MILFORD - Milford Town Council continued discussions with the Milford Area Development group Monday.
The two groups began discussions last week. Some questions raised during that meeting were answered in part, and some challenges were offered.One question involved whether or not monies from MAD could go into the general fund. According to town attorney Jay Rigdon, "Any donor who donates to the town can do it with strings attached. If there are strings attached, then it has to be in a separate fund. If you don't like the strings, say no thanks."
This would mean that money designated for a certain purpose or project by the donor must be spent in that way.
Another question concerned how MAD could legally function within the town.
"There's no reason it (MAD) can't operate like Kosciusko Development Inc.," said Rigdon. "KDI is a non-profit organization, not a government entity. It works closely with government entities ... but it is its own separate unit. The answer is that if KDI is legal now, MAD is legal."
"At this point, we have no control over MAD," said council member Robert Cockburn. "Nor do I think that we need to. We contribute to KDI every year, and we contribute to MAD. I believe we can continue to do this.
"I guess what I would see is MAD working with KDI. Milford is not KDI's only interest. If we had a group that would work with KDI ... KDI has some resources that could help."
Council member Douglas Ruch raised the issue of whether or not developing a Chamber of Commerce would provide more incentive for businesses to locate in Milford. This issue was also raised at the last meeting.
Bob Bowerman, representing a group of Milford concerned citizens, said, "I see the new MAD as being very narrowly focused. We're looking at what we can do to bring in business. We want to investigate how an industry looks at a town. How do we look and fit into their profile? There's a lot of research we need to do to see what are our strengths and what are our weaknesses.
"Not to be redundant, but we need to be cheerleaders for Milford in the county. KDI works for the county in general, but I feel there needs to be a good liaison with them to make sure that Milford doesn't get bypassed."
While Cockburn said he did not want MAD to be "quasi official arm of the council," he did extend the invitation for MAD to be present at council meetings, and for both groups to have an open dialogue with each other at all times.
The council then heard from Rick W. Wagner, agent for Group Benefit Plans, in regard to town employee health insurance. According to Wagner, the coverage offered by the current carrier, Star Mark, would have a slight increase of 5 percent in cost. However, most insurance plans of this type have experienced increases of 8 to 10 percent.
Since the council was not presented with any complaints regarding employee coverage, they approved continuing insurance coverage with Star Mark.
Town Marshall Dave Hobbs revisited the issue of people driving ATVs and UTVs in the town limits. While four-wheelers cannot be driven on state routes, but can be operated on the shoulder of the road, they also are not allowed on the streets of most towns. Although a few communities allow them within city limits, Milford is still questioning its position.
Hobbs' concern is that only a few people actually use these vehicles for a brief errand in town. He believes that while he can't ignore the law, it seem unnecessary to ticket the operators of the vehicles for simply running briefly into town.
Kosciusko County does allow four-wheelers on county roads. It was pointed out that the communities that do allow them have not had their local ordinances challenged in court.
The consensus was that Milford does need to have some sort of ordinance regulating the use of four-wheelers, even though it could be challenged later.
Hobbs said he has no problem with four-wheelers coming into town to get gas, or run a brief errand. However, if the vehicle would be operated for an extended period on town streets, that should not be permitted. Town attorney Jay Rigdon agreed to provide a draft ordinance for the council to review.
Hobbs also announced there has been a rash of thefts of items from vehicles. The Milford Police Department is asking all residents to make sure their vehicles are locked at night. Hobbs also stated that because of these thefts, the department's officers will stop anyone on foot in town after 10 p.m.
Tricia Gall presented the council with a brief summary of Milford Fest 2008. She said questionnaire surveys have been passed out as a means of getting more input about the overall quality of the event.
