SYRACUSE - Town of Syracuse department heads were bleary-eyed and exhausted after a night and day of dealing with storm issues Monday night into Tuesday morning and Council President Nate Scherer recognized their efforts at Tuesday’s council meeting and thanked them for all their work.
Town Manager David Wilkinson told the council they received three bids for the Pearl Street Parking Lot Reconstruction project and opened them July 3.
R Yoder Construction, Nappanee, bid $446,768; Niblock Excavating, Bristol, bid $425,965; and Beer & Slabaugh, Nappanee, bid $391,891.20.
He said engineers with A&Z reviewed the bids and recommended Beer & Slabaugh. Wilkinson said they could start work fairly soon with substantial completion in September.
The council approved the recommendation. After the meeting, Wilkinson explained the project would entail repaving, landscaping, lighting and a hitching post.
Wilkinson also brought the trash contract for the council’s approval. Borden Waste was the only bidder on the project and Wilkinson said they were able to negotiate with them on the fuel overages they were charged and reduced the per-house price by 40 cents, saving the town $30,000 over five years.
However, Wilkinson said their house counts were off and they were actually undercharging the town, so with all the recalculations he said they’d recoup $116,000 of the $190,000 they were overcharged for fuel service charges that were not in their contract.
Councilman Larry Siegel brought up an issue he had with one of his properties where the large item was not picked up for months and he called and spoke to one woman who argued with him that they it wasn’t part of the contract even after he told her he was on the town council and knew that it was. He called back and got someone else who was much more helpful and the issue was taken care of.
Eric Ivory, of Borden Waste, was present and said he was aware and had spoken to the two individuals and their supervisor.
Siegel asked how they could make sure they didn’t breach the contract again and Ivory and Wilkinson both said they hadn’t breached the contract, that the property was missed but they were still providing the same service.
Wilkinson said the contract was the same service as they currently have with biweekly recycling.
Councilman Paul Stoelting asked about seasonal weekly recycling and Wilkinson said it wasn’t in the contract. Ivory agreed it wasn’t in the contract but that they had started providing weekly recycling seasonally. Town attorney Jay Rigdon and others thought they should have that stated in the contract and Rigdon advised the council that they could accept the contract with the provision that he would review it and send it to them. Ivory was acceptable to that.
After the meeting, Wilkinson estimated the annual cost at $277,660.70.
Chris Harrison and Robin Matthews were present for the council meeting and asked for the task order to be approved in the amount of $117,600 for engineering for the Community Crossing grant funds round two. Harrison said with the project list an estimated $710,000 and it’s a 75-25 match program with the town having to pay 25%.
But the grant doesn’t cover engineering costs, which is the reason for the task order. Harrison said Boston Street was one major project and it was expected to cost $425,000 of the $710,000.
“That will be a massive improvement in that area,” he said.
The council approved the task order.
Wilkinson reported he met with two contractors/consultants about wiring the board room at town hall for recording, which he said will be required in 2025. He pointed out the new town seal above their heads, which is part of the upgrade.
He also checked on an app, which would have been extremely helpful that day to alert the public and spoke to a company whose app does alert but that’s all it does. He then spoke to the town manager in Bristol who said they use the GoGov app, and they love it. Wilkinson said the public could pay their water bills, they could post road closures, etc. The cost would be $3,900 a year, which would be split between all departments. He said he’s still checking into it but encouraged them to check it out in the app store.
He brought a request from the new owners of Polar craft building, operating as Shore Capital to waive the tap fees at a cost of $1,879.36.
Councilman Bill Musser said the owners, who are the same ones who own Urban Oaks, “Did such a fantastic job at the former elementary school.” He added that they weren’t setting a precedent with the approval of waiving the fees because it’s listed on the town website as a possible incentive for developers.
Police Chief Jim Layne asked for approval of the take-home police car policy, which states they can drive the vehicle within a 30-mile radius. Musser pointed out that they need to add they can’t take it out of state as the 30-mile radius can take them to Michigan. The council decided to table it until Layne could bring back a complete written policy for them to approve.
Public Works Superintendent Mark Aurich received approval to extend the contract with Stouder Contracting at a cost of approximately $35,00 for six months since he’s still been unable to hire a new water superintendent.
The council also approved the purchase of two rapid deployment crafts for the fire department — one for each station at a cost of $4,900 each plus shipping. Fire Chief Mickey Scott said there are lots of areas where boats can’t be launched.
Scott also addressed why tornado sirens were not sounded, saying that the National Weather Service never issued a tornado warning for the east side of Kosciusko County, and they only use the alarms for tornadoes.
Musser brought up in past discussion they talked about changing the time of the council meetings, so he was proposing Tuesday at 10 a.m. instead of 7 p.m., stating that they were all retired or available. He said it would make it easier for employees so they wouldn’t have to stay late.
Siegel brought up that the people who work wouldn’t be able to attend and that’s who they serve, and it might also cut back on who could apply to serve on the council.
Scherer said those were valid points, but most government offices operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. so if the public wants to come, they’d find a way to do so or have a town employee state their case.
Stoelting suggested they could try it and if it becomes an issue, they could always change it back. Musser suggested they think about it and plan to take action on it next month.
In other business:
• Kim Ruthenbeck was appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Ruthenbeck was present and spoke to her experience, which includes 30 years in finance and recent work with the City of Park Forest, Illinois.
• Mark Madinger was appointed to the Redevelopment Committee to replace Jim Layne, who moved out of town limits.