Board of Public Works & Safety Meeting - June 30, 2026
Board of Public Works & Safety Meeting - June 30, 2026
The Board of Public Works & Safety of New Albany, Indiana, met on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at 10:00 AM in City Hall. President Michael Thompson, Vice President David Brewer, and Member Cheryl Cotner-Bailey were present. The board considered several permit requests, repair authorizations, and a paving update.
New Business
- Sidewalk Closure for Painting (201-205 E. Market St.): Levi Edwards of Statewide Mortgage requested closure of the sidewalk on Market Street to place a scissor lift for hand-painting second- and third-floor windows and soft-washing the building from July 7–15, 2026, 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Board expressed concern about overspray from prior spray-painting; Edwards confirmed work will be hand-painted only. The soft-wash chemicals were described as non-hazardous. Approved with conditions: sidewalk closed, parking spots blocked on Market Street side, plywood placed under lift, and applicant responsible for signage and ADA compliance.
- Water Main Repairs (Dave O'Mara for IAWC): Pat Hauersperger presented eight repair locations: a 4’x3’ cut under I-64 overpass on Captain Frank Rd.; a 7’x7’ cut at 2104 Fawcett Hill Rd.; a 2’x2’ cut at 219 E. Market St.; a 4’x4’ cut at 401 E. Elm St.; a 5’x10’ cut at 1753 McDonald Ln.; an 18’x9’ cut at 1715 Ormand Dr.; and a 5’x4’ cut at 1680 Bryn Mawr Ct. Board noted that pavement restoration at 401 E. Elm St. was incomplete and requested follow-up. Approved.
- Sewer Tie-In and Partial Street Closure (Estes Excavating): Hunter Estes requested a sanitary sewer tie-in for 1703 State St. (New Dock Seafood) involving a partial closure of Albany Street. The excavation is 17 feet deep, requiring a shore box and large cut. Work planned Monday–Friday, July 6–10, 2026, 7:00 AM–5:00 PM, with no loud work before 8:30 AM. Approved contingent on obtaining a permit from the Wastewater Plant.
Communications – City Officials
- Special Event Permits:
- Friends of Fairview: Annual “Stories Behind the Stones” at Fairview Cemetery on Friday, September 18, and Saturday, September 19, 2026. Requested five barricades for internal use (no road closures). Approved.
- Fast Freddie’s Festive 5 Mile Foot Feast: Thursday, November 26, 2026, with a brief road closure of Green Valley Road from 8:45–9:10 AM and police assistance. Approved.
- Water Leak Repair: Mickey Thompson, for Greenwell Plumbing (Tracy Hadley), requested approval to remove a panel of sidewalk to repair a leak at 1922 E. Spring St. Restoration not yet complete. Approved.
- CenterPoint Energy Gas Services: Two requests by Wayne Holt (Miller Pipeline):
- New gas service at 1203 Water Works Pl. Approved.
- Replacement of gas service at 705 and 710 Pearl St., tied to the Oak Street project. Approved.
Paving Update
Larry provided an update: HMA resurfacing on Camp Ave. and Cherry Street Hill was ongoing. Work on Cherokee Drive and St. Joseph was proceeding as planned, with notifications hand-delivered to residents last Thursday. A request by the contractor to perform remaining Grant Line Road patching during daytime instead of nighttime was discussed. Board opted to postpone a decision until the next meeting to review aerial maps of the locations.
Key Outcomes
- All permit and repair requests were approved (votes unanimous, with all members voting aye where recorded).
- The decision on daytime Grant Line patching was deferred to a future meeting.
- Minutes of the June 23, 2026 regular meeting were approved.
Meeting Transcript
We're doing road trip to you're not going to be able to do it. Yeah. That's a good thing. Come back to one. I got it. Okay. Okay, well, and that was always the basic. Yeah, it's time to be no standards. But as soon as we got sugar, it's right when you should tell me that you didn't know. Those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That's what I see. Well, your stars are getting off the top of air and spray. I said I'm looking at a spray on the grail. That's easy. That would require decision making price because you're all there's actually. It's got identical. So you got air. And that's not the card. He couldn't talk to you. So we're trying to work. That's good. So agility for the colour. Sign in or call any later than meeting. Allison's not going to make it. Uh but we need to close the sidewalk from 201 to 205. Bring in the scissor lift and paint the second and third floor floor windows. And also softwash the building. Have you all already been doing this? We worked on the front of the building, but we haven't worked on the second or third floors. And what's that gonna entail? You say you're soft washing the building? Yeah, so it's like uh instead of pressure washing. Um it's just a chemical little chute that's not hazardous to anything, and it'll clean up the front of the building, make it brighter. What's uh what's the name of the painting company? Uh Alex Perez and you have that might be the ones that did tells the building. You say Cortez or Corres? And is that to spray that right there? Hand painted so you I was in that area about two weeks ago, and you got I think it was on a Friday evening, and there was spray paint. My concern was the vehicles and over spray and everything for that. So what happened there? So we made sure to put a tar up. That was the again. I saw it, and there was still spray going from around the tarp. We did what the business owner told us to do. That wasn't kind of all just did last door. Okay. And we made sure to tell people that were parking there to move their cars. Because all of our cars were there in front of the building. Okay. Well, you know, the thing about it is just FYI on spraying, and maybe you know this, maybe you don't, but it can carry hundreds and hundreds of yards in the air.
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