Public input sought for Vallonia engineering survey

BROWNSTOWN - An engineering survey to determine sites in the Vallonia area needing storm sewer improvements has reached the point where public input is needed.

"I spoke with some residents while I was down there," consulting engineer Jason Fee told county commissioners during their meeting Tuesday morning at the courthouse annex.

Fee, who works for Janessen & Spaans Engineering, Columbus, gave the commissioners a map of some of the areas with issues.
He said while he was surveying the area, some residents approached him about problems.

"Some of them told me about issues that have been resolved by the county," Fee said.

There are probably some other areas with issues, however, that have yet to be found, and Fee said he urged those people that he had talked with as well as others with drainage issues to attend a public hearing on the study during the commissioners meeting at 6 p.m. July 7.

Fee said the initial goal is to identify the areas that need work. He said he will then help commissioners prioritize projects so that a "laundry list" can be put together with engineering cost estimates for each.

Commissioners will then have to apply for a federal grant to actually do the work.

In another matter, commissioners approved a request from Aging & Community Services of South Central Indiana Inc. for $16,042 in matching funds.

The agency will use the local funds to leverage federal funds of $1,052,156 to provide services to senior citizens and their caregivers in the county, agency representative Carol Davis said.

The agency served 12,978 hot meals at four senior citizen centers in the county in 2008 and delivered 15,272 meals to homebound residents. The agency also provides Foster Grandparents to help at-risk students in local schools.

Davis said Jackson County is the only county in the five-county service area that has seen an increase in seniors visiting centers for meals and in the number of meals provided for homebound individuals. The number of hot lunches increased 27 percent from 2007 to 2008 and the number of home-delivered meals was up 63 percent, he said.