Speaker 2
Hello and welcome to ask the mayor on WFIU I'm Joe Hren second week of the month. We're with Terre Haute, Mayor Duke Bennett. We're on Zoom today meant to come over today. We have a studio recording conflict keeps me in Bloomington hope to be there next month. But how are you doing today Mr. Mayor?
Speaker 1
I'm doing great. The weather's good. So yeah, it's all all good over here.
Speaker 2
Well, we have to start with that devastating tornado just south of you and Sullivan. I mean, words can't describe the scene there. First off, though any damage or anything from those storms that in Terre Haute?
Speaker 1
No, you know it. I mean, there was a few small limbs down it got a little windy, we had a few little, you know, you could if you weren't here, you really wouldn't even know you know, if you were just coming back into town, but going down on the salva, and it's like that tornado just dropped right down on the South side of town and then picked himself back up and then kept doing it's, you know, as it moved east, but it really blast of that section of their town, on the south side of the downtown area. Just pretty amazing how much damage that can do. And so quickly,
Speaker 2
you go into standby mode, when you see those storms approaching so close to the city.
Speaker 1
You know, that was that night. They said it was supposed to we're supposed to have thunderstorms, a potential for tornadoes. But even when you see that, and you're kind of watching the radar, because I'm always watching, you know, to keep an eye on things that you know, be able to respond if needed. And most of the time it fizzles out. Well that one just kind of kept picking up its intensity farther south from Terre Haute. And you could see that, yeah, they're getting hit pretty bad down there. But I had no idea there was a tornado until you know, all the orcs and everything started coming on TV. And it's like, Well, I wonder how they fared. And, you know, it was just bad. And I'm surprised there isn't more. There weren't more injuries and loss of life, looking at the damage down there. It's just it's amazing how quickly those things can happen. And just devastating for them. You know, I've talked to Mayor Lam almost every day since it happened. Right now, we currently have street Department employees down there, we'll be there all week trying to help them deal with a lot of the debris, we've had police officers down there providing security. I know everybody kind of jumped in to help them which is great. But to manage a chaotic scene, like Ted is very difficult for everybody. And I just really feel horrible for the folks that lost their homes, there was a lot of them that have put her homeless now,
Speaker 2
of course, the cleanup will be ongoing. Do you know just by chance? I mean, is there anything that people can do to help right now?
Speaker 1
You know, I think it's they still need some volunteers, you know, that you check in down there at our Emergency Operations Center. I think funds are still going to be important. You know, there were people down there that didn't have insurance or adequate insurance on their homes and their cars. And I think this is going to be a long time to get people back to where they were. And so we're having a fundraiser this week locally, WT who is doing something all day and so I think that will continue. People were really good around here about giving, they just want to figure out how the best impact you know, what, what can they do to have the biggest and best impact. So I will continue to reach out to them. If you have you know, an interest. You're listening to this. They're gonna need help for a while, you know?
Speaker 2
Yeah, I know they were pretty good on food. The last time we talked to them, but as mayor Lam says it's going to be a long term effort down there is one I wonder if you'd give a quick update on the ammonia spill that was in the city sewer system. About a month ago, we had our last ask the mayor in March and there was efforts going on at that time to return to normal but you weren't quite there yet. How's it going now?
Speaker 1
Yeah, we're there now. You know, it really was very beneficial that we upgraded our plant a few years ago and the way we that we did, we were able to isolate that spill into seven of our 18 tanks down there so we can then deal with that treat it and be able to put it back into the into the river properly. Our wastewater treatment staff did a tremendous job. They worked a lot of overtime there for a few weeks. You know, we had to haul some stuff out we had to hole some things in we had a whole new bugs in and to haul some of the waste product out. But we are back to full normal operations and everything is good there. We've been working with that company they're discharging as normal again And they've changed their internal procedures to ensure something like this hopefully never happens again. And we've been reimbursed for all of our expenses for that. And so we're we're in a good spot. Now, that was just one of those things that happened. And you hope doesn't happen again, we learn from those kinds of things in the community. Also, last
Speaker 2
time we talked Terre Haute was in the running for a one, what was called a $1 billion investment from a battery producing company for the Vigo County Industrial Park. And you were pretty optimistic, I guess you had every right to be optimistic because they chose Terre Haute.
