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SYRACUSE - The Syracuse Town Council will vote for or against two major issues within the next couple months - the widening of Ind. 13 to five lanes and funding for construction of a community center on donated land adjacent to Lakeside Park.
A vote on the community center project is likely at the council's 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday. A vote on the widening project is expected in May.
The council voted for the community center a year or so ago, but as one council member said at an informal gathering, "We did it only to allow the park board to apply for state grant money. We really haven't given our final approval."
At the meeting Tuesday, the council will vote to approve or deny a lease amount to the Syracuse Building Corp. for the payback amount needed for the bond issue to build the center. The park board voted Monday to request a $500,000 bond.
Taxes will not be raised to pay off this bond issue because it replaces one just paid off. Nor is it likely that taxes will be raised to finance the operating budget of the community center because Indiana allows only a 5 percent tax increase for everything towns need.
A few years ago, the town council agreed to widen Ind. 13, but only to three lanes, and the Indiana Department of Transportation quickly informed the town that reconstruction would be five lanes or it wouldn't happen.
At one of the public hearings, an INDOT official emphasized that if Ind. 13 is not enlarged to five lanes, it might be moved.
There has been talk about access to businesses along the road, and there has been talk about beautification of the strip. Flags and decorative lights are being sold by the Chamber of Commerce to spruce it up.
According to Syracuse Police Chief Tom Perzanowski, no access drive to Ind. 13 will be closed, though some will be limited.
A drawing in the town hall shows that curbs and medians will limit some turns. It will no longer be possible to drive the entire length of the east access road from north to south, or vice versa.
And there will be no way to exit some of the busy drives and turn left onto Ind. 13.
Perzanowski said there have been many accidents because drivers are careless when they cross streets using the access roads or when the car in front stops to turn onto an access road.
The five-lane road has been designed to eliminate many of these problems as well as to move traffic through town efficiently.
"If Syracuse is going to expand and grow, it must be able to handle the traffic," Perzanowski said.
He further said the state is required to consider the maximum needs on any roadway, which is probably why the traffic count that called for a five-lane road was conducted around the Fourth of July weekend when about 35,000 cars were counted.
The completed project will have five lanes of Ind. 13 lined with utility poles every 50 feet or so and then another four lanes of concrete on the east and west access roads with a little green space in between. Plans are to cover up the drainage ditch by installing storm sewers and planting grass. Landscaping could be done later.
The road project will cost $2.5 million with the town's share at 10 percent. If this opportunity passes, the next time around, the town's share will double.
"It's a sensitive issue - some are for it and some are against it," said town manager Brian Redshaw. "I am trying to focus our efforts on things that will accommodate future growth in Syracuse. You certainly can't find a better deal than 10 percent."
Town council member Mike Davis said, "I'm not in favor of a five-lane highway." He said he believes beautification would be nice, but moving the unsightly utility poles will be cost prohibitive.
Town council member Bill Hane also is against a five-lane road. "If the state will let us put in three lanes, I'd do it in a minute. Most businesses along there don't want it."
Both Hane and Davis refused to comment on the community center. Other council members did not return calls.
