GOSHEN —

 The Goshen Board of Public Works and Safety approved three commitment letters to be sent to the Michiana Area Council of Governments as part of its application for federal Transportation Enhancement Grant funding.

According to Civil City Engineer Mary Cripe, the federal government allocates grant money for each state, with Indiana’s controlled by the Indiana Department of Transportation. INDOT then appropriates the money to different municipal planning organizations, like MACOG, to be allocated to the cities and towns therein. This year, MACOG is requiring applicant cities provide commitment letters describing each one’s plan for providing a local funding match for the applicable projects.

Goshen’s projects to be included in the request for funding are a roughly $1.3 million Main Street revitalization project to span from Jefferson Street to Lincoln Avenue, a $1.5 million project to extend a sidewalk from U.S. 33 at Monroe Street along Monroe Street to the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds and a $1 million project to extend that sidewalk to a connection with the Pumpkinvine Trail. If the city received the maximum 80 percent funding for all three projects, its total costs would be approximately $771,000.

Cripe said the city can keep reapplying for funding for the projects until it reaches that 80 percent level.

Police car purchase

The Goshen Police Department will receive five 2011 Chevrolet Impalas after their purchase was approved by the board.

According to Legal Contracts and Claims Manager Keitha Windsor, Fort Wayne officials received bids for its police vehicles and awarded its contract to Kelley Chevrolet in Fort Wayne. As part of that contract, the bid had to be open to other governmental agencies. Goshen has been able to benefit from buying police vehicles through Fort Wayne’s contracts in the past two years and chose to again take the opportunity to purchase the vehicles.

Each of the cars will cost $20,655.31, at a total cost of $103,276.55.

Change orders

Utilities Engineer Dustin Sailor said the installation of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems for the wastewater and water utilities are "in the home stretch" when he brought a change order for each.

According to the change orders, both approved by the board, $7,885 will be added to the cost of the wastewater SCADA system for piping modifications and addition of a platform, and $1,947 will be added to the cost of the water SCADA system for the addition of six concrete pads.

Other business

• The board voted to declare a Honeyville industrial dust collector located at 475 Steury Ave. — the future street department site, and an 8,500-gallon chemical tank and steel stand at 1000 Wilden Ave. — the city’s wastewater treatment plant, as surplus property and approved the advertising of the items for sale through a sealed bid process with bids due March 21.

• An agreement with RW Armstrong for engineering services with relation to rehabilitation of the Waverly Street bridge over the Millrace Canal was approved with design engineering services to cost $12,500 and construction phase services at a cost not to exceed $1,000.

• Renewal of an agreement with Kiefer Consulting to conduct soil sampling and analysis, provide results to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and provide annual fertilizer and lime recommendations to farmers in the biosolid application program was approved at the same cost as 2010, not to exceed $9,311.

• An agreement with Quality Glass to supply and install four pieces of 28-inch glass with speak through holes at the Goshen City Court clerk’s office in the Police and Courts Building, 111 E. Jefferson St., at a cost of $1,950.

• An agreement with Brads-Ko Engineering & Surveying, Inc., to complete topographical and boundary surveys for the former NIPSCO site, 315 W. Washington St., at a cost not to exceed $3,670.

• The board approved a recommendation from the Mayor’s Traffic Commission to replace the yield sign on River Avenue at First Street to a stop sign.