City Of Greendale, Kennett Truck Stop Disagree On How To Fill Potholes

Potholes on the truck stop lot need to be filled, but the parties disagree on what material to use.

Kennett Truck Stop in Greendale. Photo by Travis Thayer, Eagle Country 99.3.

(Greendale, Ind.) - Potholes at Kennett Truck Stop in Greendale need to be filled, but a dispute about using gravel or asphalt appears to be holding up the fix. 

There have been several attempts to rectify the issue in recent years, including a proposal to correct the pavement over a 10 year span. The plan was never agreed upon. 

As discussions have continued, the Kennett's drafted a proposal in August of 2020 to fill potholes with gravel. Their full proposal also included site improvement such as a truck scale, and a drive-thru food order kiosk. 

As part of the request, the Kennett’s proposed using INDOT No. 53 Aggregate Pavement, or gravel, to fill in potholes throughout the lot and facilitate surface drainage.

The request was denied by the City because INDOT No. 53 gravel does not meet the city requirements that the parking surface be paved with a dust-proof or hard surface; and because the proposed improvements included no provision to treat the stormwater runoff from the future parking lot.

A Memorandum dated August 18, 2020 to city manager Steve Lampert was prepared by Johnson of American Structurepoint, reviewing the Improvement Location Permit request. The memorandum indicated, “the lot south of the existing Kennett Truck Stop where the improvements are proposed slopes to the west and into the pond as shown on the attached figure. The area south of the drive to the Baptist Church flows to the southwest toward Greendale’s drinking water wells”. The memorandum concluded, “The improvements proposed by the Improvement Location Permit dated August 4, 2020 do not meet the wellhead protection requirements to prevent contamination to the Greendale drinking water supply”.

Lawyers are now in the mix trying to help facilitate an agreement. 

The Kennett's lawyer Robert Nice retained Michael Devir, a professional engineer with KERAMIDA Inc., to weigh in on the situation and offer his expert opinion. Devir has 30 years of experience in project management, site characterization, remedial strategy development, and construction management.

According to Devir's opinion, INDOT No. 53 Aggregate Pavement is ‘pavement’ per INDOT specification and creates a hard surface. He also stated that the proposed improvements to the South Lot do not present a potential threat to the Greendale water supply, and do not pose a present or future danger to the environment.

"Stormwater from the South Lot will flow into a drainage swale at the west end of the South Lot and discharge into the dry detention basin which is to be equipped with an oil-water separator device on the outlet structure. It is my engineering opinion that the proposed improvements should be allowed to proceed as presented in the revised design plans."

Devir recommends the closure of nearby Yelton Pond. Closure of the pond has been a component of the Drainage Masterplans prepared in 2012 and 2017 "because of the risk of introducing contaminants into the aquifer and will not be used for storm water detention." KERAMIDA's pond closure assessment in November 2020 estimated the cost to be $2.175 million. 

“I think both sides want to get this resolved, but there is just a disagreement on how to get to that resolution," said Greendale Mayor Alan Weiss. "We just want to make sure we protect our drinking water." 

It is possible that the dispute ends up in front of a judge to determine how improvements at Kennett Truck Stop would be completed.