PIERCETON – Water issues continue to dominate Pierceton Town Council meetings.
Resident Oliver Bernstein asked board members if they had made any progress in asking legislators for help in securing money to take care of flooding caused by stormwater.
Town Council President Mandy Espinoza said he would try and contact some state legislators within the week.
Bernstein also asked whether the town has looked into getting an accurate survey for those who have problems with stormwater flooding their property.
“I’ve been coming to this town board for 20 years,” said Bernstein. “It’s about time the town got serious about stormwater issues.”
“We don’t have the money right now,” said town board member Ron Hall.
“Then find the money,” Bernstein responded.
“This town board is new,” said Hall. “It will take some time. I don’t know how long that will be.”
Another resident said there was an issue with a lift station off Market Street.
She said that it will occasionally bubble with toilet paper and feces when there is high water in town.
Street Superintendent Chip Hill said the sewer lines need to be refurbished.
The resident claimed that the toilet paper and waste runs down into a nearby church’s playground from time to time.
Former board member Jerry Kreger was in attendance Monday night and said that the board did look at a project but the cost was $3.5 million and that means every home in town would have to come up with about $10,000.
Hill said residents also needed to keep in mind that any major project would likely double town residents’ monthly sewer bill and most likely add another $20 bill for stormwater.
Kreger said that stormwater floods out the sewer plant causing problems.
Pierceton Town Marshal Tim Sammons told the town council that he recently ran ads in the Times-Union to see if anyone was interested in becoming a reserve officer.
He had a training session Feb. 1 and said several showed up.
Another test will be held Sunday. The test consists of a handwritten portion as well as an agility test.
Sammons told the board that Pierceton’s DARE program started Jan. 12 and 76 students are participating in it.
Sammons requested permission to seek a quote to see how much it would cost for his station to move from VHS to DVD for in-house interviews as well as the camera system outside the building.
Some businesses in town approached Sammons about a downtown camera system. Sammons said if the town moved forward with it he’d also want cameras at Brower Park.
Sammons said he had no idea how much such a system would cost.
Pierceton Fire Chief Matt Brubaker said he was looking for volunteers for the department.
Hill said his department has laid three tons of asphalt patch for roads.
Hill also said that a well in town has been fully restored and he is just waiting on testing.
He said the iron filter is out of service but they are injecting the water so that nobody should see iron in their water.
The town’s park board said the six-person board meets the first Wednesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. at the town’s community building.
Park board member Kim Rose said one plan is to put a new drinking fountain in Brower Park in the spring.
They are also looking at improving the skate park.
Rose also announced that this year’s Pierceton Days will be Aug. 3 and 4 and the theme will be “A Day at the Circus.”
