INDOT’s contractor will be holding a public meeting on Thursday to update you on the road project adding more travel lanes on Interstate 65.

The purpose of the public meeting is to give an update on the progress of the project to increase the interstate to six lanes between Seymour and Columbus. The three year, $143 million project recently entered its second phase, INDOT says.

The expansion, part of the Next Level Roads initiative, will be between U.S. 50 and Indiana 58 at Walesboro. The project also provides for a repair/resurfacing project between Walesboro and the Columbus exits. A separate project will increase the width of the interstate between those exits also.

The work so far has included adding traffic signals at State Road 58 exits and a caution light at the U.S. 31 and State Road 250 intersection.

Thursday’s meeting will be from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Hampton Inn Seymour. That is at 247 N. Sandy Creek Dr.

The final days of a 30-day public comment period for the Columbus Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Draft of the 2020-2024 Transportation Improvement Program Update. The TIP identifies transportation projects that will be funded in Bartholomew County over the next five years.

A public open-house will have information on the proposed projects. That will be held in Conference Room 3 at City Hall on Monday, March 25th from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. A presentation will be given at 5 p.m.

Public comments on the TIP may be made in the following ways:
– sent by mail to Laura Thayer, Columbus City Hall, 123 Washington Street, Columbus IN 47201;
– by email to lthayer@columbus.in.gov;
– by phone to (812) 376-2550.

CAMPO, which is part of the City of Columbus-Bartholomew County Planning Department, is charged with planning and programming federal funding for transportation projects in Columbus and Bartholomew County. The City and County manage the projects in their jurisdictions and provide the required match, which is usually 20-percent of the total project cost.

City officials say projects in the draft TIP are improvements for:
– Talley Road from 25th Street to Rocky Ford Road;
– Lowell Road from CR 325 West to Indianapolis Road;
– Sections of Goeller Road and County Road 350 West;
– Planned bicycle and pedestrian facilities include improvements for the People Trail between Noblitt, Donner and Lincoln parks. The TIP also includes capital and operational funding for ColumBUS Transit.

Six INDOT railroad projects in Bartholomew County are also included in the TIP to ensure coordination among agencies. These safety improvement projects at CR 800 N, CR 650 N, CR 550 N, Industrial Road, Spear Street, and CR 950 S.

Clarifications: An earlier version of this article had information that was incomplete. It has been updated.

Emergency dispatchers and paramedics are seeing an increased workload.

The Columbus Emergency Ambulance Board met Thursday afternoon at city hall. Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration, explains that this is an annual meeting required by ordinance, as CRH is contracted with the city and county to provide ambulance services through the end of 2020.

Adam Hoskins, EMS manager for Columbus Regional Health, delivered the presentation. Figures from 2018 indicated a one-percent increase in overall call volume over 2017. Hoskins says that of those 11,380 calls, about 27 percent were “non-emergency.”

Response times were a bit slower compared to 2017. Hoskins says the average city response time in 2018 four-minutes and 50 seconds. That’s 20 seconds slower than 2017. The average county response time of 10 minutes and 43 seconds is 21 seconds slower that 2017 figures. CRH says these delays were anticipated due to construction on I-65 between Columbus and Seymour and flooding issues throughout the year.

The number of ambulance sites have also decreased from five to four. One ambulance was removed from Fire Station 6 in Walesboro and moved to the ambulance station on Central Avenue. That change was made because the Walesboro ambulance was not utilized as often as originally hoped.

Hospital officials say that they are still beating the response times required under their contract. The city/county contract requires that an ambulance be on scene within 9 minutes, 90% of the time. CRH met that goal 91.6% of the time.  County responses require arrival in less than 18 minutes, 90% of the time.  CRH  hit that mark 92.2% of the time.

CRH says their ambulance service had a net-loss of approximately $72,000 in 2018. Hoskins explains that their largest provider is Medicare, which pays $247 per ambulance trip. Second is Medicaid, which pays only $97 per trip. Hoskins says the average non-emergency ambulance ride is billed at $701. Officials say they will continue to take steps to reduce the red ink. This includes taking additional non-emergency runs and other measures.

City Councilman Frank Miller, a member of the EAS Board, expressed concerns about the increasing number of calls. He says that there is a need for new dispatchers at the Emergency 911 Center. To better study the issue, Miller is set to spend time at the dispatch center Friday afternoon to observe. Miller says he expects additional discussions at the county and city levels next month to address his concerns.

The town of Hope is moving forward with a grant request for a project to beautify and brighten the town square. The Town Council this week approved a request from the non profit Main Street of Hope organization to apply for up to $600,000 in state funds for the project.

