Mentone Council Moves Forward On Washington St. Storm Tile Project
March 2, 2023 at 1:58 a.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
James Emans, town engineer, said doing work done on the storm tile, in his estimate, would cost about $190,000 to be lined and cleared. He recommended that as soon as the town had the funds, they should do the works.
Wednesday, he said the line is deteriorating from the inside out, there are parts of the line that are clogged and the storm tile is a priority for the town’s infrastructure.
He suggested putting an extra 10% into the price range to bring it to $200,000 just in case. Clerk-Treasurer Amanda Yaprak said $175,000 had been budgeted for the project.
Emans said, from his experience working with clerks, money from other funds can be borrowed to cover the rest of the project as long as it’s paid back to that fund by the end of the year.
The council approved advertising for bids on the project.
In other business, the council:
• Heard Habitat for Humanity will be building two houses in Mentone in 2024. Applications are due by 3 p.m. Friday.
• Heard Mission to Mentone will be replacing a roof at 112 W. Maple St. on March 23-25. If there is enough time, they will also take down a shed on the property.
Mission to Mentone is a program that helps elderly people who can’t physically and/or financially fix things on their property at no cost to the property owner.
Councilman Tim Croy said if anyone is interested in donating money, they can send checks to Harrison Center Church by mailing them to Mission to Mentone, P.O. Box 268, Mentone, IN 46539.
• Heard the cemetery clean-up will be April 3. Anything that people don’t want thrown away should be removed by then.
• Heard from Hannah Beliles about a chicken ordinance.
Beliles has brought the topic to the council before with the first time being in June 2020. At that time, Council President Jill Gross said it might be an issue the council may have to talk about for a while.
Beliles said she had put together online and paper petitions. She said she got a lot of responses, with at least 21 definitely from residents in town.
Croy said the council will look at all the information she gave them and will make a decision at their 6:30 p.m. April 5 meeting.
• Heard the property Leisa Norman complained about during the council’s February meeting has been 90% cleaned up.
Norman said in February her parents’ house is up for sale and she had several people take a look at it. However, the consensus from those that looked at the house, she said, is no one wants to put a bid on it due to a neighboring property being “trashy,” with trash and clutter on the property.
Wednesday, Town Marshal Jim Eads said the property owners have made a lot of progress in cleaning up the property and, if they get everything cleaned up by March 8, he doesn’t think there will be any need for any enforcement of the trash ordinance on the property.
• Heard the Mentone Chamber of Commerce Easter Egg Hunt will be at 10 a.m. April 8 at Mentzer Memorial Park.
• Told Jim Moyer, from the Kosciusko County Surveyor’s Office, to get with Utilities Superintendent Josh Shepherd to see which trees they wanted to take out at the park.
In February, Moyer told the council he will be doing a project on the drainage ditch that flows through Mentzer Park. While he’s in the area, he’s willing to remove trees and brush from the area. It would be at no cost to the town.
Shepherd said since the town is planning on upgrading the park over the next year or two, if they could take out dead or hanging trees, that would be great.
James Emans, town engineer, said doing work done on the storm tile, in his estimate, would cost about $190,000 to be lined and cleared. He recommended that as soon as the town had the funds, they should do the works.
Wednesday, he said the line is deteriorating from the inside out, there are parts of the line that are clogged and the storm tile is a priority for the town’s infrastructure.
He suggested putting an extra 10% into the price range to bring it to $200,000 just in case. Clerk-Treasurer Amanda Yaprak said $175,000 had been budgeted for the project.
Emans said, from his experience working with clerks, money from other funds can be borrowed to cover the rest of the project as long as it’s paid back to that fund by the end of the year.
The council approved advertising for bids on the project.
In other business, the council:
• Heard Habitat for Humanity will be building two houses in Mentone in 2024. Applications are due by 3 p.m. Friday.
• Heard Mission to Mentone will be replacing a roof at 112 W. Maple St. on March 23-25. If there is enough time, they will also take down a shed on the property.
Mission to Mentone is a program that helps elderly people who can’t physically and/or financially fix things on their property at no cost to the property owner.
Councilman Tim Croy said if anyone is interested in donating money, they can send checks to Harrison Center Church by mailing them to Mission to Mentone, P.O. Box 268, Mentone, IN 46539.
• Heard the cemetery clean-up will be April 3. Anything that people don’t want thrown away should be removed by then.
• Heard from Hannah Beliles about a chicken ordinance.
Beliles has brought the topic to the council before with the first time being in June 2020. At that time, Council President Jill Gross said it might be an issue the council may have to talk about for a while.
Beliles said she had put together online and paper petitions. She said she got a lot of responses, with at least 21 definitely from residents in town.
Croy said the council will look at all the information she gave them and will make a decision at their 6:30 p.m. April 5 meeting.
• Heard the property Leisa Norman complained about during the council’s February meeting has been 90% cleaned up.
Norman said in February her parents’ house is up for sale and she had several people take a look at it. However, the consensus from those that looked at the house, she said, is no one wants to put a bid on it due to a neighboring property being “trashy,” with trash and clutter on the property.
Wednesday, Town Marshal Jim Eads said the property owners have made a lot of progress in cleaning up the property and, if they get everything cleaned up by March 8, he doesn’t think there will be any need for any enforcement of the trash ordinance on the property.
• Heard the Mentone Chamber of Commerce Easter Egg Hunt will be at 10 a.m. April 8 at Mentzer Memorial Park.
• Told Jim Moyer, from the Kosciusko County Surveyor’s Office, to get with Utilities Superintendent Josh Shepherd to see which trees they wanted to take out at the park.
In February, Moyer told the council he will be doing a project on the drainage ditch that flows through Mentzer Park. While he’s in the area, he’s willing to remove trees and brush from the area. It would be at no cost to the town.
Shepherd said since the town is planning on upgrading the park over the next year or two, if they could take out dead or hanging trees, that would be great.
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