MILFORD - With the news that New Beginnings Preschool and Child Care will be closing, the Milford Town Council authorized the clerk-treasurer to advertise for proposals for another childcare provider to move into the building at 706 W. Syracuse St. in order to continue to provide that service for Milford residents.
Clerk-Treasurer Tricia Gall read a letter addressed to the council from Board of Directors President Jody Melton notifying them that because of their difficulty finding a qualified director of the program, they will be ceasing operations as of June 1.
Town attorney Jay Rigdon said the options the town has regarding the property, informing the council they could either open it up to anyone to lease or “focus on filling that building for the benefit of the town” and said he’d already prepared a notice of proposal to providers of child care, similar to New Beginnings. He said they’d be taking over the lease in a sense, although they’d actually prepare a new lease agreement, but it would provide continuity of childcare for the residents of Milford.
Councilman Ken Long pointed out New Beginnings is a nonprofit organization and asked what difference there would be if they found a for-profit provider. Rigdon said as far as their selection, there’d be no difference, but if it were a for-profit provider they’d have to pay property taxes and they’d note that as condition of the lease agreement. Rigdon said the council needed to decide if they wanted a deposit, because if they did, they would need to note that as part of the advertisement for proposals. The council decided the most important thing was to have continuation of childcare so they wouldn’t ask for a deposit and authorized the clerk-treasurer to advertise next week so they’d have time to receive and review proposals in time to make a decision at the May 12 council meeting.
Fourth Street Improvements
Ron Baumgartner brought renderings of the improvements they want to make at the Fourth Street railroad crossing as part of the beautification committee.
He told the council he spoke with the homeowner at the corner of Fourth and Main streets and he had no problems with the plans they have to dig up the concrete and gravel and plant shrubs and landscape in front of the road closed crossing. The resident was also present at the meeting.
Long said he really liked the planned improvements, but he said they need to find out the railroad’s right-of-way, “Because we don’t want them coming back and tearing up what you’re going to do and they will and they won’t ask,” he said.
Utility Superintendent Steven Marquart said he thought the right-of-way was 40 feet on each side from the center of the crossing, but he wasn’t entirely sure. He also said it would be hard to tear up that concrete and he didn’t think the town’s equipment would do the job.
Baumgartner had offered to pay for the landscaping and to take care of it for this first season and then turn it over to the town to care for after that.
Council President Doug Ruch was leaning towards waiting to find out for sure what the railroad’s right-of-way is before approving, but Gall said they could approve it so when they find out, they could get started right away. The council approved the plan and will work on determining the exact right-of-way.
Water Project Bids
Ryan LaReau, of Commonwealth Engineers, was present and opened the bids for the water project, Division B, replacing lead service lines. He reminded the council this was a rebid as they didn’t receive any bids the first time around.
This time they received one bid from Selge Construction, Niles, Mich., with a total base bid of $1,994,226.20.
LaReau recommended they take the bids under advisement and have Commonwealth review it. He also informed the council they were working under a compressed timeline because of having to re-bid the project. He said they were looking at a close date of May 8 or 9, which would put them right at 90 days bid hold period for Division A — the filtration plant.
LaReau said R Yoder Construction mentions some of the contractors are grumbling about tariffs, so they didn’t want to take the chance of exceeding the 90 days and having them possibly increase prices.
Even though the next council meeting is scheduled for May 12, he’d likely be asking the council to hold a special meeting on May 8 or 9, right after the closing to award the bids. “You can’t officially award Division A or B until after the closing,” he said.
He told the council to expect to receive a lot of documents from Commonwealth, the financial consultant and SRF in the next couple of weeks.
Utility Department
Marquart told the council that last week was “a fun week” in the wastewater department. They had a muskrat caught in a RAS (Return Activated Sludge) pump and it needed to be rebuilt. He got two quotes but only for a kit to replace bearings. If the motor is damaged it would cost more. The council approved the lower quote from American Pump Repair for $2,177.
He said the storms last week sent a power surge into the wastewater plant and it damaged a 21-year-old surge protector. He said it needs to be replaced. He obtained a couple of quotes from different suppliers through Middlebury Electric for the same product, just different vendors. The council approved the purchase of the lower cost surge protector at $3,356, which does not include labor, but Marquart said he was told the labor would be minimal. The council also wanted to check to see if there was any reimbursement from the town’s insurance.
In the water department there were two separate leaks that led to calling Beer & Slabaugh out for repair with their vac. One leak occurred on Jan. 10 and the other on March 28 with a total cost of $4,950. The council approved paying the bills.
Also, because of the storms last week, they had to reschedule the hydrant flushing, which will now happen on April 15 and 16. The council also approved Tenney & Sons as the low bid for portable restrooms at the boat launch and beach — two portable restrooms at each location — one handicapped and one regular at a cost of $4,500 for the year.
In other business, the council:
• Approved the fire contract for 2025 —the town’s cost is $40,437.52, payable quarterly in payments of $10,109.38.
• Approved ordinance 2025-8 for transfer of funds. Gall said there were some errors made so the transfers correct the errors.
• Approved resolution 2025-5 — the interlocal agreement between the town of Milford, Van Buren Township and Kosciusko County for maintenance at Waubee Lake Park at a cost of $750.
• Heard the clerk’s office will be closed Friday for Good Friday.
• Approved the Kosciusko County Ambulance Service lease for $1.
• Approved Milford Lion’s Milford Fest requests including use of a generator, use of the community building if needed at no cost (and also no cost for the Kiwanis use of the community building for the breakfast) and approved the street closings, which were basically the same as last year with the closings to start at 8 a.m. this year instead of 9 a.m.
• Approved $315.40 in utility credits for four different accounts.
• Received the 2024 Redevelopment annual report.
• Heard a reminder to residents that flushable wipes are not really flushable, according to Marquart, who said that flushing those wipes is creating damage to lift stations and other equipment.
Spring Clean Up Days are April 24-26.