Speaker 1
Yeah, we felt pretty good about that one. But you never know until they make the final decision. Yet, it's going to be about a one and a half million dollar investment is what it's looking like. The numbers keep changing from different media sources. But and that's phase one, you know, they bought about 400 acres down there in the in the on the property with county redevelopment commission, this will be phase one, and it'll be roughly 640 employees making about $71,000 a year, they make the component of electronic batteries, it's kind of a separator piece between the positive and the negative in the battery they own or they control 85% of the market in the United States. So they're a very established company in this industry. This will be their first plant here, obviously in Indiana, and they're going to roll roll out pretty quickly. They've got people down there now doing survey work and all that as they kind of get their buildings designed and start figuring out where everything's gonna lay. They hope to be operational, fully operational and 2026 by the end of 2026. So this will happen very quickly. We're working with them in a variety of capacities on workforce development, and a variety of other things that can help them you know, get the people that, that they need, it's a very exciting thing to have that kind of a significant economic hit for our community. And for I love the high tech side of things, you know, getting into that world, having that kind of exposure here locally, tells the story that we can handle that they loved our for colleges, and universities, they want to tap that talent as they come out of college. It just seemed like a great fit. And you know what happened pretty quickly, they first approached the community back in October of last year, these things don't normally happen that fast. Usually, it's a multi year process sometimes. So this will happen quickly, and going to have a very, very positive impact on our community.
Speaker 2
So when you talk about positive impact, what kind of ripple effect you would that have on? I guess it's not it's not only the city, the county, but the state too, isn't
Speaker 1
everybody Wild West Central Indiana State, I think there's a few things that really stand out one, you know, being in this industry being in that kind of work, the direction of things are going when it comes to energy and, and battery power, you know, equipment and vehicles and everything else. That's a big win just because that high tech side of things, but there'll be spin off things, you know, they're going to expand their business here. But there'll be suppliers and others that will follow that it kind of always happens with investment, you know, plant of that size. I think it will showcase Terre Haute and Vigo County has been a great place to be able to do business like that, that will lead to other opportunities. I think it will give us the college kids who are graduating, you know, a high paying job right here. And Taro were a lot of times they have to leave our area because those high paying jobs are not here. So I think it it begins to open the door in a lot of areas. Yes, we're going to have to build some new houses. You know, there's it's clear that we don't have enough housing stock here to meet that demand between that and the casino. I mean, there's you know, 1200 employees plus, right there that we need something in the next couple of years. Childcare keeps coming up, you know, especially when you're in a 24 hour manufacturing environment, you need to be able to deliver that as a community and so workforce, housing, childcare, all the same things that all mayors talk about all the time, when you land something like this, it really ramps up the efforts, thinking about okay, well then what comes next? And how do we continue to keep the momentum going on these things, but still meet the needs in order to be able to secure these large employers
Speaker 2
you know, you touched upon this but I here's that moving forward to and capitalizing on this I would like to sometimes compare this summer sports guy but you know, your team wins the the championship, but you want to stay in that top five all the time and not drop back down again. So how does Terre Haute capitalize on this and move forward? Well, I
Speaker 1
think you know, we have to meet those demands of of what they need, you know, a lot of the things I mentioned, if the word gets out there, you know consultants and everybody else that well, you know, Terre Haute, they just can't get enough employees or there aren't enough houses or whatever it might be, you know, you don't want that negative connotation to be floating around out there because it'll reduce your opportunities clearly. So in order to meet that demand, we have to work pretty quickly. You know, government doesn't always work fast. You know how that is. But you know, there's, there's the private sector side of it, there's the government side of it, we have to just continue to work together to implement our community plan that we have banned. But then when you get a big win like this, it really makes things accelerate. And so we want to be on that track to be the sale Terre Haute Vigo county to other potential opportunities. And in order to do that, you have to take care of the issues that you have, and, and those are all ones that we're all facing. Not easy to fix overnight. But we feel really good about being able to meet the needs of this organization, that casino and others. But what comes next, you know, how do we meet those demands, and the next one, and so it's very competitive out there, and you want to make sure that you're putting your best foot forward, when you're selling your community. And this is one of the things that focus areas for us if we're successful here. How do we maintain that
