LEESBURG – Leesburg Town Council held a hearing Monday for its 2024 budget.
The proposed budget totals $287,446. The rainy day fund is $6,000. The general fund is $147,900. The local road and street fund is $8,000. The motor vehicle highway fund is $122,546. The cumulative capital improvement fund is $3,000.
There were no public comments. The adoption date for the budget is at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 9.
Earlier in the meeting, the council discussed whether to update the town’s ordinances to make the penalties for violating them uniform or not.
Council President Christina Archer brought up ordinance 10.99 General Penalty, which states: “(A) Any person, firm, corporation or entity of any kind that violates any provision of the town code of the town of Leesburg or fails to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of the town code of the town of Leesburg shall pay a fine to the town of Leesburg as follows: (1) A fine of $25 for the first offense; (2) A fine of $100 for the second offense; and (3) A fine of $200 for the third offense.”
Street Superintendent Craig Charlton said a $200 fine may be a little steep.
Councilman Tom Moore said the language in the ordinances needs to have enforcement language in it.
Councilman Mitch Rader said he thinks there is enforcement later in the ordinance when it says: “(B) The fines shall be paid to the clerk-treasurer of the town of Leesburg within 30 days from the issuance and receipt of a citation for such violation, and if not so paid, a civil action to collect such fines shall be filed in Kosciusko County Superior Court on behalf of the town against the violator in order to collect the fine, and in such case, and upon a finding that the violator violated the town code, a fine will be imposed as herein above provided and the court may order the violator to reimburse the town for its reasonable expenses in enforcing the section of the code or other ordinance, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs.”
Charlton said people are given warnings. Currently, Charlton gives people three warnings on ordinance violations. He said if the council wanted to put how many warnings people get, that is up to the council.
Town attorney Nick Jacobs said there is a process in the ordinance. He said if the council wants to make everything uniform as far as fines, then the council will have to amend 10.99 and possibly amend several other ordinances.
Moore said it’s something the council will have to work on over the next couple of months.
In other business, the council:
• Heard from Archer about the K21 walking path project along Van Buren Street the town is working on. Archer said there has been a lot of progress done on the project since Labor Day.
Charlton said he expects the project to be done by the time the cold weather arrives, even possibly by the end of the month.
• Heard from Moore the town may have found a solution to the odor coming from the pumping station. A frame with perforated pipes, an exhaust fan and wood chips was built and put into the pumping station. Moore said he thinks it’s working very well so far.
Charlton said as more chips are added, more of the odor will be absorbed.
• Heard from Rader that he was looking into what was needed to apply for more Community Crossing grants.
A pavement surface evaluation will have to be done.
Representatives from Michiana Area Council of Governments told Rader they will do the evaluation some time in September and will give the town at least two days notice of when they’re coming to do it.
• Heard from Charlton four ordinance warnings were given out for grass and weeds exceeding 12 inches in height and six ordinance warnings were given out about limbs projecting over streets, sidewalks and alleys.
“It shall be the duty of each property owner and tenant and occupant to keep the limbs of trees projecting over streets, sidewalks and alleys trimmed in such a manner that the overhanging foliage and branches shall not at any time be less than 12 feet above the ground or walk, and to keep the shrubbery trimmed so that it does not overhang the sidewalk or project into the travel portion of the alleys, streets and sidewalks,” the ordinance states.