Private resident offers $1,000 for information on graffiti at Grand Valley overpass
MARTINSVILLE — Motorists who have traveled along I-69 near the Grand Valley Boulevard overpass have likely seen some graffiti painted on bridge that connects South Street to the retail establishments on the east side of the interstate.
During a meeting of the Martinsville City Council Monday night, mayor Kenny Costin said a private resident has offered $1,000 for information on the person or people who have vandalized the bridge.
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According to Costin, some of the graffiti has been painted on "the highway side."
"Which is INDOT's responsibility," Costin said. "(INDOT) came in and they painted it."
The mayor has also said that the city has had to paint over graffiti on a portion of the bridge that is its responsibility.
"I've had a private citizen that has come forward that's going to offer a $1,000 reward for any photos that will lead to a conviction and arrest of anyone with that," he said.
Costin later noted covering the graffiti costs taxpayers "quite a bit of money."
"They think they are having fun, but it is damaging our property," Costin said.
City notifications
Costin also took time Monday night to encourage local residents to sign up for text notifications from the city.
Anyone interested can text "Martinsville" to 78015 to receive notice about things like street closures and boil water advisories.
According to Costin, the city first used the system last week to let residents know of street closures due to a 5K run/walk that used public streets between the Morgan County Fairgrounds and downtown area.
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City councilmen Jim Wisco and Ben Mahan were not present at Monday's meeting.
The next meeting of the Martinsville City Council is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 22, in council chambers at city hall, 59 S. Jefferson St.
Board of Works
Members of the Martinsville Board of Public Works and Safety also met Monday night.
At its meeting, the board approved awarded a bid from Wallace Construction of $1,312,431.38 for a street paving project in Martinsville.
Other bids for the project included:
E&B Paving: $1,831,506.80
Milestone Contractors: $1,695,382
Grady Brothers: $1,586,665.70
According to city superintendent Mac Dunn, city officials received four bids and inspected all documents to the proposals.
With Wallace Construction offering the low bid, the company was awarded the contract.
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The board approved Wallace's bid 2-0, with member Kelly Bray absent from the meeting.
Work on the street paving is expected to be complete by Nov. 1.
Special event applications
The city is looking at making changes to the special event application that organizations must fill out to host celebrations on city streets.
Costin's executive assistant Mack Porter said one change that has been suggested is reducing the number of days before an event the application needs to filled out from 60 days to 45 days.
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"We believe for some groups, having an additional 15 days would be very beneficial, and still allow for the processing and the approval of the applications and notifications we have to do after approval," Porter said.
The updated application was approved 2-0.
The next meeting of the Martinsville Board of Public Works is a special meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 15, in council chambers at Martinsville City Hall, 59 S. Jefferson St.
The next regular meeting of the board is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 22, in council chambers.
This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Martinsville Indiana resident offers $1,000 for info on graffiti
