05112016 - News Article - Palmateer resigns from C.P. board

Palmateer resigns from C.P. board

NWI Times
May 11, 2016 

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/palmateer-resigns-from-c-p-board/article_6c971a20-c68b-5eb9-9193-71d1b6b68a15.html

CROWN POINT — Building and trades union official Randolph L. “Randy” Palmateer resigned Wednesday as a member of the Crown Point Board of Public Works.

Palmateer said he is leaving the board which oversees municipal public works projects and service contracts.

Mayor David Uran publicly released Palmateer's letter of resignation which states he has become too busy with commitments to his family and other civic bodies to attend the many public meetings of the board.

His resignation comes a week after he pleaded guilty to reckless driving following his arrest in late March by Hammond police at a sobriety checkpoint. Palmateer had a prior drunken driving arrest in 2011 in Crown Point. In both cases, the charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated were reduced to reckless driving convictions.

Uran appointed Palmateer as a board of public works member several years ago. Palmateer is business manager of the 25,000-member Northwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council, an AFL-CIO affiliate, which represents more than 38 union trade locals in Lake, Porter, Newton and Jasper counties.

Palmateer also is a Crown Point Democratic precinct committeeman and enjoys positions on the Lake County Economic Development Commission and the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, which funnels millions of local tax revenues into economic development projects.

The Democratic majority on the Lake County Council voted Tuesday to reappoint Palmateer to the board of the RDA, over the objections of the two Republican members who wanted to call Palmateer to task for the negative media attention his most recent arrest created.

The works board conducted city business Wednesday without Palmateer and Uran. The mayor who is vacationing out of town, didn't attend.

It awarded a $87,300 contract to Ziese and Sons Excavating of Crown Point, to demolish the old street department and water plant buildings near Grant Street.

The public works department will install new water lines and reline old sewer lines near the intersection of Summit Street and Old Merrillville Road where a new traffic light will be installed. 

Public Works Director Scott Rediger said doing the work in-house should save taxpayers more than $100,000 rather than hiring a private contractor.

The board renewed an agreement to provide city ambulance service to the Lake County Fair and home football games at Crown Point High School later this year.