SILVER LAKE - A group of Silver Lake residents are working to bring a school back into their community.
Rick Elliot, vice president of the Silver Lake Education Foundation, spoke at the Silver Lake Town Council meeting Tuesday night to discuss a proposal the foundation has completed.
The foundation proposes to open a charter school that would serve kindergarten through 12th grade, and would use the building that formerly housed Silver Lake Elementary School.
Elliott told the board that one of the most important reasons for bringing a school back to Silver Lake was for community health. "A community like Silver Lake without an education facility is not going to grow," Elliott said.
Elliott also said that nostalgia has played a role here. "It'd be nice to see that building reopened as a school," Elliott said.
According to the proposal, an education management organization would be in charge of running the school. The foundation is currently looking at an organization called Edison Learning.
The E.M.O. would work for the school board, but would be in charge of hiring teachers and creating a curriculum that coordinates with state standards.
Elliott told the board that lease negotiations for the former school building will not begin until the charter is received.
The building is privately owned, and Elliott said the current owner has shown interest in having a charter school open there. However, the building will need a lot of updates.
"Nothing will be grandfathered in," Elliott said.
Now that a proposal has been finished, it must pass through an approval board at Ball State University. Elliott told the board that he expects to find out next week whether or not the proposal will move to the next level.
"There's a good chance it won't get picked up on the first go around," Elliott said.
But Elliott said the foundation is ready to make the necessary changes and continue to do the work to get the charter.
"We're on step one out of 100," Elliott said, "It's kind of a dream, but with a lot of energy I think we can make it come true."
In other business:
n Jessica Hartman, a representative from GRW Inc., talked about three areas where updates are needed in Silver Lake's stormwater system. Bids for the projects are due Feb. 21 and Hartman will present the bids at the next town council meeting.
Hartman told the board that the projects will start in late March or early April, and they will give the contractor five months to complete the work.
When asked if that would interfere with Silver Lake Days, which usually takes place in June, Hartman said, "Those are the kinds of things we'll want to talk to the contractor about. Right now Ind. 14 and Ind. 15 will each be closed for three days, but not at the same time."
n The board discussed issues with keeping lawns mowed, as the mowing season is quickly approaching. This year the town will be handling yards which are in violation of the mowing code a little bit differently from past years.
In the past, anyone could bid to mow lawns that violated the town's ordinance. This year, however, no one who works for the town or who is affiliated with the town may bid. An ad will appear in the newspaper to announce when bids can be made for the mowing season.
n The board moved to continue using Stafford's for trash pick-up. Stafford's came in with the lowest bid for the job.
n During the department heads' reports, Town Marshall Craig Hollopeter commended the various departments for their work during last week's snow storm. Members of the street department said they have just been busy plowing snow and trying to keep the roads clear.
n Fire Chief Morris Jones requested to use money carried over from last year to buy a new set of bunker gear.
n Brenda Wadkins, a Silver Lake resident, asked the board for a reimbursement for 154 pages of copy that had been charged to her that she did not ask for.
Wadkins requested several documents in a letter that was read at the January town council meeting. She said she re-requested the documents because it took four and a half weeks to receive them. She added that some of the pages she received were not what she wanted, and she still did not get some documents she had asked for.
"I'll put in a third request for the documents I didn't get," Wadkins said.
The board said they would have to look at the documents to figure out what was and what was not supposed to be charged to Wadkins. Clerk-Treasurer Angie Glass said that she had completed the request as quickly as she could, and the delay was due to the large number of documents requested.
Wadkins and the board stayed after the meeting to sort out the documents and resolve the issue.
-The board discussed a desire to create an ordinance to regulate snow removal from sidewalks.
- A fish fry and bake sale will be held Saturday at the conservation building in Silver Lake. The fish fry will last from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. or until the food runs out. The fish fry is being held to benefit Silver Lake firefighter Brad Hemmer who is battling cancer.
