Groundbreaking for the new Bartholomew County Highway Garage could be delayed for two months or more after state officials raised concerns about the facility being placed near wetlands.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says the construction site off East 25th Street, east of the Clay Township Fire Department, may contain wetlands, said project consultant Charlie Day of DLZ Indiana Inc.
The possibility of wetlands surfaced after a DNR representative visited the 11.25-acre property on May 30 and issued a review required for an Environmental Rule 5 construction permit, Day said.
The review only mentions a possibility of wetlands where the county wants to build the main facility and outbuildings, Day told the Bartholomew County commissioners on Monday.
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“We’re not saying wetlands are going to be impacted (by construction),” Day said. “But we have to review where the building pads and outbuildings are to determine if wetlands, if they do indeed exist, could be impacted.”
Neither Day nor county commissioner Carl Lienhoop believe wetlands are an issue where construction is planned.
Since the land has been successfully farmed for several decades, both men say it should be self-evident the site doesn’t contain water at or near the surface all year.
“I can’t believe this,” Lienhoop said. “This is flat ridiculous.”
The only location on the 11.25-acre site where wetlands might be a concern is a ditch that has no impact on the construction site, Lienhoop said.
A false perception could have resulted from consistent rains leaving most farm fields in Indiana, including the construction site, over-saturated with water, Bartholomew County Highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
But the state is only asking that groundbreaking, which had originally been scheduled for June 10, be temporarily delayed while a thorough evaluation is made, Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said.
A representative from the Bartholomew County Soil and Water Conservation office will be asked to look over the property and make their own assessment, Lienhoop said.
After examining all options, the commissioners decided they will proceed as planned to open construction bids for the highway garage on June 13.
However, an addendum will be provided to contractors that will require their bids to be valid for up to 120 days, rather than the normal 60 days, in order to allow time to address DNR concerns.
The extra two months will also give contractors time to create alternative bids in case wetland concerns turn out to be valid and fundamental design changes have to be made, Day said.
If the commissioners had decided to simply delay the bid openings until after the review, it would have likely resulted in higher bid costs, Day said.
For private sector projects, Bartholomew County building and zoning personnel normally do their own inspections and issue construction permits, Hollander said.
But since Indiana law doesn’t allow counties to evaluate and permit their own projects, a state agency such as DNR is required to step in to handle inspections, Hollander said.
