Posted on November 12, 2018
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the county commissioners last week that he’s planning to ask the county council members next week to approve some additional appropriations.
“Over 2018 we spent a lot of funds that might be reimbursable. That includes the money we spent for the flooding, the transmission line installation that NIPSCO did – we had to repair those roads, the work we did for the park board trail group and other things. The total is about $174,000. We’ve been given that money back, but it’s in our cash account. We have to move it into line items to replace the money we spent. Before, we had to move around the vehicle replacement plan to get some of that money in there. Now that we get some of this money back we don’t have to transfer that money from the vehicle account and we can put it into our vehicle replacement program. We can buy that one truck that we were going to buy this year,” said Ritzler.
Ritzler added that the county has submitted the finalized application to FEMA for possible reimbursements from the flooding event earlier this year. Ritzler is not sure when that decision will be delivered.
Showing posts with label Starke County Highway Superintendent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Starke County Highway Superintendent. Show all posts
Monday, November 12, 2018
Friday, October 5, 2018
Starke County Highway Superintendent Submits Community Crossings Application
Posted on October 5, 2018
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the commissioners this week that he submitted four projects for consideration for the fall Community Crossings grant round.
Ritzler submitted two bridge projects for reimbursement. They include Bridge No. 154 on 100 E. north of 400 N. and Bridge No. 36 over the Eagle Creek on 25 N. west of 600 E.
“This is the last time you can do bridge projects you’ve already done [for reimbursement],” said Ritzler. “We want to do that because when we get that money we can use it for any other project we want. That really helped us during the flooding this year because we didn’t have to borrow any money or anything. We had that money we could use for that.”
Two other road projects are included in the application.
“There’s an intersection improvement project on County Road 210 and 200 S. There’s a lot of accidents there. There’s a bid sight distance problem. A lot of trucks use that there. We don’t want them to do that. We want them to use State Road 10. By making that a t-intersection, they’re not going to want to make that turn. People can see there. It’s going to slow down everybody and make it safer for pedestrians, bike traffic and golf cart traffic around the lake. We picked 25 N. There’s high traffic on there and a fair amount of accidents on that road. It is a major connector from the eastern part of the county to Knox.”
The total cost of the project is $987,786.55. If awarded, the county would pay 25 percent of that cost.
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the commissioners this week that he submitted four projects for consideration for the fall Community Crossings grant round.
Ritzler submitted two bridge projects for reimbursement. They include Bridge No. 154 on 100 E. north of 400 N. and Bridge No. 36 over the Eagle Creek on 25 N. west of 600 E.
“This is the last time you can do bridge projects you’ve already done [for reimbursement],” said Ritzler. “We want to do that because when we get that money we can use it for any other project we want. That really helped us during the flooding this year because we didn’t have to borrow any money or anything. We had that money we could use for that.”
Two other road projects are included in the application.
“There’s an intersection improvement project on County Road 210 and 200 S. There’s a lot of accidents there. There’s a bid sight distance problem. A lot of trucks use that there. We don’t want them to do that. We want them to use State Road 10. By making that a t-intersection, they’re not going to want to make that turn. People can see there. It’s going to slow down everybody and make it safer for pedestrians, bike traffic and golf cart traffic around the lake. We picked 25 N. There’s high traffic on there and a fair amount of accidents on that road. It is a major connector from the eastern part of the county to Knox.”
The total cost of the project is $987,786.55. If awarded, the county would pay 25 percent of that cost.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Starke County Highway Superintendent Discusses Budget with County Council
Posted on July 19, 2018
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler discussed some changes the Starke County Council members may see when the 2019 highway budget is presented during the budget workshop.
He said the department will see less money the second half of the year because gas prices went up and not as many people are filling up their gas tanks. Gas taxes come into the county to be used to improve local roads, streets and operations. This will trickle into next year’s budget as well. Ritzler said the state auditor estimates that about $283,000 less will be available this year while about $370,000 less will come to the county in 2019. On the flip side, the county will see a $399,000 surplus to help cushion the loss.
Ritzler noted that because of the county’s asset management plan they are able to move some items around to accommodate this loss in funding. He stressed that local services will NOT be cut. Ritzler commented that it is because of the asset management plan that the budget is able to have flexibility and that the highway department has not had to ask for money outside of their operating budget for the past five years, even with the flooding event that occurred in February.
The Starke County Council members planned their budget workshop for Monday, Aug. 6 beginning at 8 a.m.
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler discussed some changes the Starke County Council members may see when the 2019 highway budget is presented during the budget workshop.
