Schererville Councilman Caleb Johnson holds informal ward 5 meeting

​Councilman Caleb Johnson held his first informal ward meeting Wednesday June 29th at the Rohrman Park pavilion. Councilman Johnson fielded at a variety of questions from residents on a wide range of topics.  Councilman Johnson began by outlining the boundaries of Ward 5 which are basically the town borders to the West and South, Cline Ave on the East and route 30 on the North.  He explained that while this is the ward he represents, he acts as a councilman for the whole town.
As the location of the meeting was at Rohrman Park, many of the initial issues discussed revolved around the park.  Before the councilman could begin discussing plans for the park and the speedway, he was hit with a barrage of questions by local residents unhappy with activities at the park.  These included loud music at 7am, drag racing in the parking lot, locked baseball fields inaccessible to local youth, unsightly tree removal along Rohrman Road, and a delay in opening the new play equipment viewed by residents as an inconsiderate move by the town as they waited for a ribbon cutting ceremony to have the official opening.
Each issue was discussed and addressed by Councilman Johnson.  He explained the structure of the town government and indicated which town entity dealt specifically with each issue.  Typically, either the town council, police or parks department.  Mr. Johnson indicated he would try to address these issues with the proper people.
After these issues were discussed, the topic moved to the Illiana Speedway land and Rohrman park plans. Councilman Johnson outlined a brief history of the progress.  Initial ideas were for a business park for a portion of the land.  The council was approached by the Lake County Economic Alliance with hopes of business development on the land.  The town sought bids from local developers to explore this option.  While exact details of the proposals were confidential, the council did not find any of them attractive enough to pursue.
Councilman Johnson indicated that the council is now pursuing ideas that include open space and park expansion.  They have retained the possibility of some businesses along route 30 but ideally these would be allied with the park activities.  This would typically use the appropriate 500 foot of route 30 frontage and would only extend a few hundred feet into the park area.
Mr. Johnson indicated that the town has been working to acquire adjacent land including a few acres behind CSK Architects, a portion of the Wilson farm and a few more properties near the West baseball fields.  It was indicated that some of these parcels would aid in access for emergency vehicles. The approximately 15 acres to the West of the existing speedway property was not currently being considered as the cost of this parcel was several million dollars.
Possible uses for the new area include Schererville soccer, Pop Warner football as their fields would need to be relocated with the Kennedy Avenue extension construction.  The long-term economic impact to the town was explained.  Whatever gets built could be bonded as a capital project. However, ongoing expenses of maintenance would need to be covered by the parks department budget.  For this reason, all parties involved need to agree upon the future plans.  Councilman Johnson urged the residents to attend upcoming open meetings to discuss the future for this property.
Councilman Johnson outlined details for an approximately 100-acre green space park that is in the works for Austin Avenue and 77th Street.  This will be run by the Lake County Parks.
The Kennedy Avenue project was discussed.  This multimillion-dollar project will be implemented in several phases.  Initial work will include an overpass at the railroad crossing.  This will necessitate that Kennedy Avenue be closed to through traffic for an extended period.  A lively discussion ensued that centered on local traffic congestion and possible solutions.  Bike path expansion way also discussed, and councilman Johnson outline all future plans for bike paths and indicated his strong support for these projects.
During the meeting several residents expressed concerns about police department staffing.  One resident confronted councilman Johnson saying he was urged at the crime watch meeting at the police department to ask his councilman for additional police officers.  Mr. Johnson said the town council has not received a request for additional officers.  He explained that the town has had some delays in brining on new officers as retiring officers must be paid out before new officers can go on the pay rolls.  Many retiring offices have banked many weeks of pay and this is causing delays.  Fortunately, Mr. Michael Troxell, Schererville Clerk Treasurer, was on hand and filled in some details about this matter.  He stated that they have a plan to cover these budget gaps in the future and eliminate this waiting period.
Councilman Caleb Johnson’s first Ward 5 meeting was a resounding success by all measures.  Residents were given firsthand knowledge of ongoing town activities.  Their voices were heard and many of their questions were answered.