Speaker 2
we're gonna move to the jail really quickly. Vigo County, Terre Haute has a new jail in full operation. Monroe County is looking at building a new jail. But sometimes it's not all about the brick and mortar. It's about the programs, mental health services and so on. So the Terre Haute Vigo County just build a new jail or are there new programs in place to help reduce recidivism along with that
Speaker 1
there's a variety of new programs in process. They're not at the jail right now or on the jail campus. But within the community, we all recognize the fact that there are people that need to be in jail, and there's people that can be rehabilitated or you know, help through a temporary situation, maybe they've just committed their first crime, whatever it might be, how do you keep people on the right path is really the bottom line. And so you don't want to just fill the jail up with people and just have them sit there, there's got to be a way to begin to work through that rehabilitation process. So there's a variety of things happening. Mental Health, America is looking at a diversion center right now, Community Corrections continue to expand their programs. So I think you're gonna see a mix kind of across the board of opportunities for people mental health and addictions side of things, helping people get back into the workforce, a lot of people have that stigma, you get, you know, go to jail, go to prison, hard to get a job, we've got to overcome some of that, because a lot of these people have turned their lives around or can turn their life around, how do you get them to be productive members of our society. So a lot of that now that the jails open, a lot of those discussions are happening, looking at using ARPA funds and ready funds and other funds down the road to be able to sustain these kinds of programs. So that's what's on the horizon here to begin to implement things that will help all of these people that are part of a system.
Speaker 2
You know, I was thinking it's been three years now since we had COVID. Hit and lock us down. Looking now, three years later, where are we now? Where's Terre Haute? Now? Is there still do you still feel an economic hit or rebuilding effort?
Speaker 1
No, you know, I think I really feel like we're through that. Obviously, there are still people out there getting COVID I know some people personally, that's just added recently wasn't too bad for them, but it's still out there. And it can still hit people you know, who have those can pre existing conditions. But I really believe that after this amount of time now, things are about as normal, it's gonna get one fallout that I see though, there are still people that are not back in the workforce that we'd like to see. Because a lot of them gave up their daycare when the schools were out and they weren't having to deal with their children at home. And now they can't get back into daycare, or they can't afford daycare because the price has gone up. So there's an interesting dynamic that we're on one hand some things, you know, came out just fine unscathed. In other areas of our economy. We're still seeing some things very difficult to get the low end kind of jobs, the retail jobs you know, the fast food jobs, those are all those companies and organizations are struggling. I think it's gonna take more time for that part of it. But overall, I feel really good about where we're at as a community and feel like we survived it pretty well. Yes, we had our issues, but I feel like we're definitely you know, that's becoming are something from our history and now not something we're actively dealing with on a regular basis.
Unknown Speaker
We update on the feasibility study of the waterpark,
Speaker 1
you know, so well otter Park and athletic facility that we making their presentation in May to the CIB. At the end of May. They're working on it got a ton of community feedback, I think we had 1800 People responded to the survey, and about 1200 actually filled the whole thing out. It was a big survey. But we've got 1800 responses back. Now. So right now they're putting all that together for us. And we'll be making the presentation next month. So we'll kind of see, that'll tell us whether we can support you know, a large waterpark, these athletic facilities, indoor outdoor, it'll kind of give us some guiding direction to what the next step is.
Speaker 2
Are the asphalt plants open now? Yes, yes. So I assume you have some street work that's at least starting?
Speaker 1
Right. We're, we haven't started paving yet ourselves, the state always seems to get the first batch out of the plants. So yes, they're open. I believe that in May, I don't know exactly which week we'll be starting some of our projects. So yeah, they'll happen pretty rapidly, then once we start that, probably over a two month period. And we'll get most of our major paving done.
