Syracuse To Buy Ambulance

SYRACUSE - Purchase of a new ambulance was approved by the Syracuse Town Council Tuesday.

As presented by Syracuse Fire Department Chief Mickey Scott, the ambulance plus equipment options will cost $105,388.

Funds for the vehicle come from the EMS fund, collected through ambulance services to the public. The money was transferred through an additional appropriation.

The ambulance will be purchased from LifeStar Rescue, Van Wert, Ohio, the only bidder.

Palm Drive residents should have sewer hookup availability this summer. The council approved a resolution dedicating $203,275 in Economic Development Income Tax funds and $43,725 for a total cost of $247,000 for both sewer and water services.

Councilman Bill Hane said this project should be the board's priority when use of EDIT money was discussed.

"Palm Drive residents were promised last year it would be done," he said. "Then they were told it would be the first thing this spring."

Public Works Superintendent Clint Houseworth said $127,000 is a lot of money to serve four residents. He said plans for the project are ready to be sent to the state and it will take six to eight weeks to receive Indiana Department of Environmental Management approval.

Town Manager Brian Redshaw said spring cleanup will be May 13-15 north of the railroad tracks and May 16-17 south of the tracks. Items should be set out by 7 a.m. Monday and Thursday because they will be marked, then picked up.

Councilman Mike Davis said that is doing double work.

Councilman Barbara Carwile asked Houseworth to contact the waste removal company and ask them not to tag first.

"A lot of people will be spending Sunday setting stuff out. If it hasn't been picked up by Monday, they should have the opportunity to put out more," she said.

Redshaw also said the Kosciusko County Solid Waste Management District will collect household hazardous waste May 18 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Town Marshal Tom Perzanowski presented a resolution to increase accident report fees from $3 to $5 for copies to insurance companies and individuals, which was approved.

Perzanowski said the request comes at an appropriate time because the new accident forms are four pages instead of two.

He also demonstrated a thermal imager which detects heat. He said the equipment was paid for by the federal government and he went on a five-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Orlando, Fla., where he attended training for use of the thermal imager.

Hooking the unit up to a television and training its focus on the board, the shapes of the members "glowed."

He said if one of the patrolmen were involved in a car chase and the person tried to hide among other parked cars, the imager could tell which car had just been shut off.

Park Superintendent Mike Hixenbaugh announced Syracuse has been designated a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

The town is the only Tree City in Kosciusko County.

A proclamation was signed designating April 27 as Arbor Day for the town and activities are planned on that date.

In other business, the board:

• Noted a meet-the-candidates night is set for April 24 in the town hall at 7 p.m.

• Heard a kid's safety day will be May 4 in the Syracuse Elementary School from 1 to 3 p.m. and the annual cruise-in car show will be May 18. This year there is free admission.

• Reviewed a letter of complaint about Mediacom charges from Dale Mock. Mock's letter will be forwarded to the cable company.

Mock said the rates have gone up about 30 percent in one year with no options for the customer to either accept or deny the charges.

• Greeted Howard Kirkel as a new firefighter.

• Selected Greeley-Hansen as the firm to draft a preliminary engineering study for water treatment and distribution at a cost of $12,900. The council also approved the purchase of a CAD program at a cost of $4,995, bringing the total cost to $17,895.

The CAD software will allow the effects of various pipe sizes and pressures to be calculated before the lines are laid.

• Heard the drainage problem at the community center is still being addressed and has cost an additional $8,567 in engineering fees to Greeley-Hansen, which was approved.

• Approved purchase of six tires for an ambulance as requested by Scott in the amount of $920.

• Approved the purchase of an autoclave - a sterilization devise - for the wastewater treatment plant as requested by Houseworth, for a cost of $4,700.

The board also approved Emby Simpson to calibrate the town's large water meters at a cost not to exceed $5,500. The last calibration was done in 1998. Houseworth said the meters never speed up, they always slow down.

• Approved Nelson Tank and Consulting as inspectors and engineers for the north-side elevated storage tank. It will be reconditioned and repainted inside and out this summer.

The superintendent also said fire hydrants will be flushed at night May 14-17.

Town council members are Barbara Carwile, Paul Stoelting, Bill Hane and Mike Davis. Carol Kolbe was absent.