He said the department will see less money the second half of the year because gas prices went up and not as many people are filling up their gas tanks. Gas taxes come into the county to be used to improve local roads, streets and operations. This will trickle into next year’s budget as well. Ritzler said the state auditor estimates that about $283,000 less will be available this year while about $370,000 less will come to the county in 2019. On the flip side, the county will see a $399,000 surplus to help cushion the loss.
Ritzler noted that because of the county’s asset management plan they are able to move some items around to accommodate this loss in funding. He stressed that local services will NOT be cut. Ritzler commented that it is because of the asset management plan that the budget is able to have flexibility and that the highway department has not had to ask for money outside of their operating budget for the past five years, even with the flooding event that occurred in February.
The Starke County Council members planned their budget workshop for Monday, Aug. 6 beginning at 8 a.m.
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Starke County Highway Superintendent Working on 2018 Community Crossings Application
Posted on June 14, 2018
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler is working on applications for the 2018 Community Crossings program.
He told the Starke County Commissioners last week that the applications may be turned in starting Monday, Aug. 6. The Bridge #154 replacement project will be among the projects included along with several others, according to Ritzler.
“We’re going to do the intersection improvement at Bass Lake County Road 210 and old State Road 10/600 South,” said Ritzler. “We’re going to make that a safer intersection. We’re going to make that a T-intersection and make a continuous loop around the lake. We also won’t allow trucks once that becomes a T-intersection. We’re going to do five miles of hot mix roads. I’m doing a list now. We’re doing traffic counts and accident counts right now. We’ll have that for you next month.”
A fourth project will also be included, although Ritzler said it may be outside of what would be awarded.
“It’s always good to put a few more applications in. We’re putting in a bridge rehab project on Bridge #137. That’s the one on 300 E. in the industrial park. It needs some work so we’re going to include that.”
The deadline to submit applications is Sept. 28.
Ritzler noted that beginning in January, INDOT will award projects twice a year with applications due in January and July.
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler is working on applications for the 2018 Community Crossings program.
He told the Starke County Commissioners last week that the applications may be turned in starting Monday, Aug. 6. The Bridge #154 replacement project will be among the projects included along with several others, according to Ritzler.
“We’re going to do the intersection improvement at Bass Lake County Road 210 and old State Road 10/600 South,” said Ritzler. “We’re going to make that a safer intersection. We’re going to make that a T-intersection and make a continuous loop around the lake. We also won’t allow trucks once that becomes a T-intersection. We’re going to do five miles of hot mix roads. I’m doing a list now. We’re doing traffic counts and accident counts right now. We’ll have that for you next month.”
A fourth project will also be included, although Ritzler said it may be outside of what would be awarded.
“It’s always good to put a few more applications in. We’re putting in a bridge rehab project on Bridge #137. That’s the one on 300 E. in the industrial park. It needs some work so we’re going to include that.”
The deadline to submit applications is Sept. 28.
Ritzler noted that beginning in January, INDOT will award projects twice a year with applications due in January and July.
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Starke County Community Crossings Projects Complete
Posted on May 9, 2018
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
The three projects awarded INDOT Community Crossings funding in Starke County are complete.
In a report provided by Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler and presented by Office Manager Rachel Oesterrich to the county commissioners Monday night, the replacement projects on Bridge 50 and Bridge 47 and a hot mix overlay project on 300 East from State Road 8 to 250 feet south of Division Road are done.
The total reimbursement will be $575,000 for the three Community Crossings projects.
The commissioners approved a motion to provide the match for the projects out of the CEDIT fund in the amount of just over $35,850. It is less than what the county council appropriated for the 25 percent match last year as bids for the work came in under expectations. The recommendation will be sent to the county council for final approval.
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
The three projects awarded INDOT Community Crossings funding in Starke County are complete.
In a report provided by Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler and presented by Office Manager Rachel Oesterrich to the county commissioners Monday night, the replacement projects on Bridge 50 and Bridge 47 and a hot mix overlay project on 300 East from State Road 8 to 250 feet south of Division Road are done.
The total reimbursement will be $575,000 for the three Community Crossings projects.
The commissioners approved a motion to provide the match for the projects out of the CEDIT fund in the amount of just over $35,850. It is less than what the county council appropriated for the 25 percent match last year as bids for the work came in under expectations. The recommendation will be sent to the county council for final approval.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Starke County Highway Superintendent Meets with FEMA Representatives
Posted on April 3, 2018
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler met with FEMA representatives last week to discuss flood damage to the county’s roads, bridges and culverts.
Ritzler told the Starke County Commissioners Monday night that there are three categories that the county qualifies for when it comes to reimbursement funding.
