Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
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Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
Mentone Town Marshal Jim Eads (L) presents Frank Banghart with a shadowbox at the Mentone Town Council meeting Monday for his years of service with the Mentone Police Department. Banghart resigned as a deputy effective Jan. 30 for personal reasons. Banghart started with the MPD as a reserve officer in January 1995, becoming part-time and then full-time in April 2003. Eads also swore in Matt Owens as the new deputy, who will begin his duties April 16.
MENTONE - Greg Wainscott can't seem to find the help he is seeking.
He's been to the Kosciusko County Health Department, Indiana Department of Environmental Management and animal control, and even contacted his state representative.
"Nobody can seem to help me out," he said.
Monday, Wainscott asked the Mentone Town Council if they could help him. Next door to his residence used to be a stockyard owned by Lorne Tridle but Wainscott said he didn't have a problem with that. But now, he said, Lorne Tridle's son Ed has taken it over and made it into a cattleyard. The manure and hay are piling up and the smell lingers all year round, even in the winter. In the summer, the flies are so bad, Wainscott said, he can't keep the windows open.
Unfortunately, Mentone Town Council president Mark Hughes said, the Tridle property is outside the town's limits so it is out of the town's jurisdiction.
"You have to approach someone at the county," said Tim Croy, council member.
Jack Simpson, councilman, asked if Wainscott contacted the health department. Wainscott said they won't touch it. He has photos of dead cows and manure in the cattleyard to prove his problems, he said.
"We wish you the best of luck," said Croy. "We agree with you 100 percent."
After the meeting, Wainscott said, "The health concerns are really bad."
The flies in the summer keep him from going outside because they bite so much. The property has a pond near it, where, Wainscott said, the runoff from the Tridle property probably was going. "The cattle have been dying and they don't look good at all."
But wherever he turns, he said, no one knows what to do to help him. "I've made a lot of calls."
Wainscott said he doesn't mind living next to a farm, but the cattleyard isn't being kept up. He has contacted an attorney who told him he may have legal rights that Wainscott can pursue.
Croy, after the meeting, said, "We are on to our police department about cleaning these properties up in town."
In other business, the town council:
• Approved a lease agreement with Network Computer Solutions for NCS to place antennas on the town's water tower to bring high-speed broadband Internet to Mentone. Mark Marley, with NCS, said beyond the lease agreement, they are going to offer the library free broadband Internet.
• Approved spending $886 for a payment box for the water and sewer bills for the clerk-treasurer for the new town hall, which is to be built this year.
• Approved Matt Owens as the new town deputy, replacing Frank Banghart, who resigned effective Jan. 30. Owens currently works as the loss and prevention officer at the Columbia City Wal-Mart. He will begin his duties with Mentone April 16.
Banghart also was recognized for his years of service with a shadowbox.
• Approved the bid from the Mentone Utilities Department to take care of the lawn at the Mentone Cemetery and at Mentzer Park from April 15 to Oct. 15. The total bid is $7,500.
All decorations in the cemetery must be removed from the gravesites by April 15. Work crews will remove weathered or out-of-season decorations and anything that is placed in front of or behind the stone.
• Decided May 14 or May 20 will be Spring cleanup for the town if the trash collection company will do it on a Saturday. If not, spring cleanup will be on May 13 or May 20.
• Decided to move their meetings from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. from now on. Their May meeting will be May 9 instead of May 2. However, a special town council meeting on employee insurance will be held May 2 at 6 p.m.
Mentone Town council members are chairman Mark Hughes, Tim Croy and Jack Simpson.
