Ferdinand council: Residents say no to cell tower
Special from Ferdinand News
The Ferdinand Town Hall was packed Tuesday night.
Half of the attendees were Forest Park government students working for some extra credit. But most of the remainder were residents on a mission. They live in the Holiday Lake area and have heard (and seen evidence in preparation) that a cell tower is slated to go up on a neighboring property.
Alan Winkler served as the spokesperson, noting the detrimental effects to health, property values and aesthetics. “We know you want Ferdinand to grow,” and growing north is the most logical, he said. “This [tower] would devalue that potential area.”
“Now we see rolling hills, corn fields, bean fields and a beautiful view of town. We don’t need an eyesore,” he added.
Connie Egloff noted the landowner may not be aware of the health risks, as the potential site is within 500 feet of a home. “My mother has cancer,” added Winkler. “Randy [Gehlhausen] lost his dad to cancer.”
According to what Jerry Egloff, Connie’s husband has researched, the incidence of cancer for those living within 1,000 feet of cell towers is higher than average. “We don’t want to halt growth,” asserted Winkler. “The concern of our group is the location and the number of houses in the area.”
Town Council President Ken Sicard said the first he learned of the tower was via a phone call Friday night. In checking, he learned that an inquiry was made of Planning and Zoning Secretary Don Foerster in April, but nothing further had been brought forward.
According to neighbors, the site is staked, and the corn picked early from the property.
Town Attorney Bill Shaneyfelt said that the first step any company wishing to build a cell tower would have to take would be to file for a building permit.
Audience members said a similar situation happened in Santa Claus and nothing was authorized before the tower went up. The company in question paid the fines and the tower stayed.
Sicard said that won’t happen in Ferdinand. “If they put it up without a permit we will make them take it down,” he promised.
“Cell towers are not allowed by right,” added Shaneyfelt. Builders “must get a special exception and must get a building permit.”
He suggested the developer might be trying to take care of all his due diligence before applying for the permit.
As to the property owner, Connie Egloff said, “We don’t want to view them as the enemy because they are us. They are our neighbors.”
Shaneyfelt said it might be a good idea for a neighbor to approach the property owner to voice concerns and Randy Gehlhausen agreed to serve as the emissary.
Four hearings were held during the course of the meeting at staggered times.
The first was the annual Budget Hearing, during which the proposed 2016 budget details were outlined by Clerk-Treasurer Bev Schulthise. She advertised and estimated budget of $2,417,336, based on an assessed valuation of $90,726,000. Funds to be raised via tax levies are $708,208 which is about a 20% increase over last year.
The 2015 tax rate is .6447 per $100 of assessed value. Proposed for 2016 is a rate of .7738 per $100. The advertised rate is not the final rate — usually it’s lower. If, say, the assessed value goes up (it was higher last year), then the tax rate goes down. The Department of Local Government Finance could also decrease the budget.
There were no remonstrators and the hearing lasted about four minutes. The budget will be adopted in its final form at the October 13 Town Council meeting.
The second hearing concerned a request from Ryan Muller to vacate the alley behind his house.
One remonstrator was present. Joe Gogel lives on the north side of 9th Street and his portion of the alley will not be affected. But he was concerned with access for two other property owners. Since they had been notified of the planned closure and did not object, the council approved the vacation.
The third hearing was required as the Town jumps through all the necessary hoops to secure a $2.2 million USDA Rural Development loan to pay for the mandated phosphorous removal project. Having a large crowd in attendance was a bonus.
During the brief hearing, Shaneyfelt outlined some of the many required steps in this project, all designed to meet the deadline imposed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. A motion was made and approved to proceed with funding from Rural Development.
The final hearing of the evening, scheduled for 9 p.m. was for an additional appropriation to transfer $7,800 from the sale of two lawn mowers into the Park Fund.
The council also:
–Heard Property and Street Superintendent Tom Lueken report that Town Wide Cleanup Days for large item pick up are set for Tuesday, October 13 (west side of town) and Wednesday, October 14 (east side) and will reserve October 15 for completion. Depending on the weather, Lueken hopes to put off leaf collection until after Clean Up Days.
–Heard the Fire Department made 17 runs in August, eight for fire and nine First Responder runs. Chief Dan Lindauer also said the aerial truck will be out of commission for inspection for 6-8 hours this Saturday, and the ground ladders will be removed and inspected on a staggered basis.
–Learned from Chief Ricky Patton the Police Department received a grant to cover the cost of two Kevlar vests.
–Will allow Nathan Lueken to attend Tactical Edge Training in Daviess County September 14-16, permitting use of a vehicle and the cost of meals.
–Heard a request from Ferdinand Elementary Principal Stacy Kitchin through Town Manager Chris James that a crosswalk safety zone would be beneficial on 8th Street west of Illinois, as a large number of children walk to school from that area. The council authorized Tom Lueken and Shaneyfelt to proceed with this project.
–Approved three members of the utility department to attend an ICUE Expo in Louisville ($40 per person) staggered over the three days of the event (September 29-October 1). Also for Dean Gogel to attend Lineman’s School in Greenfield September 13-18 in Greenfield.
–Heard from Wastewater Superintendent Roger Schaefer the West Clarifier Project was completed by KWK. “They did an excellent job. I can’t say enough,” he reported.
–Learned from Shaneyfelt the Town is working with Best Home Furnishings to develop a Memorandum of Understanding concerning stormwater issues on West 23rd. Best plans to reroute 12.5 acres from their property to a retention pond then to a ditch near Town Hall. This will, engineers believe, potentially alleviate flooding
problems at the Larry Mundy residence.
–Heard from Shaneyfelt that he is working with Dollar General to secure compliance for remediation work on their property. This, too, is a stormwater issue and he expects the work to be completed by the end of October.
–Learned from Sicard that community sessions for an updated comprehensive plan are complete and a work session between the council and plan commission will be held to determine next steps.
–Decided to wait until next year to complete rate studies on all three utilities.
–Agreed residents can keep the recycling bins that had been purchased by the Town for use by Monster Recycling.
–Heard the council is currently interviewing applicants for the Chief of Police position.
–Learned the Town will accept applications to use the Shelter House at 5th Street Park as there are fewer participants in fall baseball.
–Heard Ferdinand will be the first stop next September when the Bicentennial Torch passes through Dubois County and were asked to consider applicants for torch bearers
–Were told that Landmarks Foundation is holding a special event in Ferdinand on Sunday, October 11 with tours of special sites throughout the community and awards presented for local projects.
–Heard from Shaneyfelt that upon reflection, it might be problematic for the Town to give a donation to the Rosenvolk Medieval Festival, scheduled for October 16-18, as government entities are prohibited from promoting any particular religion and the fest, while it will be a fun and entertaining event, will raise funds for three Catholic organizations.
–Decided to research further an eGov emergency notification system that would send email alerts in the event of an emergency.
–Accepted two large framed maps of Ferdinand — one an aerial and the second a base map — from Elliot Englert with the Indiana 15 Regional Planning Commission which were paid for by a Rural Transportation Planning Grant through INDOT.
–Signed a contract with engineer Steve Grundhoefer for extra work he does for the town outside his scope on the Planning Commission at $65 per hour.
–Heard Ferdinand Folk Fest is less than two weeks away and preparations for the sixth annual event are ramping up as the time draws near.
–Announced the Economic Development Commission will meet at 6 p.m. next Monday, September 14, the Plan Commission will meet on Wednesday, September 23 at 7 p.m. and the next regular council meeting is slated for Tuesday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. with budget adoption as the first item on the agenda.
