SILVER LAKE – The Silver Lake Town Council passed five ordinances, one resolution and discussed allowing a possible property owner to use Washington Street as a driveway Tuesday.
At their October meeting the Silver Lake Town Council approved ordinances 10-1-12 through 10-5-12. Ordinance 10-1-12 deems the Silver Lake Town Council as the purchasing agent for the Town of Silver Lake.
Ordinance 10-2-12 sets purchasing rules or policies for the Town of Silver Lake. Within the ordinance the clerk-treasurer is responsible for the protection of bids prior to their opening, allowing the bids to be available for inspection and to prepare a register of the bids. Ordinance 10-3-12 states that the town should buy American-made products.
Additionally the council passed ordinance 10-4-12, which sets limits on which department heads can spend without approval.
Department heads can spend up to $500 without prior approval of the council for any new service, supply or equipment. In case of purchases for emergencies or replacement purposes department heads are approved for up to $3,500 as long as the purchase can be supported by the department budget. Any purchase of greater than $3,500 must be approved by the council.
Councilman Phil Shalley made it clear that he thought the spending limits for the department heads were too high. Shalley voted no to ordinance 10-4-12.
The final ordinance, 10-5-12, allows the clerk-treasurer to reimburse town officials for expenses incurred in promoting the best interest of Silver Lake. Expenses that would be reimbursable include rental of meeting places, meals, decorations, memorabilia, awards, expenses incurred for interviewing job applicants, expenses incurred in promoting industrial, commercial and residential development, expenses incurred developing relations with other units of government, expenses incurred in maintaining and improving employee morale through employee recognition, and any expense of civil or government nature deemed by the council to be in the interest of the town.
All council members agreed that the ordinance was in the best interest of the town and supported the ordinance.
Additionally the board approved resolution 12-1-10 to allow town employees that live within 10 miles of town to take home a town vehicle.
“When you are on call the time it takes to come into town to get the town vehicle, then go to an incident, can make a big difference,” Shalley said.
After the ordinances Shalley informed the council that two properties on West Kermit and Indian Trail are up for certificate sales. A county official asked the council to release the liens on the 10513 S. Indian Trail and 3209 W. Kermit Street.
“It is $12 to put the liens on and $13 to take them off and the county has told me they will not waive the fee to remove the liens,” Shalley said. “If they will not waive the fee I vote no.”
Town attorney Vern Landis informed the council that if the property is sold at a certificate sale then the liens on the property would be released. At that point the council decided not to remove the liens and wait for the properties to be sold.
Lastly the council heard from Shalley about a prospective property owner who would like to use Washington Street as a driveway for a property he plans to purchase. Washington Street is the only access to the 12 acres of property which he is looking to purchase.
“The buyer asked if he could buy the street. He wanted some sort of letter saying that he could use the street as a driveway, with us making no improvements so that he could make improvements to the street,” Shalley said. “I don’t think we can sell a street, but I have no issues with allowing him to use the road if it costs the town no money.”
“The man plans to put a house, a stable and a hay field. It’s another house in town is the way I look at it,” Shalley said. “The street is grass right now and he wants to put in a gravel road.”
The council agreed to let the purchaser use the road as a driveway as long as he pays for the upgrades.
In reports from department heads, the street department will start leaf pickup this week. Anyone who has leaves that need picked up should separate any large obstructions and put the leaves as close to the road as possible.
The next meeting of the Silver Lake Town Council will be Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Silver Lake Town Hall.
