Huntingburg Common Council meeting October 11
The Huntingburg Common Council met for the first meeting of the month of October and took the following actions.
-Approved the 2017 budget. The proposed property tax rate is $1.48 per $100 of assessed value, tax levy of $1,926,438, and a total taxed budget of $10,216,472.
-Approved a 1 percent salary increase with up to 1 percent additional for employee performance. Employees will receive a 1 percent pay increase and supervisors have the option to add up to 1 percent more depending on evaluations. The common council adopted a merit-based pay increase ordinance in 2013.
-Held a public hearing for the special appropriations $436,193 for two of the street projects listed in the $1 million Community Crossings grant the city received for four street projects. After hearing no comments from those in attendance, the hearing was closed. After closing the public hearing, the council passed the appropriations. Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner notified the council that due to bids coming in at more than twice the engineer’s estimate, the Washington Street project bids were not accepted. The city is waiting until the annual paving bids come in later this month to complete the work under those bid prices. Spinner said the Washington Street project would be the first on the project list for 2017.
-Heard an update on the Huntingburg Housing Authority from Heidi Reller. Reller reported they were working with Ferdinand based Universal Designs to plan the upgrades to Friendship Village that will be paid through a $500,000 grant through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis. Reller also informed the council the occupancy at Friendship Village is around 98 percent annually and they have a waiting list.
-Heard the city will take part in an Active Living Workshop at the Old Town Hall Thursday, October 13. The workshop is held in conjunction with the Purdue Extension and D.C. Multisport. Spinner told the council Huntingburg was chosen due to the work being done with the trail projects. The seminars will help the council and board members to guide the design process for the active areas of the city like Market Street Park.
-The mayor reported the Office of Community and Rural Affairs had approved the environmental clearance had been achieved for Market Street Park. With the clearance, OCRA has released the $1.4 million in state funds for the project.
-He also reported final approval from the Indiana Department of Transportation had not been received in time for the overpass project to be let out for bids in December. However, the project will be included in the bid letting scheduled in February, the next state bid letting scheduled. The two months is not expected to impact the completion date of the project which is estimated to be the fall of 2018.
