CLAYPOOL – Town council held a hearing for a 2016 budget of close to $200,000 Monday and renewed its contract with Lutheran EMS. The 2016 budget is proposed at $197,252, which includes $149,752 in the general fund and $27,353 in motor vehicle highway. Compared to the current budget of $223,750, the general fund was cut by $17,000 and MVH by around $4,000, in addition to smaller cuts to other funds. Council President Niki Miller noted during the budget hearing that the town is considering having a wastewater rate study done next year, though they “run the risk of not reducing the rates but increasing the rates” depending on the results, she remarked. They also will have to wait to hear from Indiana Department of Environmental Management if there are any further new requirements for water quality testing. Council later approved a three-year contract with Lutheran EMS Kosciusko at a cost of $1,896 a year, a savings of close to $500 from the previous contract under the former Multi-Township EMS. The current contract isn’t up until the end of the year but the ambulance service submitted new contracts to the towns it covers after its acquisition by Kosciusko Community Hospital. Council members had expressed reluctance to go from a yearly contract to one that locks them in till 2018, but decided to stick with Lutheran EMS after not hearing any proposals from Tri-County Ambulance, which recently expanded into Kosciusko County. And council approved the $1,500 purchase of a cemetery management program from Pontem Software, with the option of adding a mapping function for an additional $750 if needed; and heard from Clerk-Treasurer Connie Morgan that online bill pay from PayGov is up and running, allowing residents to pay utility bills by credit or debit card with a 3 percent fee to the company. Morgan also told council about the Indiana Bicentennial torch relay that will go through Kosciusko County Sept. 29, 2016. The route as currently planned will pass Claypool along Ind. 15 but not enter the town, she noted, but the town could participate in other activities proposed for that weekend such as a vintage baseball game.
