The Frankfort City Council approved a resolution directing the transfer of appropriated funds to help with Phase I of the proposed new police station Monday night.
The council approved spending $48,000 for the study which will determine what to do with the current building, the best place to build a new facility as well as determining the cost.
“We want this facility to be community friendly as well as a recreation space for our community,” said Mayor Chris McBarnes. “We want to draw our youth and families of the community to this safe space. What better space is there than a police station.”
McBarnes added four sites, two on the east side and two on the west side, will be looked at. He emphasized the part of town he would like to see the building built.
“It’s my desire to look at the west side of the community because I feel as though we need to put more investment in the west side of our community,” said McBarnes. “I think sometimes they feel they’re the forgotten men and women of this community and they absolutely are not. I think there’s some great spaces on the west side but we’re going to look at the east side as well.”
The city received some bad news in a way on Monday as the Indiana Department of Transportation announced that funds for the Community Crossings Grant has been moved back this year. INDOT will start taking applications in August with an ending deadline of September 28. Communities will then be notified in early November if they receive any road paving funds.
“It’s all going to be strategy and prepping for next year,” said McBarnes. “We will bid our roads out the first part of next year and have a contract in hand to resurface the first of next spring.”
The council also unanimously approved a CF-1 request by Wesley Manor Southside, who have a 50-unit apartment complex on the old Southside School property.
Before the city council meeting, the Frankfort Redevelopment Commission approved a resolution authorizing the Frankfort downtown 2018 sidewalk project expenditure of tax increment finance funds and invitation for quotes.
“The resolution was to continue the streetscape around the downtown area and since Nickel Plate Flats was preparing to pour their concrete and get closer to trying to be open, we wanted to try and do that quarter of a block right there and uniform it up with the rest of the streetscaping we’ve been doing,” said Redevelopment Commission President Joe Palmer.
The cost of this project is estimated at $108,000.