Claypool Town Council Hears About Infrastructure Grant
June 17, 2020 at 10:32 p.m.
By Alaister McFarren-
In a presentation from Chris Hennessy, of Fleis and Vanderbrink Engineering, the council listened to information regarding the Community Crossing Matching Grant (CCMG). With a CCM grant, Hennessy stated, towns of less than 10,000 can get a 75/25 match from the state.
“Since the program started in 2016, the town of Claypool hasn’t applied for any grants with this program,” said Hennessy. “I thought that you might not be aware of the opportunity and figured I would bring it to your attention.”
The council expressed interest in the grant and agreed to have a budget meeting and to look at more information from Hennessey, who added that his firm could help put together a $2,900 Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP) that would determine a potential price for repairs to the town’s sidewalks and streets.
In old business, the council addressed a request from Michael Engel about placing a double-wide mobile home on lot 210 on Section Street. Engel had placed his request during the May meeting; at that time, the council agreed to discuss it and get back to him at the June meeting.
After reviewing a photo of what the home would look like and allowing townspeople to do the same, the council agreed to let Engel move forward with getting a survey done by the County Area Plan Commission.
Additionally, the council approved Town Marshal Ben Sanders’ suggestion on using the Tax Refund Exchange and Compliance System (TRECS) to collect unpaid ordinance fees.
With TRECS, the town of Claypool will be able to collect these fees through pending state income tax refunds. Any fine above $25 can be submitted, with the only cost to the town being the mailing fees.
Sanders said that the town was owed roughly $8-9,000 in fees, which TRECS would help with.
Council President Liz Heiman announced that after next month’s meeting, which will transpire on July 21 at 7 p.m., community members are invited to come and talk about potential uses for the $200,000 pledge from the K21 Health Foundation.
During fall 2019, K21 allotted $1.8 million to small communities around Kosciusko County to be used for health- and wellness-related projects. This can include programs, repairs or developments.
“We’d like to get some committees going to help us determine how to use these funds,” said Heiman.
In other council business:
• The Claypool Police Department received 204 calls for service in May and used 308 reserve hours.
• The hiring of new town employee Andrew Miller was approved with a salary of $37,440.
• Town employee Danny Warner stated that they had a $2,650 quote from Bobcat in Warsaw for a new mower if they traded in their current Grasshopper mower. The council approved a motion to accept the quote.
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In a presentation from Chris Hennessy, of Fleis and Vanderbrink Engineering, the council listened to information regarding the Community Crossing Matching Grant (CCMG). With a CCM grant, Hennessy stated, towns of less than 10,000 can get a 75/25 match from the state.
“Since the program started in 2016, the town of Claypool hasn’t applied for any grants with this program,” said Hennessy. “I thought that you might not be aware of the opportunity and figured I would bring it to your attention.”
The council expressed interest in the grant and agreed to have a budget meeting and to look at more information from Hennessey, who added that his firm could help put together a $2,900 Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP) that would determine a potential price for repairs to the town’s sidewalks and streets.
In old business, the council addressed a request from Michael Engel about placing a double-wide mobile home on lot 210 on Section Street. Engel had placed his request during the May meeting; at that time, the council agreed to discuss it and get back to him at the June meeting.
After reviewing a photo of what the home would look like and allowing townspeople to do the same, the council agreed to let Engel move forward with getting a survey done by the County Area Plan Commission.
Additionally, the council approved Town Marshal Ben Sanders’ suggestion on using the Tax Refund Exchange and Compliance System (TRECS) to collect unpaid ordinance fees.
With TRECS, the town of Claypool will be able to collect these fees through pending state income tax refunds. Any fine above $25 can be submitted, with the only cost to the town being the mailing fees.
Sanders said that the town was owed roughly $8-9,000 in fees, which TRECS would help with.
Council President Liz Heiman announced that after next month’s meeting, which will transpire on July 21 at 7 p.m., community members are invited to come and talk about potential uses for the $200,000 pledge from the K21 Health Foundation.
During fall 2019, K21 allotted $1.8 million to small communities around Kosciusko County to be used for health- and wellness-related projects. This can include programs, repairs or developments.
“We’d like to get some committees going to help us determine how to use these funds,” said Heiman.
In other council business:
• The Claypool Police Department received 204 calls for service in May and used 308 reserve hours.
• The hiring of new town employee Andrew Miller was approved with a salary of $37,440.
• Town employee Danny Warner stated that they had a $2,650 quote from Bobcat in Warsaw for a new mower if they traded in their current Grasshopper mower. The council approved a motion to accept the quote.
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