CLAYPOOL - The sale of the town's water utility to Indiana American Water will be finalized next week on Tuesday, March 28.

The funds from this sale will go into a new fund that was created at Tuesday night's meeting. This restricted fund may only be used for general improvements to the town, sewer project upgrades and any other project with a cost exceeding $10,000, pending council approval.

At a March 2 special meeting, the council appointed a new town attorney, Andrew Grossnickle, of Beers, Mallers, Backs and Salin of Warsaw.

Tyler Coffel, of Baker Tilly of Chicago spoke to the council on the town's cash balances, receipts and disbursements and a five-year outlook. In 2022, 96.8% of the town's budget was spent. Fund sources for the budget include 32% from property tax, 22% from local income tax, 31% from other taxes and the remaining 15% from various local revenues.

Coffel said they will begin a rate study for the town's sewer utility. The firm's current recommendation, which is subject to change, is a 30 to 35% rate increase.

Eric Ivory, a representative of Borden Waste-away Service Inc. of Elkhart, was at the meeting to answer questions about the recycling service offered to town residents. If all of Claypool were to opt in to the bi-weekly curbside pickup, the charge would be $4 per household per month.

Several town residents present at the meeting urged the council to opt in to the townwide recycling pickup. The council plans to seek new bids for trash and recycling pickup when their current contract with Advanced Disposal expires.

The council is using $10,000 of awarded Kosciusko Go Forward! Grant funding to purchase emergency tornado sirens. This amount will cover roughly a third of the total $32,400 cost.

The council also discussed purchasing a 20-foot shipping container to house the new street sweeper due to lack of space in the town barn. The decision was tabled for a future meeting.

The Council will next meet at 7 p.m. April 18.