Closure of two West Lafayette streets enables project's completion
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The closure of W. Columbia Street and N. Chauncey Avenue was approved at Tuesday morning's West Lafayette Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.
The partially-retroactive closure of W. Columbia Street and N. Chauncey Avenue was approved Tuesday morning to allow for paving as part of the Chauncey Plaza project. The closure will occur through Wednesday.
A new training program for lead-based paint inspections was approved through the Parks and Recreation department Tuesday morning as well.
"The certification training (trains for) visual inspections," Jenifer Van Schuyver, community development and communications manager for West Lafayette Parks and Recreation said. "They might also have to do some type of testing and they have to sign off that there is no lead-based paint. If there is lead-based paint, (the trained inspectors) will do the modifications to the home in order to make it safe for families and kids to use."
According to Van Schuyver, technically, anybody can apply for the three inspector-training positions available; however, it is usually businesses or previous contractors who apply. This will be the first time West Lafayette Parks and Rec has offered training in this type of inspection work.
"It's the first time we've done an open-call for proposals (applications) for lead-based paint (inspectors)," Van Schuyver said. "We've never paid for someone to be certified, it was something that was a need that was identified."
The West Lafayette Fire Department's subscription to the service Lexipol was also approved Tuesday.
"What (West Lafayette Fire Department) was prosing today is a company that provides policies and procedures for police and fire departments," West Lafayette fire chief, Jeff Need, said. "It's 'Lexipol.' They're a company that will come in, look at your current policies and procedures, look at national standards for (fire department) policies and procedures and help you figure out where you've got gaps and develop and new policy manual for your fire department."
Chief Need explained that subscribing to Lexipol's services are extremely convenient through their app, which can give quick access to firefighters when needed. Lexipol does not have the final say in a fire department's policy guidelines, Need explained, but instead they give recommendations for fire department-specific committees to adopt or not.
Immediately following Tuesday morning's meeting was the swearing-in ceremony of two new West Lafayette police officers, Michael Lucas and Anthony Burkhart.
The next West Lafayette Board of Public Works and Safety meeting will be at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7, in Margerum City Hall.
Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mtroup@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Closure of two West Lafayette streets enables project's completion
