By HOLLY GASKILL
Wells County Commissioners approved a $72,000 economic impact study of a potential bypass around downtown Ossian at their Tuesday afternoon meeting.
According to Chad Kline, Wells County Economic Development executive director, this study will observe land uses, roadways, traffic volumes, growth and other important factors to the economic development of the county.
“It’s going to be an important tool and information to have so that the county knows and that communities know how it’s going to impact,” Kline said.
Additionally, because 35 percent of the roads affected by the project carry into Allen County, their county commissioners have agreed to carry 35 percent of the cost. In total, Wells County will pay $46,800 to conduct the study.
The counties will also work together to form a study committee composed of a Wells County commissioner, an Allen County commissioner, Kline and representatives from Greater Fort Wayne Inc. and Ossian.
The county had asked for bids for the study in February. Hunden Strategic Partners, a consultant based out of Illinois, was the only group to respond. Kline said they have conducted similar studies in other counties, which have been beneficial for community development and planning.
At this time, there is not a timeline for the study, but Kline said he and a consultant from Hunden Strategic Partners planned to speak this week to establish that.
The proposed bypass is outlined in the 2020 North Corridor Study and is included in the draft of the Wells County 2035 Vision. It has not yet been up for vote but has been discussed within the county and the Indiana Department of Transportation for decades.
Kline said he sees this study as an unbiased way Wells County can explore its options in the matter.
“We’re not advocating through this one way or another for a project to take place,” Kline said. “At some point in time, the state has a high potential to do this project — (INDOT has) been evaluating it for the last 15 or 20 years. They’re going to do it eventually and it’s important that we have a seat at the table, that we are advocating the most we can for what’s best for Wells County and the citizens of Wells County.
Participation in the study was approved 2-0 by commissioners Mike Vanover and Blake Gerber; Jeff Stringer had to leave the meeting early.
The commissioners also agreed to apply to the Community Crossings Matching Grant for a 450E rehabilitation project. The project is estimated to cost $742,000, with will match to $183,000 through the Community Crossings Matching Grant
County Engineer Nate Rumschlag presented several options for a CCMG project. The other options were construction on Bridge 170 and Bridge 85 or Bridge 402 and Bridge 85. All option locations were determined to have a high need for repair.
“I think it would be a good target to try to do County Road 450E but I know there was some pushback from residents on 450 because of the discussions of State Road 1,” Rumshlag said. “Again, this project is something that’s needed to be done as a maintenance project for years. So whatever happens with State Road 1, this is still a reasonable investment by the county to improve this.”
Rumshlag said he plans to submit the project to the CCMG shortly and hopes to be able to advertise bids by October.
holly@news-banner.com
