Ferdinand Town Council: A monster may be in the Town’s future

Paul (right) and his uncle, Dave Voegerl have been busy preparing the new Monster Recycling of Indiana for the past six months.

It’s October, the scariest month of the year, so the fact monsters were the topic — not once but twice — at the Town Council’s Tuesday night meeting may come as no surprise.

But, oh what a monster of a deal this could be!

Paul Voegerl Sr. and his son, Paul Jr., approached the council with a proposition. A year ago the two purchased the former Jasper Wood Products building on Vine Street and spent the interim cleaning up the 250,000 square foot interior. Tuesday morning, just hours before the meeting, they officially opened Monster Recycling, an indoor facility.

According to Paul Jr., they will accept just about any type of recyclable material included all colors of glass, plastic, cardboard, old computer monitors, engines, electronics, motors — even tires. They pay for some items, such large batteries and metals. But that’s not why they attended the council meeting.

The Voegerls would like to offer a service to Ferdinand residents — curbside recycling. The only cost would be a one time, $10.73 fee for an 18 quart bin into which residents could toss all their recyclables (no separation required) and Monster Recycling would collect the contents on a weekly basis.

All three council members saw this as an excellent opportunity. Those who don’t now recycle would save money on trash stickers, less stuff would end up in the landfill and those who do recycle would save time and travel expense.

The main issue is logistics.

Would it be required for all residents? To make it feasible and cost effective for Voegerl the answer is yes.

Councilwoman Debbie Johnson said, “I think this is a terrific idea but I don’t want to implement mandatory fees [to pay for the bins] tonight.”

She suggested sitting down and discussing options for implementation. Residents who would like to see such a program (or who object to it) can call her after work at 631-5048 or visit the town’s facebook page to express their opinions.

As to the other monster, that would be the Tri-County YMCA Monster Dash, set for October 26 with a start time of 9 a.m. The council approved the route per the recommendation of Police Chief Ricky Patton.

Amphitheatre Park Board President Scott Tretter has tasked himself with seeking prices and getting quotes to build a stage somewhere in 18th Street Park. The council decided a decision by committee might be best. The Park Board, Councilman Ron Weyer, Property and Street Superintendent Tom Lueken, a representative from Folk Fest and member of the neighborhood will comprise the committee. The Park Board will set up a meeting to begin discussion and analyze the previously preferred site as well as other sites.

The council also:

• Heard from Forest Park senior Winston Glenn, who recently completed an Eagle Scout project to repaint 15 town fire hydrants. He and a crew of eight volunteers spent four hours on the project. “We tremendously appreciate it!” enthused President Ken Sicard.

• Learned curb-side leaf pick-up will commence next Tuesday, October 15 and will continue until sometime in November.

• Adopted the 2014 budget by ordinance and held a hearing to transfer $100,000 in surplus electric utility funds to the General Fund.

• Heard from Fire Chief Dan Lindauer the department sells smoke detectors and fire extinguishers at cost. He recommends checking batteries in the former and the charge level in the latter. Th e department is still looking for new recruits; contact any department member if interested.

• Heard from Clerk-Treasurer Bev Schulthise that all paperwork is in order from Pat Seger Construction for the Wollenmann House project except for a Labor Standards Contract with subcontractors that is past due.

• Will meet Thursday night (October 10) in special session to discuss an interview process for hiring the next town manager and will hold an executive session at 7:15 to decide who of the 12 applicants to interview.

• Held an additional appropriations hearing to loan $30,000 from the Electric Department to the Police Department to pay for a new police car. Th e request must now go before the DLGF for approval.

• Granted a burn permit for the Legion to build fi res in the parking lot for barbecues on October 27, December 8, January 12, February 9, March 9 and April 13.

• Gave approval for various department heads to attend training sessions.