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BURKET – Burket Town Council heard an update Thursday about issues with utility poles around town.
In April, the council discussed issues with hanging utility poles and downed poles.
Street Superintendent Brad Bibler said he has been in contact with representatives from Frontier about issues with hanging utility poles. Someone from Frontier will come and inspect what the town has going on.
As far as reaching out to NIPSCO about issues with their utility poles, he said it was a lost cause. He said he has reached out to NIPSCO two or three times and is still waiting on a call back.
Council President Bill Rayburn said he was surprised because every time he’s called about an issue with a utility pole, NIPSCO is right there. Rayburn encouraged Bibler to keep trying.
Bibler also said he has emailed a list of utility pole numbers to Verizon with locations of where the Verizon poles are and “they’re on the list.”
In other business, the council:
• Approved a resolution to adopt the Kosciusko County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan as presented by Kip Shuter, director of the Kosciusko County Emergency Management Agency.
Shuter said multi-hazard mitigation planning reduces loss of life and property by minimizing the impact of disasters. It begins with local governments identifying natural disaster risks and vulnerabilities common in their jurisdiction. Former Burket Fire Chief Kevin McSherry provided information for Burket.
After identifying these risks, strategies are developed for protecting people and property from similar events, he said. Without adopting the plan, cities and towns are not eligible to apply for the hazard mitigation grant program, building resilient infrastructure and communities flood mitigation assistance, the national flood insurance program and post-disaster FEMA public assistance recovery type 2 disaster declarations.
Adoption also preserves access to millions of potential mitigation dollars for things like portable sirens and warning systems.
The plan is needs to be adopted every five years.
• Heard a stop sign was stolen at Railroad and Walnut streets.
• Approved for Bibler to look for quotes for seal coating for some streets that are cracking.
