There appears to be a bunch of new warning and stop signs coming to the City of Frankfort in the future.
At Monday’s Board of Works meeting, the BOW gave Frankfort Street Superintendent Jason Forsythe the go ahead and proceed with the project which could replace old and damaged signs at a significant discount.
“I think it’s much needed,” said Forsythe. “Every time we get one runover, it has to be replaced. We have to order it out and have it fixed. We get another locate and put another pole in the ground.”
Forsythe also added this is a 90/10 split with the City meaning that if the project would cost a million dollars or more, the City would be only responsible for just 10 percent of the cost. Forsythe added the asset management part of the program is worth the cost because it is part of the Community Crossings program. The City just received $318.441.45 from Community Crossings for road paving, which with a 50/50 split, the City will get about $640,000 from the program.
“The fact is they come in, they get the information on how many signs you have and they do all the work,” said Forsythe. “We’ve never had anything like this. If you go driving around town, there’s a lot of signs that need to be replaced.”
Forsythe said there was about 3500 signs that could qualify for the project. Officials from Butler, Fairman Seufert Engineering Services said the application is officially due in November or December and the project would most likely be done next spring.
“I think it sounds like a great program and very beneficial for our city,” said Frankfort Mayor Judy Sheets. “Not only is it a 90/10 match but it also has an asset management plan that would come with it and be beneficial for our Street Department.”
Those new street signs may not be the only signs appearing in Frankfort as the BOW approved signage coming soon for Prairie Creek Park regarding golf cart parking and the enforcement of no smoking signs at PCP.
“The no smoking has been in our ordinance for the parks anyway. It’s just never been enforced ,” said Sheets. “We didn’t have any signage there. In order to enforce that there, I felt we need some signage that people were aware.
“There used to be just a few (golf carts) and now there’s a lot more of them,” continued Sheets. “We really don’t have an area for them that is set aside for that. I felt like like it was getting congested in that area. Also, if we needed to get an emergency vehicle down there, or we had something go on, it could hinder them (emergency personnel) getting there.”
One other thing that happened was the approval of Chasity Akard as the 37th officer for the Frankfort Police Department. She is a 2019 graduate of Clinton Central High School and then attended Indiana University Kokomo where she majored in Psychology and minored in Criminal Justice. She also worked as a college intern at the department since last summer and became a full-time records clerk in January. She is the fifth female members of the FPD.