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MILFORD - If he complies with the Milford Town Council recommendations, Augustiv Widmer will receive a favorable letter from the Milford Town Council to the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals.
Those condititions include having a fence up by April and being connected to sewer and water by Sept. 2001.
Widmer's petition to the BZA is for an exception to allow outside storage and an auto repair service in an industrial 2 district. His variance petition would permit a 6-foot privacy fence in the street yard to be 2 feet from James and Fourth streets. The property is on the west side of James Street and zero feet north of Fourth Street in Milford.
At the Aug. 2 Area Plan Commission meeting, Milford utilities department head Dallas Winchester and town councilman John Lehman asked the county BZA Tuesday to deny Widmer's variance and exception petitions.
The property is still under the ownership of the railroad company but is leased out to Widmer.
Winchester told the BZA it was brought up in the first place because Widmer was written up on a trash violation. He also was verbally warned. Winchester said he told Widmer the only way he could do what he's doing is if the property were rezoned.
Lehman told the BZA the Milford town council met with Widmer on his property and wrote several letters to him to get him to comply with Milford ordinances. He said they want Widmer to meet the same stipulations as other auto repair services in Milford. The building, Lehman said, doesn't meet standards either as it doesn't have running water or bathrooms.
The BZA approved continuing both of Widmer's petitions to give him time to form a plan to address the town's concerns and meet the county's standards.
In another matter, a town resident wrote a letter to the council regarding utilities commissioner Dallas Winchester. Allegedly, the town resident had a confrontation with Winchester when Winchester reportedly accused her son of riding his bicycle through new concrete. Only Winchester and the resident were present when the confrontation occurred. Winchester denied the confrontation got out of hand.
The council originally scheduled an executive session regarding the incident, but Tuesday the parties involved felt that the matter was "blown out of proportion" and the executive session was canceled.
In other business:
• The council signed two ordinances regarding the hiring and guidelines of police officers.
• The fire department will get a new floor put in as soon as possible for approximately $6,000.
• Emergency sirens for tornadoes will be discussed at an upcoming meeting.
• The town will proceed with the new pavilion at Waubee Lake Park. The permits and drawings are being sought and completed. The Lions Club will provide the material for the pavilion and the park department will provide the slab.
• Awarding a grant for a new police officer has been postponed to September. The town does not know if they will get the grant.
• Lou Mediano, Milford police, is off duty due to a job-related injury and does not know when he will be back. Full-time officers Richard Miotto and Dave Hobbs will each work four more hours a day, with pay, to cover the workload.
• Applications for reserve and full-time officers are now being taken at the town clerk's office.
• On Aug. 29, the water tower will be inspected. The town's water quality will be fine but residents may notice a stronger chlorine taste and smell.
• Voted to give Kosciusko Development Inc. $1,000 this year.
• The budget hearing will be Aug. 30 at noon and the budget adoption is Sept. 11.
Members of the Milford Town Council are John Lehman, Douglas Ruch and Bob Phillips.
