The City of Goshen Engineering Department will host a public information meeting to go over details of the Reliance Road and Peddlers Village road reconstruction project January 17 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Gospel Community Church located at 1677 Reliance Road.

The meeting will have a 5-10 minute presentation follower by an information open house where members of the public can discuss the project with individual project representatives.

As early as the spring of 2023, the City of Goshen is planning to reconstruct Peddlers Village Road between CR 17 and US 33 and to reconstruct Reliance road between US 33 and the north entrance to Brookside Manor. These improvements are intended to accommodate the expected increase in traffic volume as a result of the Elkhart County court consolidation project. The proposed project timeline, including expected temporary road closures and restrictions, will be discussed at the meeting.

A second public meetings will occur at a later date prior to the beginning of the construction. The purpose of the second meeting will be to walk affected residents through the construction process in more detail. This meeting will cover items such as trash pickup, mail delivery, school bus routes, and temporary resident access during construction. The exact dates of this meeting will be established as the project progresses.

Throughout the project process, the City of Goshen will provide updates and communicate important information with additional letters, doorhangers, and resident meetings, as needed. The city’s webpage, www.goshenindiana.org, will also have a project page with updates as the project progresses. Please contact the Engineering Department at 574-534-2201 or engineering@goshencity.com with any questions or concerns.

As we prepare for a potential major winter storm, the City of Goshen asks the community to look over one another, help each other out if needed and contact the City for aid.

Elkhart County is under a winter storm watch. According to the National Weather Service, the storm will begin early on Thursday with a light wintry mix turning to rain and flash freezing Thursday night with a potential for heavy snow the following day. 

Arctic air will move in Friday morning through the weekend, resulting in dangerous wind chills of -15 to -30 degrees. Daytime high temperatures will likely remain in the single digits with little improvement.

The combination of strong wind gusts and heavy snowfall could result in extremely dangerous travel conditions.

“We will continue to send updates throughout this weather event,” Mayor Jeremy Stutsman said. “I hope everyone has a great and safe holiday weekend, so please watch and be very cautious of the weather and travel conditions as we know many of you will be travelling to see family and friends for the holidays.”

For anyone in need of a warm shelter, Faith Mission and the Salvation Army will be the City’s primary sheltering options, as well as the Goshen Public Library during normal business hours on Thursday and Friday. The Library will be closed Saturday and Sunday this week due to the holiday.

If you or anyone you know are without shelter and food or in need of assistance, the City can help any time of the day. Call the Goshen Police Department at 574.533.4151 for assistance with transportation to a warm place of shelter.

If you have elderly neighbors, please check in on them now and then to see if they need help. If you need anything, do not hesitate to call the City of Goshen at 574.533.8621. If you have an emergency, call 911.

For more updates, check the National Weather Service and the City of Goshen at goshenindiana.org/blog or on Facebook at facebook.com/CityOfGoshen.

This holiday season, we encourage you to take some time to get creative and help decorate the Mirth Tree!

In an effort to reduce waste, the City of Goshen’s Department of Environment Resilience (GDER) wants to encourage you to see what you can create with only the things you can find or recycle. We invite residents to decorate Goshen’s Mirth Tree with these ornaments.

The tree, located outside the Goshen Utilities Business Office, 203 S. Fifth St., is lit up and ready for your ornaments, which you can create out of natural or recycled materials you find in or around your house.

This year you can make your own ornaments at City Hall! It’s across the street at 202 S. Fifth St. Come between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday, December 16. We’ll provide the crafting supplies and workstation for you to use.

Hang your ornaments on the lit tree anytime between now and December 23. The ornaments you put on the tree will then be up for grabs! Starting on December 24, you will be able to come back and take home an ornament that you like. You don’t need to share an ornament to take one, and vice versa; we want to encourage the act of giving without expectation!

As you are making your ornament, please keep these things in mind:

• Please refrain from using glass; we want to keep everyone safe and avoid broken glass.
• Paper and cardboard are great materials to use, but because the tree is outside, the weather may ruin such ornaments.
• Please do not use glitter; while glitter is appealing to the eye, the negative effects it has on the environment outweigh the visual appeal.  Some materials you may use are: Buttons, ribbons, popsicle sticks, wooden beads, sticks, acorns, pine cones and other natural materials.