Speaker 2
Do you have any first major streets for people to be aware of and this coming month,
Speaker 1
we're going to be doing a section a locust, we'll be doing all of walnut from third to 19. Some areas down around Terre Haute south and then the hospital kind of all around in there, Davis and some side streets. There'll be you know, we they're kind of scattered, but most of them are on major areas. So we'll have to, you know, obviously, as we always do get it out to the media to let people know, typically it takes us a day or so to do the milling, and a day or so to pave and then a day to paint stripe. And so typically, we can get a gun, a big section, or you know, a street if you will, in less than a week. Depending on the weather, it could get rain in our summer, obviously in places, but we usually try to get in and get out as fast as we can.
Speaker 2
Then I'm going to leave a couple of minutes left, I always like to leave the last word to you any big announcements or anything else you'd like to say?
Speaker 1
No, I would just you know, things are going well, this intake thing was really a boost for us locally, it's been huge. You know, things are going really well. Overall, I really want to get this ARPA money rolled out. We're big focus on that right now to get these programs in place. So we get money out to some not for profits in our small businesses, but some of our housing, you know, our program for housing to get some new homes built. So that's taken up a lot of time right now. I've been watching the legislature closely looks like the ready funds are coming looks like the XL Center funding is going to happen so we can get a local Goodwill Excel Center here. So just a lot of things recently over the last few months have set us up to have a good successful year here in Terre Haute Vigo County. And so it's it's very busy. All good stuff. You know, I tell people that all the time. It's like I've not been this busy. Really, I don't think since I've been in this position. We're fortunate to have some revenue and some monies to do some things that we wouldn't been able to do in the past. And we're really going to focus on that quality of life, a lot of things related to that. And so, as we think about you know, when people listen to this or whatever, we really want to do things that make Terre Haute stand out so we can continue to get business investments and those kinds of economic development wins down the road. And so that's all about making taro you know, look good and, and be a fun place to be and be able to meet the needs of these employers. So that's our goal.
Unknown Speaker
And you don't have anyone running against you in the primary, right?
Speaker 1
No, so I'm good. Candidates on the other side, so we'll find out who my opponent will be soon.
Unknown Speaker
They are thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you, Joe.
Hello and welcome to ask the mayor on WFIU I'm Joe Hren second week of the month. We're with Terre Haute, Mayor Duke Bennett. We're on Zoom today meant to come over today. We have a studio recording conflict keeps me in Bloomington hope to be there next month. But how are you doing today Mr. Mayor?
Speaker 1
I'm doing great. The weather's good. So yeah, it's all all good over here.
Speaker 2
Well, we have to start with that devastating tornado just south of you and Sullivan. I mean, words can't describe the scene there. First off, though any damage or anything from those storms that in Terre Haute?
Speaker 1
No, you know it. I mean, there was a few small limbs down it got a little windy, we had a few little, you know, you could if you weren't here, you really wouldn't even know you know, if you were just coming back into town, but going down on the salva, and it's like that tornado just dropped right down on the South side of town and then picked himself back up and then kept doing it's, you know, as it moved east, but it really blast of that section of their town, on the south side of the downtown area. Just pretty amazing how much damage that can do. And so quickly,
Speaker 2
you go into standby mode, when you see those storms approaching so close to the city.
Speaker 1
You know, that was that night. They said it was supposed to we're supposed to have thunderstorms, a potential for tornadoes. But even when you see that, and you're kind of watching the radar, because I'm always watching, you know, to keep an eye on things that you know, be able to respond if needed. And most of the time it fizzles out. Well that one just kind of kept picking up its intensity farther south from Terre Haute. And you could see that, yeah, they're getting hit pretty bad down there. But I had no idea there was a tornado until you know, all the orcs and everything started coming on TV. And it's like, Well, I wonder how they fared. And, you know, it was just bad. And I'm surprised there isn't more. There weren't more injuries and loss of life, looking at the damage down there. It's just it's amazing how quickly those things can happen. And just devastating for them. You know, I've talked to Mayor Lam almost every day since it happened. Right now, we currently have street Department employees down there, we'll be there all week trying to help them deal with a lot of the debris, we've had police officers down there providing security. I know everybody kind of jumped in to help them which is great. But to manage a chaotic scene, like Ted is very difficult for everybody. And I just really feel horrible for the folks that lost their homes, there was a lot of them that have put her homeless now,
Speaker 2
of course, the cleanup will be ongoing. Do you know just by chance? I mean, is there anything that people can do to help right now?
