North Webster Council Hears From Chamber About Improving Town
December 21, 2022 at 1:58 a.m.
North Webster Council Hears From Chamber About Improving Town
By Jackie [email protected]
Emily Shipley, president of the Chamber, said if leaders don’t start working together, there won’t be a town. In 2010, 1,146 people resided in North Webster. Now, 996 people live in North Webster.
What Shipley suggested is the Chamber and the Council work together on a five- or 10-year plan on things that can be done to help improve the town.
One of the things she brought up were concerns of how residents can get things addressed or have questions answered. The Chamber has a website, as does the trustee. The town doesn’t have a website.
She said if people look up North Webster and have questions, they go to the Chamber, so the Chamber has gotten questions that should go to the town.
Chamber Board member Scott Kuhn said the Chamber gets calls that should go to the fire department or other areas of the town. He said there’s a lack a communication coming from the Council. He said there’s social media platforms like Facebook. He said the town should use social media platforms because that’s what people are using.
He said he thinks there’s a lack of communication from all the departments with the community and thinks more communication would help.
Shipley said the Chamber and Council can work on a website that can have Chamber and visitor information, as well as Council information.
Council President Dan Thystrup told Shipley to let him know when the next Chamber meeting is and, if he has time, he’ll be there.
The appearance of some businesses in town also was brought up by the Chamber.
Kuhn said he’s rented different properties and he’s had to spend money to improve the space at each one. He said a lot of the businesses around North Webster are neglected or run down. He said he thinks there may be something the town could do to help improve that, whether that’s short-term loans or some other option so people can invest in their building and still run their business.
Shipley suggested the Council could possibly talk with landlords about buildings that were having issues, and Kuhn suggested possibly putting ordinances in place that required certain things. He said maybe that was something the Chamber could help with.
Town attorney Jack Birch said a lot of things talked about would require a lot of steps to get around and some of them will have to have other departments like the health department get involved. He suggested possibly making ordinances for new construction.
Shipley said maybe the Chamber and Council could think of ways to encourage landlords to improve their buildings.
Shipley said she doesn’t want North Webster to be a drive-through town, but wants it to be a destination town. In order to do that, she said the Chamber and the Council need to work together. Part of that is to help bring in businesses.
Councilman David Waliczek asked how can they bring in businesses that would survive the winter. Kuhn said that’s what they are trying to figure out. They need to sit down and figure out what they need in North Webster.
Thystrup said one reason for a proposed trail from the northern town limits of North Webster to Wawasee Middle School is help bring in people to use it. Kuhn said it would be great if there were some businesses that those people can shop at and come stay in North Webster.
Kuhn said it takes a business more than a year to establish. He said he doesn’t have all the answers, but thought brainstorming between the Council and the Chamber was needed, not an attitude of a business wasn’t possibly going to survive. He suggested North Webster could create some destination areas within the town.
Councilwoman Lisa Strombeck said the Chamber and the Council will work together.
Earlier in the meeting, Leigh Anne Jessop was sworn in as the new clerk-treasurer, replacing Betsy Luce.
In September, Luce announced her resignation at the end of this year.
Jessop said her first official day will be Jan. 3. She said she was appointed by the Democratic Party Tuesday.
When Luce announced she was resigning, Jessop said she was asked to apply for the position.
She said there are a lot ins and outs of the town she needs to learn, so she hopes to dig in and learn what is needed.
In other business, the Council:
• Heard about the K-County First campaign. The website can be found at https://livewellkosciusko.org/kcounty-first.
• Approved the engineering services agreement with Triad for the community crossing grant to get six streets paved.
• Heard from North Webster Fire Chief Jeremy Likens about the recent Insurance Service Office (ISO) audit.
The rating goes from 1 to 10, with a 1 being the best. Some insurance companies calculate rates based upon the ISO rating.
When the fire department started being audited, it was ranked as a 10. The previous rating was a 6. Likens said the fire department was told the fire department would never get a higher rating than a 6.
