CLAYPOOL – Town council began looking at a water rate increase during its meeting Monday. Council members heard that they will need to revisit the rate ordinance because the previous one, from 2007, expired last year. They expect to continue a yearly increase of two to three percent to keep pace with inflation. Council member Don Miller suggested checking with the state Board of Accounts and accounting firm Umbaugh and Associates on whether Claypool can set up an incremental increase. He also questioned whether the town can increase rates without another study by Umbaugh. Council will revisit the rate increase at their February meeting after getting their questions answered. And council members met new reserve police officer Ken Allen, who has completed pre-basic training and recently joined the force. Allen is also a paramedic supervisor with Mutli-Township EMS and a medic with the Warsaw-Kosciusko SWAT team. Also during the meeting, members voted to retain Niki Miller as council president.
