort of stuff,” he explained. “So we need to have all that data.”
Starke County is a member of the U.S. 30 Coalition, which is advocating for the upgrade of U.S. 30 to freeway standards between Valparaiso and Fort Wayne. The Hamlet Town Council decided Wednesday to move its October 25 meeting to 7:00 p.m., to allow Earnest to attend the committee meeting.
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
As Starke County prepares to put together its wish list for the proposed upgrade of U.S. 30, one of the things it’ll be pushing for is an interchange at Hamlet. That’s what Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Charlie Weaver told the Hamlet Town Council Wednesday.
He explained that installing an interchange at Starke Street would be difficult, due to the amount of land that would need to be acquired, but there are other options. “Take an example, where Old 30 meets New 30 east of Hamlet. That might be an opportunity,” he said. “It’s an easy route to the town, plus the schools. So I mean those are things are a long ways out, but the whole idea is, even among ourselves we said, ‘You’ve got to respect Hamlet. You can’t limit it to 35.'” They’re also hoping for an interchange at State Road 23.
A committee of local stakeholders will meet for the first time on October 25. Its goal will be to come up with recommendations for the Indiana Department of Transportation to consider, if and when they decide to upgrade U.S. 30 to freeway standards. Weaver said the members were chosen by the Starke County Commissioners. “We have the gentleman that owns Gun Town. He’s on there. I think we have the fire chiefs from Hamlet and Koontz Lake. We have several farmers that farm on both sides, so we can get their reaction to what’s going on. We have the hospital. We have emergency management. We have a county commissioner, county council, a representative from Knox City Council.”
The Hamlet Town Council’s representative is Brian Earnest. He said he plans to work with the town’s fire department to come up with a list of the routes it uses to respond to different locations. “I know with talking to some of the state people that that’s one of the things, like emergency time is one of the big arguments you want to use,” Earnest said.
Meanwhile, Weaver said that Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler is doing traffic counts on all the cross streets. “He’s going to be doing it monthly because you’re going to see different traffic counts whether it’s harvest season, whether Hensler’s are having tree sales and that sort of stuff,” he explained. “So we need to have all that data.”
Starke County is a member of the U.S. 30 Coalition, which is advocating for the upgrade of U.S. 30 to freeway standards between Valparaiso and Fort Wayne. The Hamlet Town Council decided Wednesday to move its October 25 meeting to 7:00 p.m., to allow Earnest to attend the committee meeting.
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