Speaker 1
You know, I think it's they still need some volunteers, you know, that you check in down there at our Emergency Operations Center. I think funds are still going to be important. You know, there were people down there that didn't have insurance or adequate insurance on their homes and their cars. And I think this is going to be a long time to get people back to where they were. And so we're having a fundraiser this week locally, WT who is doing something all day and so I think that will continue. People were really good around here about giving, they just want to figure out how the best impact you know, what, what can they do to have the biggest and best impact. So I will continue to reach out to them. If you have you know, an interest. You're listening to this. They're gonna need help for a while, you know?
Speaker 2
Yeah, I know they were pretty good on food. The last time we talked to them, but as mayor Lam says it's going to be a long term effort down there is one I wonder if you'd give a quick update on the ammonia spill that was in the city sewer system. About a month ago, we had our last ask the mayor in March and there was efforts going on at that time to return to normal but you weren't quite there yet. How's it going now?
Speaker 1
Yeah, we're there now. You know, it really was very beneficial that we upgraded our plant a few years ago and the way we that we did, we were able to isolate that spill into seven of our 18 tanks down there so we can then deal with that treat it and be able to put it back into the into the river properly. Our wastewater treatment staff did a tremendous job. They worked a lot of overtime there for a few weeks. You know, we had to haul some stuff out we had to hole some things in we had a whole new bugs in and to haul some of the waste product out. But we are back to full normal operations and everything is good there. We've been working with that company they're discharging as normal again And they've changed their internal procedures to ensure something like this hopefully never happens again. And we've been reimbursed for all of our expenses for that. And so we're we're in a good spot. Now, that was just one of those things that happened. And you hope doesn't happen again, we learn from those kinds of things in the community. Also, last
Speaker 2
time we talked Terre Haute was in the running for a one, what was called a $1 billion investment from a battery producing company for the Vigo County Industrial Park. And you were pretty optimistic, I guess you had every right to be optimistic because they chose Terre Haute.
Speaker 1
Yeah, we felt pretty good about that one. But you never know until they make the final decision. Yet, it's going to be about a one and a half million dollar investment is what it's looking like. The numbers keep changing from different media sources. But and that's phase one, you know, they bought about 400 acres down there in the in the on the property with county redevelopment commission, this will be phase one, and it'll be roughly 640 employees making about $71,000 a year, they make the component of electronic batteries, it's kind of a separator piece between the positive and the negative in the battery they own or they control 85% of the market in the United States. So they're a very established company in this industry. This will be their first plant here, obviously in Indiana, and they're going to roll roll out pretty quickly. They've got people down there now doing survey work and all that as they kind of get their buildings designed and start figuring out where everything's gonna lay. They hope to be operational, fully operational and 2026 by the end of 2026. So this will happen very quickly. We're working with them in a variety of capacities on workforce development, and a variety of other things that can help them you know, get the people that, that they need, it's a very exciting thing to have that kind of a significant economic hit for our community. And for I love the high tech side of things, you know, getting into that world, having that kind of exposure here locally, tells the story that we can handle that they loved our for colleges, and universities, they want to tap that talent as they come out of college. It just seemed like a great fit. And you know what happened pretty quickly, they first approached the community back in October of last year, these things don't normally happen that fast. Usually, it's a multi year process sometimes. So this will happen quickly, and going to have a very, very positive impact on our community.
