Portage City Council

When someone goes into cardiac arrest, a machine called an automated external defibrillator, or AED, can help improve the chances of survival. But even if AEDs are present, they aren't always easy to get to. That issue recently became apparent in the city of Portage.

The Portage Police Department could soon be adding a social worker. The city council voted Tuesday to add the position into the city's salary ordinance.

The city of Portage continues moving its fleet of garbage trucks to compressed natural gas. The city recently purchased seven CNG trucks with a grant from the Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund.

Portage firefighters are set to get a pay raise. Under a three-year collective bargaining agreement approved by the city council and the firefighters union Wednesday, firefighters will get a 6.2-percent raise this year, a five-percent raise next year and a 3.8-percent raise in 2025.

Portage officials say the city's financial situation continues to improve. Clerk-Treasurer Nina Rivas says federal COVID funding has helped reduce the amount the city's had to borrow through temporary loans.

Getting around Portage may be a challenge this summer. Millions of dollars worth of road projects are set to get underway.

Plans for a new subdivision can move forward in Portage. The city council voted four-to-two last week to rezone almost 34 acres of land from low-density to multi-family residential development. That will allow Olthof Homes to build 90 paired cottage homes and 40 town homes south of Lute Road, between the Breckenridge Apartments and Roswell Drive.

The Portage police and fire departments are recruiting new members, even as their current ones face some challenges.

Portage residents may now keep chickens in their backyards.

A nonprofit that aims to help Portage residents with substance use disorder is asking for a third of the city's opioid settlement money.