Huntingburg Council: Public notice failure precludes public hearing

The council was unable to hold a scheduled public meeting due to the public notice not being published in the paper of record, The Huntingburg Press.

The public hearing was scheduled to consider a resolution granting the Indiana Municipal Power Agency a tax abatement for the proposed solar power park on Phoenix Drive.

According to Mayor Denny Spinner, the notice was sent to the paper in time for publication and a receipt of that notice was sent from the newspaper. However, it was not published in the most recent edition. By state law, a public notice must be published in the paper of record within 48 hours of the public hearing.

“In this particular incidence, the Indiana Municipal Power Agency was required to notify all the taxing agencies that were involved in this public hearing for the tax abatement,” Spinner said. “A subsequent notice had to go to those same agencies telling them we were not having the hearing. There will be another fee to notify them of the next meeting.”

Councilman Steve McPherron asked if the city could use a different paper for public notices since this was the second time recently the paper has failed to publish a public notice causing a hearing to have to be rescheduled.

According to state statute, if there is only one paper in a municipality and it is mailed from the post office in the city it serves, has over 50 percent paid circulation and has been in publication the allotted time, the city has to use it as the paper of record.

According to City Attorney Phil Schneider, when he investigated whether the Press still qualified as the paper of record two years ago, it was still within the guidelines.

The council requested Schneider investigate whether the paper qualified still. If it does not meet the state definition of a newspaper, Huntingburg will be required to publish public notices in two county papers, Ferdinand News and The Herald.

The hearing was moved to the regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 10, in the council chambers.

The council also took the following actions:

-Approved appointing Jonathan Villanueva and Kyle Smith as Huntingburg Volunteer Firefighters. They will start training in May and should be completed by the end of the year. The two will be sworn in at the May Board of Public Works meeting.

-Approved a resolution giving the mayor the ability to submit an application to the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs for funding for the Market Street Park Stellar project. The resolution also approves the local match of $1,561,150 for the park. The local match is made up of the following funds: $250,000 Economic Development Income Tax funds, $1,000,000 from Tax Increment Finance funds, $286,150 from the Stellar Endowment held at the Dubois County Community Foundation and Huntingburg Electric Department will provide $25,000 of in-kind services.

-Heard from Water Superintendent Gregg Miller that he was having trouble finding a qualified water plant operator to come to Huntingburg as a full-time employee. Miller explained he would like to keep the plant operating on an extended schedule to provide water for the city rather than purchasing water from the Patoka Lake Regional Water and Sewer District. He asked the council consider hiring Mark Jackson part-time, 29 hours maximum, to assist until the water department can find a full-time operator. Jackson is a U.S. Navy veteran and is a water plant operator in Jasper. He will fill in where needed like weekends and early mornings as he works around his swing shift at Jasper.

-Van Hoy & Sons is working on installing valves for the water line project on Fourth Street. Miller explained that there was a lack of communication with the company at the beginning of the project but that has since been cleared up. With the Garden Gate Jazz and Wine Fest, the city has ensured that the construction will not impact any of the activities.

-Heard that two public meetings will be held on April 19 in the council chambers at the town hall. Those meeting will occur at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and will cover the process of the Fourth Street water line project with the public and Fourth Street merchants.

-Approved repealing two ordinances regulating firearms on city property and within the city limits. Story here.

-Approved a lease agreement with Fullnet Advanced Communications Inc. of Jasper for utility poles attachments at a rate of $9.30 per pole for 50 poles.