While this is not a contest, we encourage you to take photos of your ornament or of yourself placing your ornament on the tree and submit them for the City to share on social media. Photos can be submitted via Facebook Messenger to the City of Goshen, Indiana, or via email to communications@goshencity.com. You also may tag the City on your Facebook post.

To learn more about the City’s efforts in reducing waste, call the Goshen Department of Environmental Resilience at 574.534.0076 or go to their website at goshenindiana.org/environmental-resilience.

The St. Joseph River Basin Commission has published a report analyzing over a decade of water quality data collected by the Elkhart County Health Department as part of the Greater Elkhart County Stormwater Partnership’s long-term surface water monitoring program. The report focuses on long-term trends in water quality in major waterways throughout Elkhart County as well as comparisons of trends across testing sites.

The report is now available for public review. The report can be found online at https://sjrbc.com/resources/monitoring/index.html.

The Greater Elkhart County Stormwater Partnership is tasked with working to reduce pollutants carried by stormwater to Elkhart County’s waterways and uses surface monitoring each year during the growing season to identify areas of concern. With its urban and agricultural areas, the County has the potential to have a large impact on the health of waterways flowing to the Elkhart and St. Joseph Rivers and ultimately to the Great Lakes. E. coli and nutrient pollution (i.e., nitrogen and phosphorus) are known issues.

The report found that the percentage of samples exceeding the water quality standards for E. coli and Phosphorus is trending upwards over time. Turkey and Yellow Creek had E. coli levels 13,000 times the State standard for full-body contact recreation. These sites also had the highest Phosphorus levels of all sites sampled, exceeding the standard in 89% of 2021 samples. Yellow Creek and Turkey Creek, along with the streams that drain to them, emerged as areas of concern with regard to E. coli contamination and Phosphorus levels. Larger waterbodies like the Elkhart River and St. Joseph River had much lower instances of exceedance.

Sources of these contaminants in waterways include municipal, residential, commercial, and industrial areas. E. coli is an indicator of fecal contamination and is a public health concern as it can cause serious illness in humans. Phosphorus is an important nutrient for crops, but too much in streams can lead to excess plant growth, oxygen depletion, and fish kills. Continued monitoring of these sites will aid in identifying specific sources and eventual mitigation of the sources. Efforts are ongoing by the County government, municipal Stormwater Departments, and the Soil & Water Conservation District to address these water quality impairments in the short and long term.

“The work by the St. Joseph River Basin Commission to compile and analyze 12 years worth of water quality data is something the Stormwater Partnership has been working towards over the past five years” Jason Kauffman, City of Goshen Stormwater Coordinator, said. “This Report has helped the Stormwater Partnership better understand the water quality trends in our local waterways and will help guide future decisions. The work by Dr. Kate Barrett is greatly valued by the Stormwater Partnership and we are very thankful for all she has done.”

For questions on the Report please contact Dr. Kate Barrett at 574-287-1829 or kbarrett@macog.com and for questions on the Greater Elkhart County Stormwater Partnership visit www.elkcoswcd.org/stormwater-partnership/ to find contact information for the staff person in your area.

WHEN: Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Prairie View Elementary School Gym, 1730 Regent Street, Goshen

Please plan to attend to learn more about the mixed-use development being proposed for this 170-acres of land on the south side of Goshen including:

• Types and quantities of housing being planned;
• Types of commercial being considered to serve this area of town; and
• Types of amenities desired in the development.

In addition, learn more about the proposed Residential Housing TIF being considered by the City for this area. Representatives from both the City of Goshen and the development team will be present to briefly explain the project and to seek community input on the plan.

The City of Goshen appoints boards, commissions and committees, comprised of residents and City staff, to help advise on various policy issues. Some of the boards are designated by Indiana statute, while others are created in the interest of bettering our community.

Members of these boards and commissions are appointed by the mayor and City Council.

For 2023, the Council must make the following appointments:

• Redevelopment Commission: 2 positions—1-year term
• Community Relations Commission: 1 position—3-year term
• Shade Tree Board: 1 position—3-year term
• Board of Building Appeals: 2 positions—2-year term
• Library Board: 1 position—3-year term

To read about these Boards and Commissions, go to: goshenindiana.org/boards-&-commissions

To apply for any one of these boards and commissions, go to https://goshenindiana.org/boardapplication and fill out the application.

NOTE: The City Council will make the appointments in January of 2023.