PLYMOUTH — During the regular Board of Public Works and Safety (BPWS) meeting Monday evening, board member Jeff Houin shared concerns expressed to him by members of the public regarding the care and keeping of the “pocket park” on the corner of Jefferson St. and Michigan St.
Street Department Superintendent James Marquardt said that members of the street department have trimmed the terrace occasionally, however the test wells are an area of potential concern for heavy equipment.
Parks Superintendent Mike Hite said that the Park Department would assume full responsibility for the area; his team has just been very busy but they will make it a priority.
City of Plymouth Attorney Sean Surrisi took the opportunity to refresh everyone’s memory regarding the property. “There was initially planned, when the city acquired it, a pocket park there that was going to be named ‘Crossroads Plaza’ to celebrate all of the historic roads that intersect there. That was going to be a Stellar Project but the funding didn’t work out through Stellar for that. One component of that was that the site doesn’t have environmental clearance from IDEM (Indiana Department of Environmental Management). Back in the eighties the prior owner had taken some gasoline tanks out of there without filing all the paperwork. We were able to get the site in to the State program called the ‘Petroleum Orphan Sites Program’. They call them orphans because they are sites that have had open claims for years and years and nobody has claimed them and completed them. With that program the State of Indiana is paying – all we had to do is give them access to the property and they are paying for all the assessment and remediation efforts. Heartland Consulting Environmental Company out of South Bend was the one that was assigned to that. They installed some monitoring wells and they are still in that review process.”
According to Surrisi, once that process is complete the city will be able to move forward with long term plans for the location.
Mayor Mark Senter asked about the historic element regarding the property. Surrisi stated that the building that formerly stood there was listed as a contributing asset to the North Michigan Street Historic District. After consulting with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Department of Historic Preservation regarding any steps that needed taken to acknowledge that fact during demolition; it was found that there was no additional action that needed taken.
