Leesburg Town Council Addresses Parking, Yard Waste, Junk Car Problems
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Deb McAuliffe Sprong-
LEESBURG – Problems on and near streets in town seem to be growing, but the Leesburg Town Council is working to address them.
“A lot of people are parking against and blocking the sidewalk,” said Street Commissioner Craig Charlton during Monday’s meeting.
Residents are reminded that, per town ordinance, sidewalks must be unobstructed at all times.
Disposal of yard waste continues to be an issue.
“Another problem we have is people blowing leaves into the streets when we are not picking them up,” Charlton said.
When the town is not providing leaf pickup, residents must bag leaves, along with grass and other yard waste, and put them in the trash container the town provides.
Residents also are improperly disposing of tree limbs. Charlton said the town will try to help with cleanup after a storm, but not when residents remove limbs and branches for landscaping/aesthetic reasons.
“Basically, don’t put anything in the street,” he said. “It’s your responsibility.”
In addition, Charlton said nine cars are in violation of the town’s junk car ordinance. A resident can be cited for a vehicle that has remained in the same spot for 15 days, Charlton said.
First notice of the violation was mailed to the vehicle owners.
All of the above violations would eventually result in a fine, and the council is working to make its schedule of fines consistent.
The matter arose during the February council meeting during discussion of barking dogs. A brief review during that meeting revealed that fines were not consistent, and many had not been updated in decades, with fines as low as $1 in some cases.
Monday, Charlton said he had reviewed the entire fee structure and highlighted all inconsistencies, and presented a document with the highlights to the council.
Where the fee structure has been updated, fines had been set at $25 for a first offense, $100 for the second offense and $200 for a third offense.
The council agreed that fees for all violations should be updated to these amounts to be consistent.
“It makes it easy, and it also makes it a deterrent,” said Councilman Doug Jones.
Council President Christina Archer emphasized that offenders have plenty of time to correct a problem before facing a fine.
She said offenders are given a verbal warning and sent a copy of the ordinance, then have 30 days to comply.
“It’s a very long period where they’re not going to be penalized in any way unless they refuse to take any action,” she said.
Council agreed that town attorney Vern Landis should draft a new document based on the highlighted master plan Charlton put together. Landis will have the new document ready for the council to review at its April meeting.
For a complete list of town ordinances, visit www.leesburgindiana.com/
information.
In other business:
• Derek Tenney reported that a check valve at the sewer lift station was found frozen and busted, preventing tests that had been planned. The new valve should be here by Thursday, he said.
• Councilman Tom Moore said “progress is being made” with the electrical problems at the pumping station. The problem appears to be directly related to the transformer, he said, not to the two new pumps that were installed. “We’re finally working toward a solution,” he said.
• Council approved spending $3,816 toward electrical system upgrades in the town hall. The problems were discovered as work continues bringing the building into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Following a brief public hearing in which no one spoke, council approved transferring $140,000 from the Economic Development Income Tax fund to the General Fund for the ADA project.
The next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. April 8 at the Plain Township Fire Station.
