MILFORD - There’s a new town marshal in Milford with action taken at Monday’s Town Council meeting.
Town Marshal Derek Kreider submitted his resignation. He thanked the council, other police officers and residents for “entrusting me with this position these last five years and the opportunity to serve the citizens of Milford.”
He said he planned to stay on in the department in the position of chief deputy until there’s been a successful transition. He recommended his replacement be his current chief deputy, Thomas Waikel Jr., who he said, “With his wisdom, integrity, knowledge and good character I trust him to take this department to the next level where it needs to be.”
Kreider said after the transition he would retire from public service to further his education and pursue other interests.
“It’s been my honor and privilege to serve the good citizens of the town of Milford,” Kreider said.
Councilman Kenneth Long said one of the first things he did as a councilman was to bring him to that position. “I’ve learned a lot, and I thank you for all you’ve done. It’s hard to say yes to this,” he said.
Jim Smiley said he’s never heard anyone say a bad thing about Kreider.
Council President Doug Ruch said, “We hate to see you leave but we respect your decision and appreciate you have people in position to carry on.”
The council accepted his resignation and approved his recommendation and swore in Waikel as the new town marshal.
Ryan LaReau, of Commonwealth, was present to update the council and seek approval for a task order on an upcoming water project. He reminded the council in March they submitted a project to the State Revolving Fund (SRF) and the following month the project was ranked and scored along with the other 70-80 project applications across the state.
He said Milford’s project fell in the top 10, ranking about sixth or seventh on the list.

    Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Renda Loetz swore in new Town Marshal Thomas Waikel Jr. at Monday’s Milford Town Council meeting. Photo by Denise Fedorow
  

“We were pretty optimistic Milford would score high,” he said, “Most importantly, it fell in the fundable range.”
He added now they were waiting for an offer from SRF, which would have a certain interest rate and “amount of forgivable loan, which is what they call the grant, and the town will have the opportunity to accept the offer.”
LaReau said he expected to hear from SRF next week and shared that he told SRF they could close toward the end of their third quarter, which would be March 2025. He said that meant they would need to advertise for bids in January and open the bids at the February council meeting. He said because of the tight design schedule on the estimated $6.9 million construction cost project, he provided the council with a task order with the scope of the project and fees for design and engineering.
The scope of the project consists of designing a new treatment facility to remove iron and manganese, looping dead-end service mains, replacing lead service lines, including potholing unknown services and installing a mixer for elevated storage tank.
LaReau said the project involves nine different phases for a cost of $654,200, which would take them from today to under contract.
He said the costs would all be reimbursed by SRF once the bids are received, but he said he believed town officials had made arrangements for temporary financing until they get the SRF funding.
Smiley asked why Milford scored so high and LaReau responded there were a number of reasons but it’s always unpredictable. He said one fact that helped Milford is the town’s median household income, which is considered disadvantaged, the water quality issues — especially the high iron and manganese levels, which IDEM considered an “emerging contaminant” and the lead service lines.
The council approved the task order and La Reau said, “We’ll get started immediately.”
LaReau also had a recommendation for the water meter replacement project. He reminded the council that they opened bids July 8, and they received two bids - one from Everett J. Prescott and the other from Neptune Equipment Co.
He said both companies are suppliers of certain types of meters. He told the council the engineer’s cost estimate was $374,365.23 and both bids were above that estimate. He said EJP was the lower of the two, but after reviewing the bids, the Neptune meters met the town’s needs best and would require less maintenance.
He said the Kampstrup meters that EJP bid did not meet their specifications, and he mentioned two specific ways that they didn’t meet the specifications, both would require more maintenance. Therefore, he recommended awarding the bid for the Neptune meters since they met qualifications, pending allocation of Office of Community Rural Affairs funding.
Smiley asked about warranties and LaReau said the one for the Kamstrup meters was slightly better. Smiley said he was asking because of the $19,000 difference between the two companies quotes. LaReau said the reason they’d recommend the higher cost was because of the anticipated cost of maintenance.
He also shared in 2023 they did a study of three main meters and looked closely at them and the Neptune meters were preferred.
Long made the motion to accept the bid based on the fact that they meet all the specifications. LaReau told the council that the next couple of months the project would be awarded and they’d go right into ordering and installing the meters.
Zach Dripps, director of Operations and Community Development for Michiana Area Council of Governments, was also present and added with the increased cost of the project, he asked the council to approve and sign the letter he provided them stating because the bids came in higher, the town’s responsible for its share of the additional cost, which is $38,289 and said Clerk-Treasurer Tricia Gall said they could use CEDIT funds.
Dripps also received approval of an agreement to administer the COVID 19 economic recovery grant for $50,000 for a planning study for downtown revitalization. The amount of the agreement with MACOG to administer and service the grant is $5,000.
Water, Streets & Park Superintendent Steve Marquart received approval for several items but with frequent admonishments to dig deeper in the future to get more quotes.
He received approval to get the leaf collection equipment repaired by Brown Equipment at a cost of $3,818.84, including repairing bearings, oil leaks and leaks in the hydraulic system.
Smiley said, “I’d like to see other companies involved in the future. We need to start looking at options instead of the good ol’ boy system.”
The same conversation ensued with the approval of replacing mosquito spray product. They approved purchasing four sprays in 2.5-gallon containers from Clark Mosquito Control for $4,3202.40.
Long said, “If we can achieve the same outcome and save the town money, we need to explore that and we on the council have the responsibility to the town to do that.”
Marquart said Clark was the “world leader in mosquito product and they take care of the machine.” He said each time they change the product they have to get the machine calibrated to that product. Long said that could affect the price so it wouldn’t be worth it, but they owe it to the residents to explore options.
There was also discussion before approving power washing of the water tower so it would help keep the paint lasting longer. He got three quotes — FDEWA Inc. with a quote of $4,900, Maguire with a quote of $6,300 and Pittsburg Tank with a quote of $19,905.
Long was concerned what would happen if the power washing caused damage to the paint so for that reason, they decided to go with the Maguire quote.
In other business, the council approved:
• Renewing the insurance through Frazetta Insurance and heard there was a slight decrease to the cost.
• Maintenance on chlorine equipment by Living Waters at a cost not-to-exceed $4,215.55.
• Preventative maintenance with Ever Par for all departments at $6,785.
• Closing Main Street from the fire station to the drive of the doctor’s office for host testing on Sept. 13 from 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Continuation of pursuing the JAG grant that pays 100% of Officer Sanders’ pay and benefits.
• Sending a couple of deputies to Desert Snow Interdiction Trainings in Louisville, Ky., in October for $2,115.
• The purchase of two bullet-proof vests for $1,488 each but the JAG grants should pay for one of them.
• The annual wet test calibrating equipment for $3,150 with C&F Environmental Laboratory.
• The agreement with Wawasee School Corporation for the school resource officer for $20,000.
• A couple of utility credits — one for $54.69 and one for $251.63.
The council also heard:
• Fall clean-up days are Sept. 26, 27 and 28.
• The public is not to get grass clippings in the road as it creates a road hazard and clogs storm drains.
• The concession stand at the park is now closed and soon there will be no lifeguards.
• The clerk’s office will be closed Sept. 2 for Labor Day.