By Sean McNab
Star Staff Writer

CEDAR LAKE - Residents concerned about Casey's General Store's application for a beer and wine license spoke out at the July 24 Town Council meeting.
     The major objection was the close proximity of Casey's, located at 10405 W. 133rd Ave., to Hanover Central High School.
     "The junior high and the high school are almost directly across the street and it's easy access for students underage to try to purchase alcohol," explained Mike Rink, the owner of Lake Liquors, located on Wicker Avenue.
     Allegedly Casey's General Store has been cited with selling cigarettes to persons under 18.
     "Casey's has already been busted selling cigarettes to minors and just last week a 10-year old bought (caffeine supplement) Mini-Thins," said Rink.
     There are presently 22 locations in the Cedar Lake town limits where residents can purchase alcohol, and the town does not need another, residents argued.
     Town Attorney David Austgen explained to Rink that the town has no jurisdiction over whether it could limit Casey's General Store from applying for a liquor license.
     "If they do not comply with all the town ordinances or are not in the proper district to provide this service then we have the authority to do something. But it looks like they have (met all town requirements)."
     Rink explained that town officials could contact the Alcoholic Beverage Commission and inform them that this would be unproductive for the town as a whole.
     "There is no need for this service in the town," Rink argued. "We already have enough establishments that provide this service and by requesting this service so close to our schools it would have an adverse impact on the surrounding neighborhoods."
     A similar situation took place approximately three years ago when Amoco Oil wanted to sell alcohol on its premises, but the request was denied after the town sent a letter of oppositino to the ABC.
     Casey's General Store asked for a rezone back in 1998 from B-1 to B-3, stating that it would not sell alcohol during its regular hours of operation from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
     Town Councilman Allen Westerhoff made a motion to pass a resolution in opposition to the granting of a liquor license to Casey's, but the effort ended in a 3-3 deadlock with one abstention.
     The Town Council plans on taking up the issue at its public meeting July 31.
     A public hearing before the Alcoholic Beverage Commission is set at the Lake County Government Center on August 7 at 9 a.m.

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By Andrew Steele
Star Managing Editor

CROWN POINT - The city will take advantage of the Indiana Department of Transportation's road project at Broadway and U.S. 231 to extend water mains from Delaware Street to Broadway. The work is the next phase in an effort to provide sufficient water pressure to the south side of the city.
     The water main work will be done by Gough, Inc., which is currently working on a water and sewer infrastructure project around the I-65 interchange. The new work will include installation of about 1,500 feet of water main at a cost of $118,140, City Engineer Jeff Ban said.
     A contract was awarded at the July 25 Board of Public Works meeting.
     INDOT is closing Broadway for its project, which includes the realignment of the Broadway-231 intersection, and Gough will get into the area at the same time.
     "That helps get us in under safer conditions for contractors and cheaper conditions for contractors," Ban said.
It's also cheaper, and reduces inconvenience for area residents, he said.
    The water main extension was already planned, but hadn't been scheduled.
     "This is simply to accelerate work that was already projected," board member and city councilman Robert Corbin noted.
     Ban said INDOT's road project came as a surprise to the city.
     "We were very well aware of the work to be done, but were not notified about the work schedule," he said.
     The INDOT project will simplify intersection of Broadway and 231, which, with the recent addition of the Greenview Place outlet for Stillwater subdivision, has become confused.
     The $118,140 for the water main project will either come from the Tax Increment Financing District fund set up for infrastructure work around the I-65 interchange, or from the city's water utility fund, from which money for the south side water project is to be taken.

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By Sean McNab
Star Staff Writer

WINFIELD - After vocal opposition from town residents at previous board meetings, the Water Works Board surprisingly passed an ordinance to bring Lake Michigan water to the Trees subdivision with little objection.
     Indiana-American Water Company, Inc., the organization planning to bring the water to the subdivision, has a cutoff rate of 70 percent participation by the 148 homeowners living in Trees if the project is to move forward.
     "We need 70 percent for construction to begin but in order to keep the costs down we really need 85 percent of all homeowners to connect," explained Rick Anderson, president of the Water Works Board.
     The board sent out a survey to all lot owners on July 16 but only received a 60 percent (99 out of 148) response rate, with 84 percent in favor of bringing the water to the subdivision and 82 percent willing to participate.
     The board actually had a higher response rate to a survey sent out last April, but Anderson said that because the timeframe was significantly shorter for the current, he understood why not as many people responded.
     "A lot of people are on vacation now and may not have the time to respond to the survey. We plan on contacting everyone who didn't respond so we can give the final numbers at our next meeting on Aug. 6."
     The board is giving residents within Trees two options to participate in the project. The first is a one-time fee of $3,030, and the other an initial fee of $270 and a monthly fee of $27.50 for the next 19 years.
     Each home within the subdivision will get a $218 property tax increase along with a $1,400 connection fee for homes residing 100 feet from the street. Water meter installation will be $200 with monthly water costs approximately $25.
     IAWC will waive the $1,250 tap-in for residents who connect to the system before project completion.
Presently more residents are opting to pay the one-time fee of $3,030, which could possibly lower the need for revenue bonds, thus, lowering the overall cost of the project.
     The Water Works Board voted unanimously in favor of the project.

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