MENTONE – Mentone Town Council clarified some information about discussions over the past few months regarding connecting Viking Drive and Jackson Street.
Resident Tabitha Langford asked the town council for clarification on what was going on with Viking Drive and Jackson Street.
In May, Kelley Doering approached the council and said she and her husband purchased the three lots behind the Dollar General. She said there is a lot of traffic running through her property and finding its way to the Dollar General. It looks like the path is being used by mostly golf cart and bike traffic, she said. One of the suggestions Doering presented to the council was to see if the council could attach Viking Drive and Jackson Street.
In June, several Jackson Street residents presented a letter to the council saying they were against connecting the two streets, citing several safety concerns.
Wednesday, Langford said she was just looking for clarification because she didn’t fully understand what was going on, as well as some other residents on Viking Drive.
Councilman Tim Croy said Doering was looking to annex her three properties into town because she wants to tie into water and sewer. She also brought up one of her lots does not have street access.
Langford said she knows annexing Viking Drive isn’t something a lot of people want.
Croy said the town hadn’t moved on anything with that yet. Council President Jill Gross said it is a huge process. As of right now, it is just in the discussion phase.
Croy said if annexation of Viking Drive were to ever happen, letters would be sent out to property owners and public hearings will be held. Croy said it is not on the council’s priority list.
Later in the meeting, the council approved renewing the town’s contract with Apex Waste Inc. for trash pickup.
Croy said he met with a representative from Apex since their contract expires Dec. 30. Croy said Apex would like to renew their contract with the town for another three years with a 4% price increase each year.
Currently, the price for townwide trash pickup is $4,525.50 per month. With the 4% price increase, the price in 2025 would be $4,706.52 per month, with 2026 being $4,894.78 per month and 2027 being $5,090.57 per month.
Croy said the town is losing $1 per household per month for trash pickup now. He suggested raising the cost each household would pay. He said a decision didn’t have to be made right away, as long as it’s made by November.
Gross suggested waiting until the council has a new contract from Apex before deciding on increasing costs to homeowners.
The council also opened the bids for the Mentzer Park upgrade. The bids will be taken under advisement.
Brown & Brown General Contractors’ base bid price was $670,000. Their bids for alternates were $23,600 for the basketball court extension; no bid for the bride rehabilitation; bridge decking board, $47,300; and faux stone on the pavilion, $60,500.
Hamilton Hunter Builders’ base bid was $760,900. The basketball court extension alternate bid was $16,632; the bridge rehab alternate, $141,488; decking boards alternate, $31,191; and the bid for the faux stone was $4,041.
Premium Concrete Services’s base bid was $658,790. The basketball court extension was quoted at $13,950; bridge rehab alternate, $89,300; and the decking board’s quote was $28,750. The faux stone was bid at $13,950.
Yoder came in with a base bid of $638,150. The bid for the basketball court extension was $34,850; bridge rehab alternative, $125,000; decking boards for the bridge came in at $18,500; and the quote of $7,500 was for faux stone at the pavilion.
Almac Sotebeer Inc.’s base bid was $659,369. Alternate quotes included $13,420 for the basketball court extension; $136,655 for the bridge rehab; $7,547 for the decking boards; and $18,781 for the faux stone.
Thomas Excavating and Welding’s base bid was $623,397. They bid $23,026 for the court extension, $35,608 for the bridge rehab, $17,008 for decking boards and $18,781 for the faux stones.
The last bid was from TRG Services, whose base bid was $623,029.11. They bid $38,000 for the basketball court extension, $36,500 for the bridge rehab, $21,500 for the decking boards and $7,565 for the faux stones.
A special meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 22 to award the bids.
In other business, the council:
• Approved for Town Marshal Keaton Schopf to start accepting applications for a deputy marshal. A decision will not be made until after the council has its budget review sessions.
• Heard Motors over Mentone is Sept. 14.
• Heard there is a pancake breakfast at the fire station from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday, which will be a fundraiser for Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
• Heard from Gross she has been getting information from other cemeteries, but doesn’t have enough information to put together guidelines yet for the Mentone cemetery.
Shepherd said he received some information from Hal Heagy, sexton at Oakwood Cemetery.
• Approved for the town to have LWG, Indianapolis, as their financial advisors instead of Baker Tilly as long as there aren’t any outstanding contracts with Baker Tilly.