MENTONE – The utilities department in Mentone will get a new pole barn for about $50,000 after the town council approved it Monday night. Josh Shepherd, superintendent of the department, told the council he had $40,000 in his Economic Development Income Tax fund for a building. He met with several pole barn builders, and only got a couple of quotes back. He said they were looking at a building that is 40 foot by 64 foot by 14 foot off of “what we already have down there now.” “Ramco, who I would like to see get the job, quoted the building with no cement at $42,000. I asked him about the cement and that’s another $8,000,” Shepherd said. “(Clerk-Treasurer) Barb (Ross) said I could transfer some of my stormwater money. I’ve got $20,000 in there. I could use $8,000 of the stormwater and put the flooring in there. That’s just something to toss around.” Shepherd said he didn’t care if it had flooring, but it makes it easier to work in there. Councilwoman Shelley Krueger asked about any other quotes. Shepherd said Burns Buildings provided another quote and it was $5,000 less, but Ramco was providing more with their building so the two quotes were “pretty comparable.” Two other companies said they would submit quotes but never did, he said. Next year, Shepherd said he hopes to put more money in the EDIT fund so he can put electricity in the pole building. Council President Tim Croy made a motion for Shepherd to proceed with the building with cement flooring with Ramco. The council approved the motion 2-0 with Councilwoman Jill Gross absent. Shepherd also reported that the yard waste, including grass, that his department has been picking up has been “tremendous.” He suggested residents put their yard waste in some type of container. They’ve had to use a skid loader to remove the piles of yard waste. If someone hires a tree trimmer, Shepherd said it’s the responsibility of that tree trimmer to get rid of that debris. “It’s not very fair to the town to have to pick up a whole tree,” he said. “I totally agree,” said Croy. Town Marshal Jim Eads reminded the council and those present at the meeting that the Mentone Egg Festival will be Thursday through Saturday. “Everyone should be prepared for the detour,” he said. “Any of the emergency services that would like to come to our parade, it’s 11 a.m. Saturday. Meet at the west end of State Road 25.” There will be a pancake breakfast at the fire department from 7 to 10 a.m. Saturday. Eads also told the council that the police department participated in several activities lately. He said, “The police department ... did Reality Days out at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School. We went out and participated in that. That was kind of a government-type experiment where the kids out there had a job, they got paid, how that money interacted. They got sent to us if they got a speeding ticket or landed in jail for overdrafting. We had a lot of fun with that. We thank Tippecanoe Valley Middle School for inviting us out there.” The department also partnered with Cargill for bike safety. Cargill bought bike helmets for every third-grader at Mentone Elementary. “They do that every year. I think this is the third or fourth year that we’ve been doing this,” Eads said. “They also give one boy and one girl a bicycle. Again, we thank Cargill for that.” Just this last weekend, Eads said his department took part in Law Enforcement Action Day at Pike Lake in Warsaw. Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker invited the other police departments and it was put on by the Optimist Club. “Just some fun things we’ve been doing,” Eads said. In other business, the town council: • Set the 2016 budget meeting for 6:30 p.m. June 16. • Heard from Shepherd that he’s finished working on the generators at the well house and his shop. • Signed the software maintenance agreement with Keystone.
