According to Mike Massonne, a Department of Public Works (DPW) project manager, the City has worked with the Riviera Club to gain access to its property in order to undertake surveys for perpetual and temporary easements necessary for completing Phase 3B2 of the Indianapolis North Levee project. The information was helpful in coming up with an appraisal. Massonne said a resolution was submitted to the City-County Council in late September asking for permission to approach the Riviera Club with an offer. “We haven’t made a formal offer,” he said, since Council approval is required beforehand. Once introduced, the resolution will be sent to a Council committee for public hearings. Should the committee vote to approve, the resolution returns to the full Council for a vote.
Additionally, Massonne said the results of this summer’s soil testing along the Central Canal are complete and under analysis. The test borings were undertaken to determine if the soils were suitable to support a floodwall or levee as part of a feasibility study of the west canal bank alternative to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ preferred route along Westfield Blvd. A final report is due in October.
Finally, a late September pre-hearing conference was cancelled. It was scheduled to consider the Friends of White River’s challenge to the Department of Natural Resources’ issuance of a permit to DPW for vegetation removal along the White River banks in Warfleigh and Broad Ripple. As a result, Permit FW-27680 has been stayed pending final agency decision. According to sources close to the case, another hearing could be scheduled in January 2016.