Speaker 2
So when you talk about positive impact, what kind of ripple effect you would that have on? I guess it's not it's not only the city, the county, but the state too, isn't
Speaker 1
everybody Wild West Central Indiana State, I think there's a few things that really stand out one, you know, being in this industry being in that kind of work, the direction of things are going when it comes to energy and, and battery power, you know, equipment and vehicles and everything else. That's a big win just because that high tech side of things, but there'll be spin off things, you know, they're going to expand their business here. But there'll be suppliers and others that will follow that it kind of always happens with investment, you know, plant of that size. I think it will showcase Terre Haute and Vigo County has been a great place to be able to do business like that, that will lead to other opportunities. I think it will give us the college kids who are graduating, you know, a high paying job right here. And Taro were a lot of times they have to leave our area because those high paying jobs are not here. So I think it it begins to open the door in a lot of areas. Yes, we're going to have to build some new houses. You know, there's it's clear that we don't have enough housing stock here to meet that demand between that and the casino. I mean, there's you know, 1200 employees plus, right there that we need something in the next couple of years. Childcare keeps coming up, you know, especially when you're in a 24 hour manufacturing environment, you need to be able to deliver that as a community and so workforce, housing, childcare, all the same things that all mayors talk about all the time, when you land something like this, it really ramps up the efforts, thinking about okay, well then what comes next? And how do we continue to keep the momentum going on these things, but still meet the needs in order to be able to secure these large employers
Speaker 2
you know, you touched upon this but I here's that moving forward to and capitalizing on this I would like to sometimes compare this summer sports guy but you know, your team wins the the championship, but you want to stay in that top five all the time and not drop back down again. So how does Terre Haute capitalize on this and move forward? Well, I
Speaker 1
think you know, we have to meet those demands of of what they need, you know, a lot of the things I mentioned, if the word gets out there, you know consultants and everybody else that well, you know, Terre Haute, they just can't get enough employees or there aren't enough houses or whatever it might be, you know, you don't want that negative connotation to be floating around out there because it'll reduce your opportunities clearly. So in order to meet that demand, we have to work pretty quickly. You know, government doesn't always work fast. You know how that is. But you know, there's, there's the private sector side of it, there's the government side of it, we have to just continue to work together to implement our community plan that we have banned. But then when you get a big win like this, it really makes things accelerate. And so we want to be on that track to be the sale Terre Haute Vigo county to other potential opportunities. And in order to do that, you have to take care of the issues that you have, and, and those are all ones that we're all facing. Not easy to fix overnight. But we feel really good about being able to meet the needs of this organization, that casino and others. But what comes next, you know, how do we meet those demands, and the next one, and so it's very competitive out there, and you want to make sure that you're putting your best foot forward, when you're selling your community. And this is one of the things that focus areas for us if we're successful here. How do we maintain that
Speaker 2
we're gonna move to the jail really quickly. Vigo County, Terre Haute has a new jail in full operation. Monroe County is looking at building a new jail. But sometimes it's not all about the brick and mortar. It's about the programs, mental health services and so on. So the Terre Haute Vigo County just build a new jail or are there new programs in place to help reduce recidivism along with that
Speaker 1
there's a variety of new programs in process. They're not at the jail right now or on the jail campus. But within the community, we all recognize the fact that there are people that need to be in jail, and there's people that can be rehabilitated or you know, help through a temporary situation, maybe they've just committed their first crime, whatever it might be, how do you keep people on the right path is really the bottom line. And so you don't want to just fill the jail up with people and just have them sit there, there's got to be a way to begin to work through that rehabilitation process. So there's a variety of things happening. Mental Health, America is looking at a diversion center right now, Community Corrections continue to expand their programs. So I think you're gonna see a mix kind of across the board of opportunities for people mental health and addictions side of things, helping people get back into the workforce, a lot of people have that stigma, you get, you know, go to jail, go to prison, hard to get a job, we've got to overcome some of that, because a lot of these people have turned their lives around or can turn their life around, how do you get them to be productive members of our society. So a lot of that now that the jails open, a lot of those discussions are happening, looking at using ARPA funds and ready funds and other funds down the road to be able to sustain these kinds of programs. So that's what's on the horizon here to begin to implement things that will help all of these people that are part of a system.
Speaker 2
You know, I was thinking it's been three years now since we had COVID. Hit and lock us down. Looking now, three years later, where are we now? Where's Terre Haute? Now? Is there still do you still feel an economic hit or rebuilding effort?
