Leesburg Accepts Bid for Harrison Street Catch basin
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Craig Brosman-
Leesburg Street Commissioner Brandon Queen informed the council that he had received a bid from Butt and Timmons for work on a catch basin east of Jefferson and Hickory streets. The quote was for $1,200 to fix the catch basin and an additional $500 to move the catch basin to the intersection of the alley to properly collect water runoff.
“Rick Timmons said if we raise the catch basin up it won’t catch the water properly,” Queen said. “The brick underneath the basin has eroded and needs to be fixed. Rick suggested that we move the basin to catch water from all four areas of the alley.”
Councilman Larry Ritchie said that the basin has dropped 3 to 6 inches in the last five to 10 years and needs to be fixed.
Councilman Doug Jones moved to accept the bid as written, Ritchie seconded.
After accepting the bid from Butt and Timmons, the council spoke with Leesburg Unsafe Building Commissioner Ed VanOsdol about 106 E. Prairie St.
In June the council asked VanOsdol to check out the property and write a report for the town’s records. VanOsdol had completed his inspection of the property and was ready to inform the council of his findings.
“The home has soggy floors, fortunately the roof has not started leaking,” said VanOsdol. “The roof needs to be replaced in the next couple of years.”
VanOsdol went on to say that the house is beyond repair. There are concerns with siding that it may contain asbestos. Additionally, parts of the house might contain lead. All of the windows need replaced and the home is full of cast iron and galvanized pipes.
“The furnace is at least 50 years old and so is the water heater,” VanOsdol said. “There was a new breaker installed, but that is the extent of the upgrades in the home.”
VanOsdol went on to say that the east foundation was not in good shape.
“I do definitely have some concerns with the structure,” VanOsdol said. “I was not able to inspect the crawl space so I am not able to say for sure if the home is structurally sound.”
The council then informed VanOsdol that the property had been sold and that the new property owners planned on fixing the home.
VanOsdol responded by saying, “I hope they fix it correctly and don’t get into it halfway and give up.”
At that time Leesburg Town Clerk-Treasurer Jan Carter said that the new property owner planned to sell the property as is. After the council heard that, they agreed to release the report to the new property owner to inform them of the issues.
After the housing discussion the council had a public hearing on Frontline Manufacturing’s intent to keep a Title Five permit with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Frontline had previously used the permit to manufacture fiberglass at its Leesburg facility. The smell from the Styrene used bothered many residents.
Carl Schmucker, controller for Frontline Manufacturing, was on hand to answer any questions the public had on the process.
Schmucker informed the public and the board that they no longer make fiberglass at the Leesburg facility, instead they have started a lamination operation in Leesburg.
“At this time, from a financial standpoint, it does not make any sense to move our fiberglass operation back to Leesburg,” Schmucker said. “The U.S. 30 operation is too efficient in how it works to move it back.”
Leesburg resident Ted Carter asked Schmucker if they had any plans of moving the fiberglass operation back to Leesburg.
“Not at this point, It just doesn’t make sense,” Schmucker said. “But with the permit, we could if we wanted to move it back, but we have no plans to do so. It is very difficult to reapply for a Title Five permit, but much easier to renew one. We could get turned down if we drop the permit and reapply later, that is the issue. For now we will keep the permit and look at it at a later date to see if it needs to change.”[[In-content Ad]]
Leesburg Street Commissioner Brandon Queen informed the council that he had received a bid from Butt and Timmons for work on a catch basin east of Jefferson and Hickory streets. The quote was for $1,200 to fix the catch basin and an additional $500 to move the catch basin to the intersection of the alley to properly collect water runoff.
“Rick Timmons said if we raise the catch basin up it won’t catch the water properly,” Queen said. “The brick underneath the basin has eroded and needs to be fixed. Rick suggested that we move the basin to catch water from all four areas of the alley.”
Councilman Larry Ritchie said that the basin has dropped 3 to 6 inches in the last five to 10 years and needs to be fixed.
Councilman Doug Jones moved to accept the bid as written, Ritchie seconded.
After accepting the bid from Butt and Timmons, the council spoke with Leesburg Unsafe Building Commissioner Ed VanOsdol about 106 E. Prairie St.
In June the council asked VanOsdol to check out the property and write a report for the town’s records. VanOsdol had completed his inspection of the property and was ready to inform the council of his findings.
“The home has soggy floors, fortunately the roof has not started leaking,” said VanOsdol. “The roof needs to be replaced in the next couple of years.”
VanOsdol went on to say that the house is beyond repair. There are concerns with siding that it may contain asbestos. Additionally, parts of the house might contain lead. All of the windows need replaced and the home is full of cast iron and galvanized pipes.
“The furnace is at least 50 years old and so is the water heater,” VanOsdol said. “There was a new breaker installed, but that is the extent of the upgrades in the home.”
VanOsdol went on to say that the east foundation was not in good shape.
“I do definitely have some concerns with the structure,” VanOsdol said. “I was not able to inspect the crawl space so I am not able to say for sure if the home is structurally sound.”
The council then informed VanOsdol that the property had been sold and that the new property owners planned on fixing the home.
VanOsdol responded by saying, “I hope they fix it correctly and don’t get into it halfway and give up.”
At that time Leesburg Town Clerk-Treasurer Jan Carter said that the new property owner planned to sell the property as is. After the council heard that, they agreed to release the report to the new property owner to inform them of the issues.
After the housing discussion the council had a public hearing on Frontline Manufacturing’s intent to keep a Title Five permit with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Frontline had previously used the permit to manufacture fiberglass at its Leesburg facility. The smell from the Styrene used bothered many residents.
Carl Schmucker, controller for Frontline Manufacturing, was on hand to answer any questions the public had on the process.
Schmucker informed the public and the board that they no longer make fiberglass at the Leesburg facility, instead they have started a lamination operation in Leesburg.
“At this time, from a financial standpoint, it does not make any sense to move our fiberglass operation back to Leesburg,” Schmucker said. “The U.S. 30 operation is too efficient in how it works to move it back.”
Leesburg resident Ted Carter asked Schmucker if they had any plans of moving the fiberglass operation back to Leesburg.
“Not at this point, It just doesn’t make sense,” Schmucker said. “But with the permit, we could if we wanted to move it back, but we have no plans to do so. It is very difficult to reapply for a Title Five permit, but much easier to renew one. We could get turned down if we drop the permit and reapply later, that is the issue. For now we will keep the permit and look at it at a later date to see if it needs to change.”[[In-content Ad]]
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