Engineer reports easement progress and schedules for water/sewer relocations and paving

Town consultant Mike Harris updated the council on several infrastructure projects at the March 23 meeting, reporting progress on easements, utility relocations and paving schedules.

Harris said all easements and rights of entry for the Sunflower Valley project have been acquired and recorded with the exception of one property and that the team expects that remaining signature soon. He reported the SR 31 water and sewer relocations are finished and crews are addressing punch‑list items; one recent issue required relocating about 60 feet of water main, which Harris said will likely result in a change order at the next meeting.

On the town‑center project, Harris said the project team is coordinating with a developer building a new entrance road for Ivy Tech and intends to place a portion of pipe under that entrance now to avoid tearing up the new road later. He said Ivy Tech pump station number 2 is roughly 80% complete with about 4,000 feet of pipe in place. Harris also reported CCMG paving preconstruction has taken place and crews are scheduled to complete paving by early fall.

Harris flagged an effort to coordinate with the county engineer after learning a fiber company had sought permits near a new water‑line alignment and asked to be notified of permit activity that could conflict with planned utility work.

Council thanked Harris for the report and staff noted next steps include resolving the remaining easement, finalizing alignments for the raw‑water main and presenting any change orders to council for approval.