“There are debris removal events that we have to report and one of the smaller things. That’s only $3,200. We also have to report emergency protective measures. That’s mostly opening and closing the roads, repairing existing road closed signs, monitoring damage, and other emergency repairs. That total is $50,000. There are two category “C” lists. The first one is roads and bridges that display completed temporary repair. Six culverts and a lot of roadways are done at a current cost of $116,420,” said Ritzler.
He said the most important category is road and bridges permanent repairs.
“The wedging and pavement repairs is the most important one. You can see it’s the highest priced. That includes repairing Toto Road, Range Road and all of the roads that were significantly damaged – 700 North. We sat down for a couple of hours with FEMA the other day and went through all of these. They gave us a few more things that we have to submit to them and then we will be ready to get our reimbursement. Our permanent repairs total $1.4 million so the total of everything is just over $1.5 million.”
Ritzler noted that they are about halfway through the reporting requirements set forth by FEMA and they will be working on the rest of the report this week. All of the documentation will be submitted for reimbursement.
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler met with FEMA representatives last week to discuss flood damage to the county’s roads, bridges and culverts.
Ritzler told the Starke County Commissioners Monday night that there are three categories that the county qualifies for when it comes to reimbursement funding.
“There are debris removal events that we have to report and one of the smaller things. That’s only $3,200. We also have to report emergency protective measures. That’s mostly opening and closing the roads, repairing existing road closed signs, monitoring damage, and other emergency repairs. That total is $50,000. There are two category “C” lists. The first one is roads and bridges that display completed temporary repair. Six culverts and a lot of roadways are done at a current cost of $116,420,” said Ritzler.
He said the most important category is road and bridges permanent repairs.
“The wedging and pavement repairs is the most important one. You can see it’s the highest priced. That includes repairing Toto Road, Range Road and all of the roads that were significantly damaged – 700 North. We sat down for a couple of hours with FEMA the other day and went through all of these. They gave us a few more things that we have to submit to them and then we will be ready to get our reimbursement. Our permanent repairs total $1.4 million so the total of everything is just over $1.5 million.”
Ritzler noted that they are about halfway through the reporting requirements set forth by FEMA and they will be working on the rest of the report this week. All of the documentation will be submitted for reimbursement.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Potential Funding Available for Repairing Flood Damaged Roads in Starke County
Posted on February 28, 2018
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
Several roads around Starke County have spent many days underwater due to the recent floods. This extended exposure to saturation will most likely result in many sections of roadway needing previously unplanned repairs.
On Sunday, Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler took county and state officials on a tour of the area to highlight some of the spots that were hit the hardest by flood waters.
He explained that once the waters recede enough, crews will be conducting thorough assessments around the county to see where work will need to be done.
“When this goes down, we have to reassess the roads, do our PASER ratings on the roads, check the bridges again so we’ll be busy doing that and we’re probably going to have to readjust our asset management plan a little bit.”
Ritzler said that after they are done assessing they will move onto repairs. He said fortunately, there is money available to the Highway Department to help with these flood-response efforts.
“We were lucky, the Community Crossings Grant money we got this last year are bridges that we have already done, we can kind of use it for anything we want really,” Rizler explained, “it will be very helpful to us. We paid for those bridges ahead of time and got reimbursed for it and now we kind of just have that money that we might need to use for something here.”
Starke County Highway Department crews have been out already and will continue to assess road conditions over the next few weeks. If you come across any major problems with County roadways or bridges, notify the Highway Department at 574-772-3011.
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
Several roads around Starke County have spent many days underwater due to the recent floods. This extended exposure to saturation will most likely result in many sections of roadway needing previously unplanned repairs.
On Sunday, Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler took county and state officials on a tour of the area to highlight some of the spots that were hit the hardest by flood waters.
He explained that once the waters recede enough, crews will be conducting thorough assessments around the county to see where work will need to be done.
“When this goes down, we have to reassess the roads, do our PASER ratings on the roads, check the bridges again so we’ll be busy doing that and we’re probably going to have to readjust our asset management plan a little bit.”
Ritzler said that after they are done assessing they will move onto repairs. He said fortunately, there is money available to the Highway Department to help with these flood-response efforts.
“We were lucky, the Community Crossings Grant money we got this last year are bridges that we have already done, we can kind of use it for anything we want really,” Rizler explained, “it will be very helpful to us. We paid for those bridges ahead of time and got reimbursed for it and now we kind of just have that money that we might need to use for something here.”
Starke County Highway Department crews have been out already and will continue to assess road conditions over the next few weeks. If you come across any major problems with County roadways or bridges, notify the Highway Department at 574-772-3011.
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Starke County Highway Department Looks into Brine Application
Posted on February 7, 2018
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the county commissioners Monday night that the county is getting closer to being able to apply brine to roads to help clear them of snow and ice.
