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SILVER LAKE - The Silver Lake and Claypool town councils held a meeting on Thursday, Aug. 20, to talk about the possibility of having a countywide building inspector.
“We’ve got a subject here that we all need to address, and I think you’ve got the same problem we got,” said Silver Lake Town Council President Medard “Hugh” Murfin.
Murfin said when it comes to dilapidated houses in Silver Lake, they have talked with several people, and their town marshal is trying his best, “but there’s only so much knowledge that they have when it comes to condemning houses.”
Claypool Town Council President Benny Stage agreed with Murfin, while also noting that the need for a building inspector is crucial for “tagging or marking houses that need condemned,” and that the Kosciusko County Area Plan office can only do so much.
“If we could get the majority of them, if not all of them together … and the amount that each town could put together as a salary for this individual … if the town wants to do something like that, maybe the county will also pitch in,” said Stage.
Murfin noted that it would be good to have “their own person” for the small towns that can get the job done, along with the person having the knowledge of what needs to be done for the job. Claypool Town Council member Gene Warner also stated it would be good to gauge the interest of the other towns, and it “could turn into a full-time job for that person” if they have the money and credentials to do so.
Kosciusko County Community Coordinator Amy Roe was elated at the prospect of all the small towns getting together to discuss having a building inspector, and noted the “county is behind them,” as they were aware the meeting was happening. She said several of the smaller towns, like Etna Green, Sidney, Milford, Mentone and Pierceton, were all interested in a countywide building inspector.
Tonya Conley, Silver Lake clerk-treasurer, stated having a person as a countywide building inspector who had no connection to any of the small towns would be someone they need to look into.
The members from the two councils agreed that it would be worth it to get all the small towns within the county together to have this discussion and then start talking more about the details of what the job of the building inspector would be.
They also agreed to have Stage reach out to the various small towns and find a date and time that works best for all town members to get together and discuss the possibility of a countywide building inspector, paid for by the various small towns who want to join. Roe said she would work on finding a room for the group to meet once they had the number of people and the date set.
