State criticized for payments

EVANSVILLE -- Two groups critical of the proposal to extend Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to Evansville are denouncing the state's payment of more than $750,000 to a consulting firm.\nBecause of the consulting fees, the cost of the Indiana Department of Transportation's study of five routes for the highway has jumped more than 15 percent to $9.1 million.\n"It's outrageous," said Andy Knott, air and energy policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council. "It's hard to find the words. At a time when state agencies are cutting services to the bone, INDOT is going out and spending more money on a boondoggle project."\nThe money was paid to Bernardin, Lochmueller & Associates, the Evansville consulting firm preparing an environmental-impact study that is expected to be complete sometime this year.\nINDOT Commissioner Bryan Nicol said new federal regulations made it necessary to spend additional money.\nMost of the money paid for deeper studies of historic buildings and archaeological sites, required by federal regulations, said Mike Grovak, I-69 project manager for the consulting firm.\nGrovak said the regulations require an extensive outreach to "consulting parties," including groups as diverse as local government officials and out-of-state American Indian tribes with interests in archaeological resources.\n"It seems to me, if we skirt environmental rules and regulations, we'd be criticized for that," Nicol told the Evansville Courier and Press for a story published Friday. "It's unfair for those groups that have their own particular route they're promoting to attack us for complying with federal rules and regulations."\nEnvironmental groups advocate an I-69 route that uses U.S. 41 and Interstate 70 through Terre Haute because they say it would be less expensive and do less harm to farmland and wildlife.\n"Of course they should comply with historic preservation laws, if that's part of the (environmental-impact) statement," Knott said. "The question still remains: Is the taxpayer getting their money's worth out of these studies? I believe (the) answer is no."\nSandra Tokarski, a founding member of the Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, was also critical.\n"I say 'Too bad. Figure it out, guys,'" Tokarski said. "Who do you know that can just say, 'Whoops! We're practically $2 million over budget and not even finished yet.'"\nNicol said INDOT has done its share in cutting government spending.\n"Nobody's offering to do all this work for free," Nicol said of the environmental study. "And to preserve the integrity of the project, we need a top-notch work product"