A few months ago, Likens said the fire department got the results back from their most recent audit and the fire department scored a 5.
Emily Shipley, president of the Chamber, said if leaders don’t start working together, there won’t be a town. In 2010, 1,146 people resided in North Webster. Now, 996 people live in North Webster.
What Shipley suggested is the Chamber and the Council work together on a five- or 10-year plan on things that can be done to help improve the town.
One of the things she brought up were concerns of how residents can get things addressed or have questions answered. The Chamber has a website, as does the trustee. The town doesn’t have a website.
She said if people look up North Webster and have questions, they go to the Chamber, so the Chamber has gotten questions that should go to the town.
Chamber Board member Scott Kuhn said the Chamber gets calls that should go to the fire department or other areas of the town. He said there’s a lack a communication coming from the Council. He said there’s social media platforms like Facebook. He said the town should use social media platforms because that’s what people are using.
He said he thinks there’s a lack of communication from all the departments with the community and thinks more communication would help.
Shipley said the Chamber and Council can work on a website that can have Chamber and visitor information, as well as Council information.
Council President Dan Thystrup told Shipley to let him know when the next Chamber meeting is and, if he has time, he’ll be there.
The appearance of some businesses in town also was brought up by the Chamber.
Kuhn said he’s rented different properties and he’s had to spend money to improve the space at each one. He said a lot of the businesses around North Webster are neglected or run down. He said he thinks there may be something the town could do to help improve that, whether that’s short-term loans or some other option so people can invest in their building and still run their business.
Shipley suggested the Council could possibly talk with landlords about buildings that were having issues, and Kuhn suggested possibly putting ordinances in place that required certain things. He said maybe that was something the Chamber could help with.
Town attorney Jack Birch said a lot of things talked about would require a lot of steps to get around and some of them will have to have other departments like the health department get involved. He suggested possibly making ordinances for new construction.
Shipley said maybe the Chamber and Council could think of ways to encourage landlords to improve their buildings.
Shipley said she doesn’t want North Webster to be a drive-through town, but wants it to be a destination town. In order to do that, she said the Chamber and the Council need to work together. Part of that is to help bring in businesses.
Councilman David Waliczek asked how can they bring in businesses that would survive the winter. Kuhn said that’s what they are trying to figure out. They need to sit down and figure out what they need in North Webster.
Thystrup said one reason for a proposed trail from the northern town limits of North Webster to Wawasee Middle School is help bring in people to use it. Kuhn said it would be great if there were some businesses that those people can shop at and come stay in North Webster.
Kuhn said it takes a business more than a year to establish. He said he doesn’t have all the answers, but thought brainstorming between the Council and the Chamber was needed, not an attitude of a business wasn’t possibly going to survive. He suggested North Webster could create some destination areas within the town.
Councilwoman Lisa Strombeck said the Chamber and the Council will work together.
Earlier in the meeting, Leigh Anne Jessop was sworn in as the new clerk-treasurer, replacing Betsy Luce.
In September, Luce announced her resignation at the end of this year.
Jessop said her first official day will be Jan. 3. She said she was appointed by the Democratic Party Tuesday.
When Luce announced she was resigning, Jessop said she was asked to apply for the position.
She said there are a lot ins and outs of the town she needs to learn, so she hopes to dig in and learn what is needed.
In other business, the Council:
• Heard about the K-County First campaign. The website can be found at https://livewellkosciusko.org/kcounty-first.
• Approved the engineering services agreement with Triad for the community crossing grant to get six streets paved.
• Heard from North Webster Fire Chief Jeremy Likens about the recent Insurance Service Office (ISO) audit.
The rating goes from 1 to 10, with a 1 being the best. Some insurance companies calculate rates based upon the ISO rating.
When the fire department started being audited, it was ranked as a 10. The previous rating was a 6. Likens said the fire department was told the fire department would never get a higher rating than a 6.
A few months ago, Likens said the fire department got the results back from their most recent audit and the fire department scored a 5.
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