By DAVE SCHULTZ
As the infrastructure for the new construction to Greenfield Farms on the city’s south side takes shape, ten independent sets of eyes will watch what’s being done.
The city of Bluffton has signed a contract with USI Consultants Inc., an engineering firm based in Indianapolis, to conduct “periodic inspection of subdivision construction” as the work goes on.
USI will be paid $25,000 for its work, which began Aug. 20 and continues through June 1, 2023. The specific location for Greenfield Farms Part 3 is between Clark Avenue and Ellingham Pike on the southern edge of the city limits.
The city will hire USI or a similar company whenever a developer is building anything that will eventually become something the city will be responsible for — streets, stormwater systems, and so forth. Roger Thornton, a member of the Bluffton Common Council and of the Board of Public Works and Safety, views the hiring of USI as a template for construction projects going forward.
The city is also considering possible amendments to its standards for infrastructure construction, having asked another engineering firm — Butler Fairman Seufert, also out of Indianapolis — to review and edit, if necessary, what the city should require when such construction is done. Those standards will be a topic of conversation, possibly as soon as the Sept. 6 meeting of the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety. Mayor John Whicker said he’s considering calling for a work session for the Board of Works because the discussion of standards may go on a while.
City standards have been an issue because some developers have said the current standards are too stringent — and if they’re not changed, they said they will not do anything inside the city but will go to other places where things will be done. One key purpose for hiring Butler Fairman Seufert is to review how Bluffton’s standards match up with those of other communities.
Mayor John Whicker said hiring USI or another engineering firm to inspect infrastructure work means that the city and the contractor both can be assured the work has been done properly.
Whicker indicated that some developers have not been inclined to listen to city employees but have listened to the engineers. He relates a story about a recent episode when city employees and employees of an engineering company were watching work be done. City workers’ observations were not necessarily heeded, he said, “but when the engineering company said something, not a peep was said.”
Money for the inspections will come out of the street or utilities’ budgets, as needed, Whicker said.
Greenfield Farms Part 3, which will have 46 houses when completed, has already asked the city for permission for a variance of city standards. The variances — avoiding streetlights in lieu of requiring lighting systems in the front yards of each house, and using PVC pipe for water systems instead of ductile iron — were approved by the Bluffton Common Council earlier this month.
daves@news-banner.com