Ritzler said INDOT uses brine on the roads. He said there was a great amount of brine applied on Friday which turned the road white. He noticed that the roads were “clear and wet almost immediately after the snow stopped falling. The county can’t clear the roads to the caliber of the state’s abilities, but Ritzler said that soon may change.
“We’re making steps to do that,” stated Ritzler. “We used a little bit last year. We have one truck for it, but we really can’t make our own brine. We have in our budget this year to install a brine machine. We’re also going to add a second sprayer truck. Upgrading the fleet is very expensive to do so we’ll just use the two water trucks.”
An experienced INDOT maintenance supervisor will be meeting with highway department personnel next week to show them how to install the brine maker, a process he’s been doing with all of INDOT’s facilities.
“INDOT has allowed him to spend the day with us and really show us what to do and not make any mistakes. I have quotes for three different brine machines and he’ll be able to tell us the positives and negatives about each one so we’re excited about that.”
Ritzler added that some other steps will need to be done in order to offer a brine operation.
“We’ll need to add some storage areas and we’ll have to have a little more salt. We’ll add a truck wash bay. It’s very important to get that salt off the trucks. Also, there’s a lecture at road school this year about Harrison County. They upgraded their facility to include brine. He’ll be making a presentation on the mistakes he made and the good things that were done so we’ll be doing that.”
Ritzler will report back to the commissioners about what he learns at road school in a future meeting.
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the county commissioners Monday night that the county is getting closer to being able to apply brine to roads to help clear them of snow and ice.
Ritzler said INDOT uses brine on the roads. He said there was a great amount of brine applied on Friday which turned the road white. He noticed that the roads were “clear and wet almost immediately after the snow stopped falling. The county can’t clear the roads to the caliber of the state’s abilities, but Ritzler said that soon may change.
“We’re making steps to do that,” stated Ritzler. “We used a little bit last year. We have one truck for it, but we really can’t make our own brine. We have in our budget this year to install a brine machine. We’re also going to add a second sprayer truck. Upgrading the fleet is very expensive to do so we’ll just use the two water trucks.”
An experienced INDOT maintenance supervisor will be meeting with highway department personnel next week to show them how to install the brine maker, a process he’s been doing with all of INDOT’s facilities.
“INDOT has allowed him to spend the day with us and really show us what to do and not make any mistakes. I have quotes for three different brine machines and he’ll be able to tell us the positives and negatives about each one so we’re excited about that.”
Ritzler added that some other steps will need to be done in order to offer a brine operation.
“We’ll need to add some storage areas and we’ll have to have a little more salt. We’ll add a truck wash bay. It’s very important to get that salt off the trucks. Also, there’s a lecture at road school this year about Harrison County. They upgraded their facility to include brine. He’ll be making a presentation on the mistakes he made and the good things that were done so we’ll be doing that.”
Ritzler will report back to the commissioners about what he learns at road school in a future meeting.
Friday, December 8, 2017
Starke County Ahead of Others in Collecting Data for Potential U.S. 30 Upgrade
Posted on December 8, 2017
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County is ahead of other entities in preparing for the possible upgrade of U.S. 30 to a freeway. That’s what Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the county commissioners this week in his report of a recent U.S. 30 Coalition meeting in Warsaw.
“We’ve held public meetings, we have a committee in the county and we’ve done most of our traffic study work that needs to be done,” said Ritzler. “We’re way ahead of all of the other counties to do that. That meeting went well.”
In his report, Ritzler noted that he has also worked with a consultant to assess the feasibility of interchanges and overpasses at various locations, as well as origin and destination studies at relevant locations.
Ritzler added that a representative from MACOG offered to provide the county with data they’ve collected to help the county with their assessments. The county should be done with traffic data collection in February and the first draft of the report will be reviewed in a Starke County U.S. 30 Coalition meeting in March.
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI
Starke County is ahead of other entities in preparing for the possible upgrade of U.S. 30 to a freeway. That’s what Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the county commissioners this week in his report of a recent U.S. 30 Coalition meeting in Warsaw.
“We’ve held public meetings, we have a committee in the county and we’ve done most of our traffic study work that needs to be done,” said Ritzler. “We’re way ahead of all of the other counties to do that. That meeting went well.”
In his report, Ritzler noted that he has also worked with a consultant to assess the feasibility of interchanges and overpasses at various locations, as well as origin and destination studies at relevant locations.
Ritzler added that a representative from MACOG offered to provide the county with data they’ve collected to help the county with their assessments. The county should be done with traffic data collection in February and the first draft of the report will be reviewed in a Starke County U.S. 30 Coalition meeting in March.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)