Silver Lake To Demolish Kermit St. Abandoned House
Posted
Aaron Organ-aorgan@timesuniononline.com
SILVER LAKE - The town of Silver Lake appears in position to down a long-abandoned and now-dilapidated home that has drawn the ire of many residents and officials, a move that could lead to a series of demolitions within the town. During Tuesday night’s regular meeting of town council, Board President Linda Baker announced the town will proceed with the taking-down of a home at 3189 W. Kermit St., which has been abandoned for some nine years. It won’t be leveled overnight, however, as town attorney Vern Landis said a process of cost estimates, public notices, letters and legal steps must be taken before any wrecking balls arrive. Landis estimated some action should be expected by year’s end. The demolition will cost taxpayers no money, town clerk/treasurer Angie Glass told residents. She said if the work runs less than $10,000, the town will use its own workers to do the job, and charge the wages of those workers to a lien on the property. Baker said once this particular demolition is completed, the town will look at similar methods against a list of other properties within town limits. The board also approved its 2012 budget. The $573,803 budget was passed unanimously. In other business, the board approved the acceptance of a $3,566 Hoosier Safety grant for the Silver Lake Fire Department, and appropriated the funds for the purchase of two radios for trucks. The old radios were not compatible with the new bandwidth the county has switched to, the board learned. A sign at the public access boat ramp indicating parking only for vehicle accessing the ramp will be removed, after the town received complaints. The board said the sign was erected to discourage permanent parking at the small drive there, but a resident told the board that the sign has worked to prevent anyone from parking there. Baker told Street Superintendent Jasun Blocher to simply take the sign down. -Town Marshall Craig Hollopeter told the board he has two suspects in a string of vehicle break-ins last month and their cases forwarded to the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office for review. Hollopeter would not identify the two. When asked by a resident if they’ll be jailed, Hollopeter responded, “We will.” -Blocher said the town’s leaf pick-up has begun, and asked residents to rake their leaves as close to the road’s edge as possible. Blocher asked residents to remove limbs from leaf piles, and said those limbs will be collected separately, as usual. -A representative from the Toys for Kids fundraiser appeared before the board, asking for donations for the holiday drive that gives toys to needy youth. The board asked the organization to place a donation box inside town hall. -The board introduced several candidates running for public office. -The board moved its November meeting from the originally scheduled Nov. 8 date to Nov. 15 due to a conflict with election day.
