Ferdinand Town Council: Moving forward with various projects simultaneously

Lots of minutia (albeit important stuff) was covered Tuesday night during the Town Council’s regular June meeting.

Much of it, however, would fall under the heading “details that would not interest the general populace.”

So, while the meeting lasted a little over an hour, much of it fits into a “meeting in a minute” format.

Of interest, according to Town Manager Chris James, is a report that perpetrators caused heavy vandalism at 5th Street Park, primarily damaging five doors and door frames.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is, the vandals were identified and full repayment for the damages is expected.

Town projects

High on the priority list for an extended period of time is the phosphorous abatement project.

Wastewater Superintendent Roger Schaefer has been working with Jon Wetzel from Midwestern Engineering (Loogootee) on the design and Wetzel will submit the plan specs to Rural Development (RD) for final review. That entity will take from 10 days to four weeks and once RD is satisfied, a letter of conditions and availability of funds will be issued to the Town, at which point the Town can prepare to let the project for bids.

The town looked to RD for financing as the least expensive option and with the hope a grant might be added to the mix. There are many hoops to jump through, however, and while Wetzel told Schaefer requests for bids may go out by the July meeting, Attorney Bill Shaneyfelt said, “I’m not that optimistic.”

After the project is bid, Rural Development will again review and approve.

Shaneyfelt reminded council members there will be a need for interim financing from a bank before funding is in place from Rural Development, in addition to many other details to attend to.

Schaefer noted preparation of the property on which the facility will be built is moving forward, the silt fence is up and, following a conversation with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), berms have been added.

Phosphorous abatement has been a top priority ever since IDEM cited the town for excess phosphorus in the wastewater system. Meanwhile, Schaefer and wastewater department employees have been land applying the excess sludge being held at the Wastewater Department, which he says is going well.

He has also been preparing the sewer tap-in for Caseys on the southwest corner of 23rd Street and Main and extending sewer taps in areas where curb and street work is imminent so homeowners won’t have to tunnel under the new streets to access their connectors.

Police report

The Police Department has also been busy, according to Chief Lloyd Froman. Officers Nathan Lueken and Brian Seffernick developed a procedure for the new recording requirements that will come into play soon so the town will be ready.

Froman also said the new reserves are far enough along in their training to assist with Heimatfest this weekend, along with some of the previously trained reserves. As a result, officers who are off duty won’t have to fill in, saving overtime costs.

Froman recently completed the rifle and shotgun course so now the department is entirely self sufficient in regards to training. He also took some used equipment to the Police Academy and was able to trade it for $1,000 worth of training credits. This equipment was no longer suitable for use by the department, but sufficient for the academy to use to train other officers.

Several members of the department, along with Councilwoman Debbie Johnson, plan to attend graduation ceremonies for Officer Eric Hopkins on June 24, which will be held at Plainfield Middle School near the Police Academy where he is attending.

“The following week I’ll work him back into the rotation schedule and we’ll be back on normal rotation,” Froman reported with a smile.

LOIT Ordinance

The other big project in the works is keeping Street and property Superintendent Tom Lueken extremely busy.

He is working on a draft plan for a grant the state is offering that would be used to maximize every dollar available for road and street repairs, along with ADA sidewalks.

His is not an easy task. He must classify roads and streets, block by block, provide traffic counts separated by truck or car traffic for each minor connector road, write a five year repair and improvement plan for the town, justify his findings, seek support letters from various entities (Town government, Park Board, Tri-County YMCA, library, etc.) and have everything ready by the July 15 deadline.

Correction, it must be ready to submit a week prior due to vacation schedules.

Shaneyfelt stressed that the assistance of the town’s two summer interns is key to the success of this grant application, which is a 50/50 match and as such could go a long way to improving streets and sidewalks.

For the match, the town will use the $168,000 budgeted for 2016 projects, $29,000 for ADA sidewalks and $165,403.02 recently sent to the town as Local Option Income Tax funds (LOIT), money from Ferdinand and all other entities in the state being redistributed.

This totals $272,403.02 for local roads, streets and sidewalks and if the 50/50 grant is awarded that figure jumps to $544.806.04.

High on Lueken’s wish list is repair of West 23rd, which is a concrete-surfaced street that has been problematic for years.

Because at least 75% of LOIT money must be placed into a separate (new) fund for local roads and streets, the council adopted the LOIT 257 Fund Ordinance and authorized Clerk-Treasurer Bev Schulthise to move the entire amount into it in preparation for the grant application.

The council also:

• Heard the Fire Department answered nine calls in May, four for fire and five First Responder runs.
• Learned Lueken and his department started curbing on Delaware, 5th and 6th and is reconfiguring Delaware as the profile changed from 15 to 30 feet.
• Heard from James the Leadership Academy is on target for graduation in August and is working on capstone projects dealing with beautification and trails. Also that Folk Fest plans are progressing and a fund-raiser will be held on Friday, June 24 at the Legion with performers Beau Troesch and Colin Hildenbrand taking the stage. Tickets are $10 and available on-line.
• Discussed quotes for the water main replacement on West Main and will seek revised bids.