Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MENTONE -ÊSince Pro-Form charged Mentone 30 percent more than the original proposal, the town council approved sending the company only the amount of the original quote and a letter asking the company to send a representative to the next town council to discuss the discrepancy.
Pro-Form cleaned approximately 900 feet of storm sewer for Mentone. The cost the town council agreed to was approximately $13,700 but Pro-Form billed the town an estimated $18,200.
Darrel Miller, street superintendent, said it did take Pro-Form twice as long to clean the sewers as they thought it would because of the amount of silt collected.
"They did no more than what was needed and they did a great job," Miller said.
Councilman Ed Rock asked if Pro-Form told Miller there would be an increase as they did the work, and Miller said they didn't.
To pay the bill, clerk-treasurer Jim Tibbets said they used all the money they had encumbered from last year and will take money out of the Economic Development Income Tax fund to pay the rest, approximately $3,190.
"If we didn't have the EDIT money, we'd be in trouble right now," said council president Ed Lamar. He said next time they should ask for a bid for the work instead of a quote.
"I think I learned that the type of work these people do is all underground," said Miller, and he said he thought they would have proposed a higher cost.
Rock said the bill is close to twice the original quote and he was displeased with the bill. He made a motion to send Pro-Form $13,700 and a letter to ask them to send a representative to the next town council meeting to discuss the discrepancy. The motion was unanimously approved.
The council already paid $600 to Pro-Form for videotaping the sewer.
"If anything else goes wrong," said Rock, "we'll be up a ditch without a paddle."
In other business, the council:
• Approved for Lamar to purchase a new computer for the clerk-treasurer's office for a cost of $700. The computer also must meet criteria needed to run the clerk's software. Tibbets already has a monitor. Lamar will try to purchase the computer locally first.
• Approved advertising for bids for the cemetery and park work. The bids must include that the bidders use their own equipment and bids are due prior to March 4.
• Approved for Matt Cohagan, parks department, to have fallen and dead trees taken out of Mentone Park for a cost not to exceed $1,000.
• Approved Cohagan to purchase two benches for Mentone Park for a cost of $300 each.
• Approved for Cohagan to purchase ivy groundcover and tree saplings for Mentone Park for a cost not to exceed $100.
• Tibbets reported their 2002 budget was approved except their cumulative capital fund was reduced. He also said he received a notice that the town employees' health insurance was going up but will still be less than it would have been under the old plan.
• Approved for all future reports completed for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management be signed by the utilities superintendent instead of the town board president.
• Approved paying the cost of Lamar and the town attorney to attend an upcoming meeting of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns.
Members of the Mentone Town Council are Ed Lamar, Ed Rock and Mike Diemer.
