A very integral part of the expansion project currently going at Interstate 65 and State Road 28 took place Monday with the ribbon cutting on the new County Road 800 North right next to the brand new NHK facility.
Clinton County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Shan Sheridan said the event was another “great, great day for Clinton County”.
“It is going to be another gateway for more development,” Sheridan said. “It opens up some 250 to 300 acres of more development just east and south of NHK. What’s even greater in all of that is it helps take care of a flooding area that was bad for a long time and the residents are going to have such a better road.”
Clinton County Commissioner Jordan Brewer said it was an exciting day for the county.
“This corridor is a foundation piece to opening it up to more development and bringing growth to the county,” said Brewer. “Now that we have this it just shows our commitment to trying to grow this 65 and 28 interchange.”
White Construction was the contractor for the road project.
The actual Commissioners meeting took place earlier in the day with Commissioners agreeing to two huge deals for Clinton County Central Dispatch.
First, the Commissioners agreed to a deal with Motorola on brand new radio equipment for Central Dispatch at a cost of $576,843.
“Our radio infrastructure was installed in 2010,” said Central Dispatch Director Renee Crick. “All of our radio equipment was at its end of life. We had known all along that this was coming. This will take us into the next several years.”
The other deal came in the form of moving their antenna to the tower at the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office at a cost of $42,830.20.
“Our coverage has really decreased since the removal of the antenna from the water tower (that is currently being renovated),” said Crick. “Relocating the antenna to a water tower currently at the jail is the best option for us.”
Ever since the antenna was removed from the water tower on State Road 28, the level of communications has dropped severely and caused a huge amount of problems for all involved.
Central Paving was awarded the Community Crossings road paving bid at a cost of $1,391,418.56. This will be for work on 800 North and 1100 East.