The transition process is underway, residents are worried about a proposed carbon emission underground storage, and what's next for the long-time Terre Haute mayor.
On this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett addresses these issues and more on a Tuesday Zoom interview. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: I know you've talked a lot about the election already and it's not the outcome that you hoped, tell us a little bit about the campaign and your post election thoughts?
Bennett: I thought we had a low turnout here, which is unfortunate. I've always wanted us to have 75-80 percent turnout for every election. But it was a pretty low turnout, a little disappointing. A lot of my supporters thought that I was in a great spot, and they didn't need to worry about it. And, the other side worked hard to get voters out. And every election has its own dynamics. And this one, you know, had some unique ones.
I thought we were in a great spot, what we've accomplished in the last few years and positioning ourselves for the future. So I was surprised at the outcome as we're a lot of folks. But you know, that's politics. And so every four years, I plan for that possibility. I mean, at some point, I'll be able to really kind of document all that we've accomplished, because I forget about a lot of the things that we've done and the groundwork that we've laid. So the key is, is just to keep sustaining that momentum, because it's all about the community at the end of the day.
Read more: Duke Bennett shares thoughts after last night's surprising election
Hren: How is the transition process going?
Bennett: It's going just fine. I promised to have the best transition that we could possibly have. When I came in, it was a little bumpy. And so I wanted to make sure that we did everything we could to make it as good as we possibly can. And so far, it's been doing that. I want to make sure they hit the ground running, I don't want any gray areas or anything that we couldn't talk about ahead of time, in preparation. So meetings are ongoing, and information is being shared on a regular basis. And I feel really good about that. And I know that he does, too.
Hren: I'm sure there's still some things that you're looking to kind of wrap up before the end of the year?
Bennett: We got some parks projects in the works and I've met and discussed that with the transition team a little bit yesterday. The Rea Park clubhouse we got our bids back for that. Herz-Rose project is getting closer to some construction and the master plan for Fairbanks Park is almost done. The aquatic facility at Deming Park will be something that the next administration will pick up and run with.
The overpass the 13th and Eighth Avenue, it's been interesting to this election cycle, people act like that project went away, it's an INDOT controlled project. It's fully funded. It's just we're at the mercy of the Federal Highway and INDOT in the timing of that.
There are some other smaller things, the long term control plan, we talked about moving ahead with the main lift station project, all those things are in process. So, it's business as usual for us right up to the 31st of December, we'll continue to do everything we can to make it easy for the incoming administration to be able to pick it up and run with it.
Hren: I just want to get your take on the company that wants to store its carbon emissions underground in Vigo County - there've been meetings, forums... residents are worried about pipeline leaks to earthquakes. This is Wabash Valley Resources who applied for a permit for the project with the EPA. What's your take on this? Is your office taking calls on this?
Bennett: We get a few calls, because it's mostly people out in the county, because it's located west of here, across the river in Vigo County. But, my questions have always been from the very beginning with with EPA, with IDEM, with the company doing them, what are the safeguards? What are the potential concerns here? And I've not found anything yet to prove that, there's always a chance of something happening that's bad. But I don't have any facts. I'm waiting for somebody to deliver me some facts.
So those that are opposed to this, want me to be on board with stopping it, but it's already through that process. Some of this happened without a lot of input locally, IDEM issuing permits, EPA issuing permits, whatever, they're the regulatory body, they're the ones that have to ensure that this is safe for everyone. And I trust that they're going to do that. I'm always looking for information, though, I want to be educated and knowledgeable. And if there is an issue that I should be concerned about, I'll go to bat to fight against it.
Read more: ‘Too many unknowns’: As company forges on with carbon sequestration project, residents mobilize
Hren: So let's just finish up a few things, maybe where they are, where you hope to leave them. And a lot of people are interested in the CIB's new project, the Water and Sports Park Complex.
Bennett: They're going to provide the final report to us any day now. They made the presentation to us, but there was some finalization to that document that they've been working on the last few weeks. So very soon we'll have the completed document and we'll close our deal out with them from that feasibility study. We're beginning to start having conversations about how to fund this overall project.
Same thing with the Indiana Theatre because we got two projects with the CIB. We've done some inspections of the building recently and we'll be doing the exact same thing, hiring somebody to do the design work and putting bid documents together so we can move that project forward alongside the athletic complex.
Hren: Any movement at the convention center parking garage or hotel?
Bennett: I'm hopeful that construction could start by the end of next year on the hotels downtown, maybe a little sooner. That conversations going on with the new administration too, because we're utilizing some TIF revenues from downtown, some ARPA funds. It's a great project that we have to have in order to fully utilize the convention center. We need 200 plus additional hotel rooms downtown to meet that demand.
Hren: Is the Larry Bird museum on schedule?
Bennett: We don't have an exact date yet. But right now, it looks like it'll be in January, probably February at the latest. Unless you know, there's still work to be done. Some of these things are customized display cases and presentation equipment. So there's some supply chain issues. But first quarter, let's say that first quarter of next year museum should be open to the public. And we expect a really great response to that.
Hren: this is something we've talked and covered for years, the long term control plan for it combined, I believe sewer overflows is still on, that's still an ongoing project.
Bennett: We're still negotiating with IDEM to finalize that. It's going to require sewer rates to go up. We've known that all along. There's no surprises there. You have to pay for these hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work that will need to be done over the next 25 to 30 years. But we're going to be in a really good spot. I don't know when it'll get approved. I'm hoping in the next couple of months. They just have to tell us what timeframe we have to work in. The more time we have, the more structured we can do these rate increases.
