Ferdinand Town Council meeting – Jan. 10

The Ferdinand Town Council met for their first meeting of 2012 on Tuesday night. Among the items handled in the two-hour meeting, the Board of Finance re-elected Ron Weyer as president and Debbie Johnson as secretary. The Town Council also retained Ken Sicard as president and Ron Weyer as vice-president.

Clerk Treasurer Bev Schulthise presented to the council the year-ending balance of $6,159,851 in the town finances.

Street Superintendent Tom Lueken says that the old library will need to be treated for termites before the Police Department can begin using it as their headquarters.

The council moved to accept bids on the conversion of the old library into the new Police Station; parking lot repairs in the town hall lot and a few other street projects.

Town President Ken Sicard reports that INDOT has agreed that the walking trails project is a minor one, meaning that the town will not have to perform further archeological studies, which would add time and additional costs to the project.

The project, which is funded by a grant, will move ahead and will provide walking connections between Tri-County YMCA, Forest Park Junior-Senior High School, Ferdinand Community Center and 18th Street Park.

The council also signed a memorandum of understanding that authorizes the use of $100,000 in county funds for law enforcement continuing education to go towards the countywide Interact system, which would provide for an online records system.

A bid of $12,289 was accepted by the council for a new metal roof to be put onto the town storage building on west 23rd Street by Daviess County Metal Sales.

Police Chief Ted Bieker reports that officers Donna Abrams has completed training at the Indiana Law Enforcement academy and will go back for firearms training next month.

Fire Chief Dan Lindauer submitted a report to the Council that contained 140 runs in 2011. 75 of those were fire runs, and the remaining 65 were first responder calls.