Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
PIERCETON - Pierceton Town Council gave congratulations for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Pierceton-Washington Township Community Park and heard from a liaison with the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) during a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Carla Quintero, with the Park and Recreation Committee, commended the ribbon-cutting held on Sunday, Sept. 27. She thanked several of the team members from the street department for erecting the flag pole, and also those who showed up for the event.
She asked the council if the Park and Recreation Committee could also take over Brower Park, as it makes sense for the committee to be over everything, which the council approved. With that, Town Manager and Town Marshal Phil Hawks had been asked if there could be a Haunted Halloween and Christmas walk at Brower, which the council reminded him of the upcoming construction, but had no problem with those events.
Quintero also wanted to remind people that all dogs should be leashed when at the parks, “and please clean up after them. We have doggy bags there to use.” Quintero noted the parks will remain open “until the weather turns.”
Lindsey Hammond, Northeast Community liaison for OCRA, spoke to the council about the Community Development Block Grant program. She told the council how they receive about $32 million from the Housing and Urban Development Department “to distribute to our non-entitlement cities, towns and counties.”
“Non-entitlement means they have less than 50,000 residents,” said Hammond, “because entitlement communities work directly with HUD.”
She came to let the council know that if they have any needs for applying for grants with projects, or if they wanted to know more about specific grants that OCRA could facilitate, to get a hold of her. She also let the council know they could look up more information if needed at ocra.in.gov.
Reports
Hawks reported the Indiana Department of Transportation fixed the school zone lights.
He asked for approval to send Officer James “Tex” Hastings to Field Training Officer school to have him complete certifications and courses to train new officers and reserves Oct. 19-21, which was approved.
Hawks is looking at new Axion cameras and funding to help pay for them. He stated they have three contracts with Axion, and the taser contract is expired. He noted they are allowing the department to have user rights to the tasers, but will need to look at new ones next year.
Hall let Hawks know to reach out to K21 Health Foundation or the Kosciusko County Community Foundation for grants, which could help cover.
Hawks asked for approval to hire Officer Kole Williams as a part-time certified officer and to do the ordinances. Williams would work the morning shifts, and would work roughly 20 hours a week, with a pay of $26 per hour. The council approved.
Hawks asked about using a software system for timecard usage. He was quoted at $660 per year, which the council approved.
Hawks also is working with the Department of Natural Resources to plant trees “that, hopefully, won’t be a problem in 50 years,” which will replace the trees taken out earlier this year.
Town Superintendent Alex Sturgess reported the EQ basins are completely drained. He noted the panels and pumps were installed, and everything should function as expected. He noted the lift stations are working properly, and noticed the blowers were working at full capacity. After taking the blowers back down to where they were supposed to be set, he noted the electric bill “will probably be halved.”
He also reported the dry beds are empty after hauling off 300 tons of bio-solids. He reported it cost about $12,000. The high service pump was unrepairable, and will cost about $13,500.
Millers came out and cleaned out a storm drain. Sturgess stated the storm drain will be a “huge project,” after one storm drain took three hours to complete.
Sturgess also reported three UV banks are still not working, and will need to be up and running by April.
He was made aware that some of the fire hydrants are not working. Of the 17 he opened, four did not work and two had low pressure, and the four inoperable hydrants will have to be replaced.
He is working on getting call-outs set up for the lifts and wet-well, which will let the department know when the water level is too high when they are not on scene.
Sturgess also serviced the leaf machine, which is ready to go for leaf pick-up. The leaf pick-up will start on Monday, Oct. 19, with the areas south of Catholic Street and west of First Street.
In other business:
• The council adopted the budget for 2027.
• The council heard from Kenneth Eloph, who had gone to the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals earlier that day to ask for a variance request for a shed in his backyard. He was wanting to make it “about 120 square feet bigger than the ordinance,” and was told by the BZA to get the council’s opinion on it. He would be using it for personal use, and has no intention of making it into a commercial shop. The council approved the variance.
• Hawks and Council Vice-President Matt Brubaker will be going over the master utility study.
• Town attorney Tammy Keirn will be working with a property owner for the Brower Park easement and vacation.
• Girls' Night Out will be from 4-8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17.
• Trick-or-treat will be from 4-8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, and several churches will be hosting trunk-or-treats that night as well.
• Smoker’s poles will be installed on a street corner, as one resident requested. Hawks and Sturgess noted there may be some in the barn the department could put up.
The next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10.
