Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - Syracuse Town Council members expressed pleasure with the section of Utility Superintendent Mark Aurich’s report that stated Indiana Department of Environmental Management has released the utility and the town from the five-year compliance plan a year and a half early.
He told the council after submitting his written report to them on Friday, he heard from IDEM they’d be doing an inspection on Monday. At the end of that inspection they were released from the compliance plan.
“That opens up a world of possibilities for things to do. I’m real proud of the crews,” he said.
After the meeting, Aurich went into more detail, explaining when he was hired in 2021, the utility had numerous violations on nearly a daily basis. He said IDEM came in “And I got the worst inspection of my life” but he said they entered into an agreed order with the state, negotiated a lesser fine and got to work fixing the problems. Along with the agreed order, they entered into a five-year compliance plan with IDEM and because they’ve been violation free for 18 months, they were released early.
“We did 10 times better than they expected,” he said.
Aurich also reported to the council that he received 12 bids to paint the water tower. The low bid was from LL United Paint Company, Sterling Heights, Mich., for $129,000. He said they budgeted $197,000. The council approved the low bid. Aurich said they would drain the tower to do the work so he would coordinate with the fire chief.
Councilman Bill Musser asked him about striping the roads and he said the bids came in excessively high so for one-third the cost they purchased a striping guide that has a laser guide and will do it in-house.
He joked, “If it works, you’ll see a lot of pretty lines in town.”
Parks Department
Chad Jonsson, parks superintendent, said, “It’s been a relatively busy summer.”
He reported that the mud run, and the 4th of July activities went well. He said they have five activities coming up. He shared that they’re planning to have a Family Fun Night in the Park before school starts instead of a campout. They’ll have games, hot dogs and a movie in the park. They’re currently looking for sponsors.
Council President Nathan Scherer asked him about checking in to putting an aerator in the water to keep it moving but Jonsson hadn’t had a chance to check with the health department yet.
Town Manager Report
Town Manager David Wilkinson received approval to hire a full-time building inspector and code enforcement officer. He said they received no applications when they advertised it as a part-time position, and they’ve been without someone since the beginning of June. When they advertised it as a full-time position, they got 71 applications and there is one individual he wants to offer the position to if the council will approve it as a full-time position. He said the annual salary would be $50,000 plus benefits. He told the council he and Police Chief Jim Layne split the cost of the position and they each backed out some capital projects to pay for the position as he feels there will be an even bigger need coming up.
“No one on staff is qualified as a building inspector,” he said.
The council agreed to make it a full-time position.
He also brought up issues they’ve been having with the newly completed Pearl Street parking lot. Trucks and large vehicles are having problems turning north by the alley so they’re going to remove some curbs and open up the driveway to make it easier. He said they received one bid for $64,525 from Beer & Slabaugh, Nappanee. He said even with this additional expense they will still be within the original budgeted project because they made some cuts in other places.
Council members asked if the engineering firm has responsibility for the design and Wilkinson said the engineer is talking to his bosses, but Wilkinson would like to get the work done before winter. The council approved going ahead with the work, but Wilkinson will continue to work with the engineering firm to lower the city’s cost.
Wilkinson identified four projects that are part of the comprehensive plan that he thought the council should consider and said most could be paid for with cash from the general fund. Wilkinson said the general fund has been accumulating and it should be close to $8 million at the end of the year.
“The general fund is increasing faster than we’re spending it,” he said.
He told the council that he and Clerk-treasurer Virginia Cazier spoke to Jim Higgins from London Witte and he said they could set up a capital project fund to pay for the projects. One potential project he’s been talking about for a while is a boardwalk down to the Villages, which would have a potential cost of $1.6 million. He’s applied for a couple of grants he’s waiting to hear back about, but if he received both grants there would still be $500,000 needed to complete the project.
The Main Street parking lot improvements could cost around $1.5 million, which could all be paid for out of the general fund. He’s been turned down for grants on that project.
They could replace the stoplights in the village area and replace them with cantilevered lights like they have downtown, which would have less wire clutter. A couple of years ago the cost to do that was around $648,000. Replacing gateway signage on both ends of town would cost around $120,000. He said if they used the general fund cash for those projects, after the operating cost of about $2.8 million, it would still leave $3.2 million in the general fund.
The council expressed some concern about the uncertainty of SB-1 and Economic Development Income Tax funds that are going away. Wilkinson said Higgins tells all his clients to keep six months reserve and make an appropriation to spend what they need.
“The comprehensive plan exists for a reason. This was the will of the people and of the council at one time that this was what they wanted to see the community become. Very little has been done with it since I’ve been here and Mark’s been here. These things have been percolating for a while,” he said.
No action was expected or taken; the council will consider his suggestions.
Budget Talks
Cazier gave the council a proposed budget and the council had several questions, most of which they received answers or explanations for. Musser brought up that the council agreed no elected official would get a raise next year. The rest of the council agreed that was what they decided.
Cazier took exception to that, saying, “I don’t understand why I don’t get a raise —I’m not exempt from inflation. I work just as hard as anyone else.”
There was a question as to whether this needed to be dealt with at this time or in the salary ordinance and town attorney Jay Rigdon said they need to address it both times. The council voted to not have elected officials receive a raise in 2026.
In other business, the council:
• Approved the fire department’s budget for 2026 of $2,819,780 for operations and $2,871,260 for equipment.
• Heard the new police vehicle is getting outfitted.
• Musser said he wanted to see the KEDCO agreement on the agenda for August.
