Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
PIERCETON - Upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant were discussed again at the town council meeting Monday, with Bob Murphy providing council members Jerry Kreger and Ron Hall a grant application schedule.
Improvements to the facility - holding tanks, new blowers and updating equipment - ponds are necessary to comply with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's policy of "zero bypassing."
Stormwater enters the sanitary sewer system at various points, causing overflow when it rains.
Costs for improvements have been estimated between $800,000 and $1.7 million.
Murphy will apply for a $500,000 grant to pay for half of the improvements. He said an income survey is necessary to prove that more than 51 percent of residents in the service area - in town, at the trailer park and in Larwill - earn a low to moderate income.
He said costs for the survey shouldn't exceed more than $1,200 plus postage.
A public hearing will be held in January, with the preliminary application forwarded that month. Another public hearing will be in April, with the final application sent that month.
Murphy said construction could start as early as November 2004.
Utilities superintendent Chad Hill replaced long-time town employee Brad Bailey Oct. 6.
Hill began working for the town in 1991, a year prior to his 1992 graduation from Whitko High School. He is a 1997 graduate of Indiana University and was put in charge of the town's buildings and grounds full-time in 1997.
Bailey resigned after 28 years of service to the town to take a full-time job with the U.S. Post Office.
Hill said he is interviewing applicants for an open position and should be offering a job this week.
Town Marshal Tim Sammons said he applied for two grants. One would pay 100 percent of the cost for three breathalyzers, the other, materials for the 2004-05 DARE program.
Kreger said he has heard nothing but positive comments about the police department.
Sammons said it is a joint effort. In addition to Sammons, Jim Bumbaugh and Terry Cahill are full-time officers.
Sammons said reserve officer Randy Bowman resigned. He served the town for 1-1/2 years.
Trick-or-treat hours are set for Oct. 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Council member Terry Hill was absent.