The project, if approved for funding by the state Office of Community and Rural Affairs would have two major components — replacing more than 40 aging and dim street lights in and around the square, and upgrading the sidewalks and trails through the small park to make them accessible under ADA standards.

Susan Thayer-Fye, director of the Main Street group explains.

Thayer-Fye, director of the Main Street group explains that the grant will require a 20 percent local match. That include actual cash and in-kind donations, such as the architect’s fees for the landscaping.

The grant deadline is June and all the matching funds need to be accounted for by then.

Thayer-Fye said that the street lights in and around the square are aging, dim and inefficient. The council chose to go with a private supplier, rather than Duke Energy, and the new lights will match the town’s historic square

The deadline to apply for the grant is late June.

The Seymour Police Department 911 Dispatch Center and the Jackson County Emergency Management Agency are giving away five public alert weather radios in recognition of Severe Weather Awareness Week.

The agencies recommend that everyone have at least two methods to receive severe weather alerts. The National Weather Service sends out alerts whenever severe weather happens in your area.

To win one of the five radios, you need to go to the Seymour police Facebook page and comment with the words “Storm Awareness” on the radio giveaway post. Winners will be randomly chosen on Monday.

You can see the post below:

Two elementary schools in Johnson County will be closed to students and staff on Thursday.

Franklin Community Schools says a second round of air and soil gas sampling took place over the winter. Samples of air were taken from below the concrete floor at Needham Elementary and Webb Elementary and sent to a lab for analysis. FCS received preliminary results Wednesday. They indicated that three out of seven samples at Webb Elementary and two out of 10 samples at Needham Elementary were above the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s screening levels.

The latest testing comes after testing done over the summer cleared both schools. That came about after parents expressed concerns about possible contamination, as both schools are located near an old manufacturing site. Additional sampling is set for over spring break, which is set to begin after classes on Thursday.

FCS will be implementing an E-Learning Day for Thursday, March 21st for Needham Elementary and Webb Elementary only. Other schools in the district will remain in session.

FCS officials say they will provide an update on Thursday.

The proposed donation of just over 1.5 acres of land to Columbus Parks and Recreation is a step closer to happening.

The Columbus City Council gave final approval Tuesday night to rezone the site at the west end of 26th Street near the Hawcreek People Trail. The property was zoned for commercial use, but has since been changed to “Residential: Single Family 2.”

Jeff Bergman, city-county planning director, explained the land is being donated by Discount Tire, which purchased the property for a new location next to Burger King. He explained that this 1.5 acres is in a 100-year flood plain that was severely impacted by the 2008 flood. Company officials decided to not risk building in that particular area.

Parks officials say the site has the potential for a new trailhead, but no final decision has been made.

The Columbus Emergency Ambulance Board is set to meet Thursday afternoon. Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration, says this is an annual meeting required by ordinance. The purpose, she explains, is to get an update from the Oversight Committee on ambulance metrics including usage, placement and response times.

The board meets Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in conference room 3 at city hall.

February 2019 pended sales in Bartholomew County decreased by 17.3 percent over February 2018, while home prices increased by 5.8 percent to an average of just under $214,000. Monthly real estate stats from F.C. Tucker Company indicate a small decrease in homes sold, but higher sale prices and increased inventory.

Home prices in Jennings County dropped over the same period by 2.3 percent. The average sale price is just over $108,000. That, in spite of the fact that active listings in that county decreased by 22.5 percent.

Brown County home prices dropped 0.6 percent to an average of nearly $194,000.

Home prices in Decatur County were down 2.4 percent compared to February of 2018. The average sale price was just under $136,000.

Johnson County saw a considerable increase sale price over the same period. The average sale was nearly $214,000.

Home prices in Shelby County also increased. Prices were up 6.5 percent to an average of just over $147,000.

F.C. Tucker says 2019 pended home sales decreased 1.3 percent compared to February 2018 while the average year-to-date sale price for the 15 county Central Indiana region increased 6.7 percent to $206,941.

Developmental Services Inc. is celebrating Disability Awareness Month with art shows in Columbus and Seymour.

The art show starts today in Columbus and you can stop by the facility on 10th Street from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays through next Wednesday. It will include client-created art such as glasswork, tie-dye, abstract works, soaps and photography.

On Friday the Columbus center will have a choir performance and reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

DSI in Seymour will be holding an art show next week. You can stop by Monday through Thursday from 12 to 2 p.m. to see the art created by the agency’s clients and available for purchase. On Friday, March 29th there will be an art show and carnival from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. including games and prizes. Carnival tickets are four for $1.

The Seymour DSI center is on 1st Avenue.

For more information you can go to DSIservices.org