Huntingburg Council establishes Veterans Memorial Fund; Traylor asks for a “free” truck to save the city money
The Huntingburg City Council and Utility Board Meeting met for their regular monthly meeting last night and the big topic was the Veteran’s Memorial, which is under construction next to the Huntingburg Events Center.
Mayor Marvin Belcher gave an update on the progress:
Belcher also talks about the amount of interest in the bricks that are being sold to get veterans names engraved on, which will be placed at the Memorial. The City has over 5000 available and according to Belcher they being sold faster than he expected.
Board member, Marvin Boeglin made a motion to introduce, received unanimous consent to present and then moved to adopt an ordinance that establishes a Veterans Memorial Fund. The fund will provide for the remaining construction, operation and future maintenance costs for the Memorial.
City Attorney confirmed that any donations to the Memorial Fund are tax deductible. Belcher said that those who do not want to buy a brick for the memorial can make monetary donations to help support the project.
For more information contact the City of Huntingburg at 683-2211
In other news, Utility Superintendent Tony Traylor requested and received board approval for:
- 55 utility poles at a cost of $19,750
- A contract extension on gas prices due to the fact that they are so low right now and will be going up in the future.
Traylor also presented information on a military surplus pump truck to replace an older heavy-duty dump truck in his department. The price is free, however, those who order the vehicles have to pay for shipping from Germany. The cost would be over $9,000 and by the time the vehicle would be converted over to a dump truck locally, the City would have around $30,000 in it, which is less than half of what a new one would cost, Traylor reports.
The board kicked the idea around and in the end, decided to hold off due to the fact that there is no information on how many hours the vehicle has been used to pump with and the vehicle mileage does not take that heavy use into consideration.
Council member Glenn Kays liked the idea but said “there’s probably something more affordable out there.”
Mayor Belcher praised Traylor for looking for other sources for assets at lower costs to help the City save money.
I think this project…at least the concept…is a fine idea. However, I'm not ready to have my two nephews, still serving over in the sand and hopefuly living for a long time to come, "memorialized." If this tribute is for all veterans including those living, why are they calling this a memorial when that term most typically is reserved for those who have passed on? A "memorial" park is for those deceased, the Lincoln "Memorial" is to honor a past (and long passed) president. The term is most used, understood, and interpreted to signify honoring those who have passed on, not who are still living. In fact there is something less than honorable about memorializing the living, as if to jinx or rush any remaining time they may have.
Please consider calling this the Veterans Monument – maybe even establishing a Veterans Park around it – but if it's truly to include the living then it shouldn't be a" memorial" with all respect.