HELMSBURG — About 20 years after it was started, a project to fix Helmsburg’s flooding problems is going to move into Phase 2.
On Aug. 6, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced that Brown County received a $600,000 grant to improve flood drainage in Helmsburg. Twenty-three other Hoosier communities also received portions of $15.3 million federal grant to improve water infrastructure.
Old storm sewers will be replaced along Helmsburg Road, Main Street and First Street with new piping, according to the press release.
Storm sewers along the eastern portion of North Street will also be extended. Drainage ditch improvements will also be made in several areas throughout Helmsburg. Areas will also receive street inlets that did not have any before, the release states.
The total cost for the project is $923,014, according to a presentation about it in February. That leaves $323,014 the county will have to come up with to cover the remaining cost.
In February, the Brown County Commissioners asked the county’s redevelopment commission (RDC) to pledge money to help pay for it. Commissioner Diana Biddle persuaded the RDC to obligate the “sock factory money,” or the money the county received from the sale of the old For Bare Feet sock factory in Helmsburg, “with the understanding that I would go out and seek some other types of funding.”
Last spring, Biddle said the intention is to not even have to touch the sock factory money if the county can get $250,000 from the state revolving loan fund. If the commissioners get that much from another state source, the county would only have to find less than $100,000 for the project.
Lochmueller Group did a study of the project; employee Kyle Myers is a Brown County resident. His firm recommended using corrugated, high-density polyaciline pipe (HDPE pipe) to replace the existing system. The life expectancy of the new pipe is between 30 and 40 years, Myers said.
Helmsburg residents had lobbied for this project to be revived.
Helmsburg Community Development started two or three years ago as a grassroots nonprofit that seeks to improve infrastructure and revitalize businesses in Helmsburg.
Along with cleaning up dilapidated homes and vacant lots in the area, the HDC had been lobbying for more county-funded projects to come to Helmsburg and advocating for the stormwater project to reach its second phase. The first phase was started around 20 years ago, HCD President Adrian O’Shea said.
The HCD also organizes clean-up days, where volunteers gather to remove appliances and trash from lots and do yard work on unkempt lawns.
Last week, O’Shea said the nonprofit was “completely ecstatic” about receiving the grant. The group plans to meet this Wednesday, Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Brown County Community Church to further discuss the details of the grant and share information. “We don’t have all of the details and information just yet,” he said.
The HCD had not been meeting due to COVID-19.
“We’re hoping to have some additional information about the grants and all of the details and be able to figure out when we can get this started for phase two of the stormwater project,” O’Shea said.
“It’s one of those things we’ve been trying to get our voice heard. I really feel like we did that here.”
This stormwater project will benefit the infrastructure throughout Helmsburg. “And everyone who lives there is definitely going to be impacted pretty positively once we get that project done,” O’Shea said.
O’Shea said last week that the HCD has managed to get rid of a lot blight throughout the community. There’s one place they’re still trying to get cleaned up.
Housing developments are also happening in Helmsburg, with one Habitat for Humanity home close to being built and another planned to be built in Helmsburg next year, O’Shea said.
Erika Bryenton of Brye Realty and her business partner, Raymond Pitcher, have been turning the former Helmsburg Laundromat into two apartments.
“We’re trying to really bolster up the infrastructure there,” O’Shea said.
A stormwater system that does not work adequately can have an adverse effect on those efforts. “When it rains real heavily, we’ve got water all over flooding different areas, garages, buildings,” O’Shea said.
“We have people who can’t grow grass in their yard because every time it rains, it floods it out.”
O’Shea said this grant also means that Helmsburg can work with the county for the betterment of the area. “We are being heard. Now that we have a lot of the ground work done, we can start some improvement projects maybe more on the aesthetic side,” he said.
Those improvement projects could be fixing a fence at someone’s home or helping someone cut their grass. “We can start focusing on some of the more small things,” O’Shea said.
The HCD will also continue to do clean-up days at least once a year.
“It’s not that we have that much trash in the area, but we want to give people the opportunity to get rid of some of those items, whether it’s a large item or just a bunch of small things,” O’Shea said, “just give them an opportunity to kind of get rid of that stuff to prevent the neighborhood from falling back into that kind of disrepair look. We just want to catch people’s eyes when they’re driving through the town.”
Revitalizing Helmsburg is a community effort.
Leonard and Sharon Richey own the Helmsburg General Store, which, along with serving pizzas and being a spot to pick up essential grocery items, also employs Helmsburg residents. Leonard serves as vice president of the HCD.
“They are absolutely fantastic advocates for the neighborhood. We’re very happy to have them there,” O’Shea said.
Anyone interested in learning more about the HCD or attending one of their meetings can find more information on the group’s Facebook page under “Helmsburg Community Development.”
“We would love to hear from the rest of the community and maybe get some ideas or collaborate. We always invite people to show up. Bring your mask and we will do our best to distance the best we can,” O’Shea said.
“We want to push on and keep beautifying the area.”
