Sewer project wraps up
Conclusion of upgrades to city’s infrastructure marked with ceremony
Crown Point Mayor David Uran, U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers marked the end of a sanitary sewer infrastructure improvement project in the city Wednesday.
City employees and audience members alike watched as a red ribbon was cut signifying the end of the project, which Uran said will allow for more growth in the city.
“It opens the door for more growth on the east side of Crown Point,” Uran said. “What does that mean for us? It means additional opportunities for retail, commercial growth, jobs … jobs are very, very important not only to us, but it’s also very important to the federal government and the state of Indiana.”
Uran also said with projects like this, he believes Mrvan, D-Highland, is bringing money back home to Crown Point.
“We love to have partnerships like this,” Uran said. “We love to leverage our local dollars, because at the end of the day our taxpay
ers are the beneficiaries of that.”
As part of the Calumet Region Environmental Infrastructure 219 project, the sanitary sewer infrastructure improvement project included the replacement of 1,288 linear feet of a 30-inch reinforced concrete pipe sanitary sewer and six manholes with 48-inch RCP sanitary sewer main, bypass pumping and connection to the treatment plant headwork’s structure.
The project was allocated $1,174,275 of federal funding, while the city of Crown Point provided a 25% match of $391,425. Field construction for the project completed in November 2020.
“We’re proud of this project and the environmental benefits it will provide, but we couldn’t have gotten this done without our partners,” Matthew Broderick, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District Deputy District Engineer said. “Infrastructure improvement projects are the result of partnerships among federal, regional and local agencies. Crown Point has been a great partner throughout this process.”
Broderick also said he believes the project will assist the community, mentioning he believes it relates to the city’s mission statement.
“It is great to complete projects like this in the community that helps improve the quality of life for the residents,” Broderick said. “I would like to mention the city’s mission statement is building a stronger community from within, and at USACE, we too, believe in building strong.”
The project broke ground in April 2020, and Al Stong, president of Commonwealth Engineers Inc., said the former performance of the infrastructure caused flooding in a variety of areas during rainfall events, including the basements of some Crown Point homes.
“When you have Mother Nature evoke her wrath on different types of weather events, that makes our infrastructure challenging,” Uran said. “So having partnerships with the Army Corps, having our consultant through the commonwealth who has been recognized throughout the state of Indiana as one of the leading infrastructure of utilities, we’re very happy to have that in our toolbox to be able to address these concerns today so we can have a better tomorrow, preserve property values, create economic growth and just basically improve the quality of life.”