Speaker 1
No, you know, I think I really feel like we're through that. Obviously, there are still people out there getting COVID I know some people personally, that's just added recently wasn't too bad for them, but it's still out there. And it can still hit people you know, who have those can pre existing conditions. But I really believe that after this amount of time now, things are about as normal, it's gonna get one fallout that I see though, there are still people that are not back in the workforce that we'd like to see. Because a lot of them gave up their daycare when the schools were out and they weren't having to deal with their children at home. And now they can't get back into daycare, or they can't afford daycare because the price has gone up. So there's an interesting dynamic that we're on one hand some things, you know, came out just fine unscathed. In other areas of our economy. We're still seeing some things very difficult to get the low end kind of jobs, the retail jobs you know, the fast food jobs, those are all those companies and organizations are struggling. I think it's gonna take more time for that part of it. But overall, I feel really good about where we're at as a community and feel like we survived it pretty well. Yes, we had our issues, but I feel like we're definitely you know, that's becoming are something from our history and now not something we're actively dealing with on a regular basis.
Unknown Speaker
We update on the feasibility study of the waterpark,
Speaker 1
you know, so well otter Park and athletic facility that we making their presentation in May to the CIB. At the end of May. They're working on it got a ton of community feedback, I think we had 1800 People responded to the survey, and about 1200 actually filled the whole thing out. It was a big survey. But we've got 1800 responses back. Now. So right now they're putting all that together for us. And we'll be making the presentation next month. So we'll kind of see, that'll tell us whether we can support you know, a large waterpark, these athletic facilities, indoor outdoor, it'll kind of give us some guiding direction to what the next step is.
Speaker 2
Are the asphalt plants open now? Yes, yes. So I assume you have some street work that's at least starting?
Speaker 1
Right. We're, we haven't started paving yet ourselves, the state always seems to get the first batch out of the plants. So yes, they're open. I believe that in May, I don't know exactly which week we'll be starting some of our projects. So yeah, they'll happen pretty rapidly, then once we start that, probably over a two month period. And we'll get most of our major paving done.
Speaker 2
Do you have any first major streets for people to be aware of and this coming month,
Speaker 1
we're going to be doing a section a locust, we'll be doing all of walnut from third to 19. Some areas down around Terre Haute south and then the hospital kind of all around in there, Davis and some side streets. There'll be you know, we they're kind of scattered, but most of them are on major areas. So we'll have to, you know, obviously, as we always do get it out to the media to let people know, typically it takes us a day or so to do the milling, and a day or so to pave and then a day to paint stripe. And so typically, we can get a gun, a big section, or you know, a street if you will, in less than a week. Depending on the weather, it could get rain in our summer, obviously in places, but we usually try to get in and get out as fast as we can.
Speaker 2
Then I'm going to leave a couple of minutes left, I always like to leave the last word to you any big announcements or anything else you'd like to say?
Speaker 1
No, I would just you know, things are going well, this intake thing was really a boost for us locally, it's been huge. You know, things are going really well. Overall, I really want to get this ARPA money rolled out. We're big focus on that right now to get these programs in place. So we get money out to some not for profits in our small businesses, but some of our housing, you know, our program for housing to get some new homes built. So that's taken up a lot of time right now. I've been watching the legislature closely looks like the ready funds are coming looks like the XL Center funding is going to happen so we can get a local Goodwill Excel Center here. So just a lot of things recently over the last few months have set us up to have a good successful year here in Terre Haute Vigo County. And so it's it's very busy. All good stuff. You know, I tell people that all the time. It's like I've not been this busy. Really, I don't think since I've been in this position. We're fortunate to have some revenue and some monies to do some things that we wouldn't been able to do in the past. And we're really going to focus on that quality of life, a lot of things related to that. And so, as we think about you know, when people listen to this or whatever, we really want to do things that make Terre Haute stand out so we can continue to get business investments and those kinds of economic development wins down the road. And so that's all about making taro you know, look good and, and be a fun place to be and be able to meet the needs of these employers. So that's our goal.
Unknown Speaker
And you don't have anyone running against you in the primary, right?
Speaker 1
No, so I'm good. Candidates on the other side, so we'll find out who my opponent will be soon.
Unknown Speaker
They are thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.
Unknown Speaker
Thank you, Joe.
