Syracuse Town Council Discusses CAP Grant

SYRACUSE - The Community Amenities Program (CAP) grant was the topic of conversation at Tuesday’s Syracuse Town Council meeting with input from Zach Dripps, of Michiana Area Council of Government (MACOG) and Indiana House District 18 Rep. David Abbott.
CAP is a $5 million grant initially established through the Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative (OIRI) and managed by the K21 Health Foundation. It is designed to bring communities together through quality-of-life projects like parks, trails, community centers and gathering spaces. Announced in April, this is the first dedicated portion of the $30 million in OIRI money made available from the state legislature last year.
Dripps started the conversation with the council saying he was working with Amy Roe, Kosciusko County community coordinator, on the grant funds. He told the council the maximum amount each community could receive is $500,000 with a 50-50 match from the city or town. He said Syracuse had already submitted a letter of interest for the grant for the trail and boardwalk project in town, which would be over $1 million so the town would need to come up with the matching $500,000, which could be in the form of additional grants and other funds.
Dripps told the council the project meets all the goals, and it is not a competitive grant as each community in the county, with the exception of Warsaw and Winona Lake, were eligible for the grant. Dripps said he was there to make sure the council understood the program and that they were continuing to move forward with the process. He said the deadline was June 30, 2026, and the money needed to be spent in 2027.
Abbott said he was there to endorse the CAP grant and encourage the council to take advantage of it. He said it was initiated “to make sure opportunities were available for smaller communities.”
He told the council that “at this point in time, opportunities like this doesn’t come along every day” and added that trail projects bring tourists into town.
Abbott said he knew there were “a lot of questions about SB-1 and there’s going to be work done on that this session.” He said he knew cities and towns had concerns about LIT (Local Income Tax) and that they had obligations they needed to pay and said, “Everybody has that concern. We heard it.”
Council President Nathan Scherer said to Abbott, “Since you brought up SB-1, I’d like some clarity on it. We have projects like this where we’re supposed to match the funds, and we don’t know what our revenue stream is going to look like. It just seems like it was chaotic.”
Scherer also said since Syracuse has a population under 3,500, they wouldn’t even have the ability to use LIT because it would be up to the county. Councilman Larry Siegel said Syracuse could also lose its Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) funds, too.
“We have millions in EDIT funds, and we do a lot with that money to keep rates down, etc. and we can’t plan; it’s really hard,” Siegel said. He said he spoke to a municipal attorney recently who told him that “smaller municipalities may have to unincorporate because they won’t be able to operate as a municipality with the way things stand now.”
Abbott explained a little about the credits that SB-1 or SEA-1 will offer and he said, “We’ve heard all your concerns loud and clear. All throughout the state we’re getting beaten up over it. You almost can’t vote no because of the rest of the bill. In best interest, it’s to offset the increase in assessed value.”
He also told the council, “It’s raised a lot of questions in legislature so I can tell you there’s going to be action taken. They’re going to try to protect the property owner as much as they can but there’s got to be some consideration for what this does to the local units.”
Scherer said, “It’s important that people know that you’ve been helpful and open with us, but people also have to understand the changes that are going to affect us are out of our hands. We’re in a reactive posture based on what the legislature does so if they have concerns, they need to reach out to you and their state representatives because our hands are tied.”
Siegel also took the opportunity to ask Abbott for help with having housing added to the non-contiguous bill because with more businesses coming to the county, more housing is needed. Abbott said he’d be willing to talk to them about it and stated, “The need for housing may outweigh the non-contiguous concerns because we’re at a critical mass stage.”
Several council members thanked Abbott for coming and for his assistance.
Habitat Donation
Ben Logan, Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County executive director, was also present and the council passed a resolution gifting a property to the nonprofit. The address of the property is 301 N. Main St., at the corner of Main and Polywood.
Town attorney Jay Rigdon said for transparency reasons that while he didn’t have any input in the decision to donate the property, he did prepare the resolution and until last week he had been on the board of Habitat for Humanity.
Employee Handbook Changes
Town Manager David Wilkinson said there were two more matters that needed input from the council before they present a final draft of the employee handbook for the council’s approval. One matter was compensating employees for use of their personal cell phones for work while on the job.
Councilman Bill Musser said, “It’s very important these guys have their phones, especially the guys who work outside like the utilities. I’m for reimbursing them $15 a month like the police receive.”
Scherer mentioned pros and cons but finally said he would support it. Councilman Paul Stoelting said, “Why not give them $15 a month?”
The council all agreed to reimburse employees $15 a month each for cell phone use.
There was also a question about on-call status, something the town currently doesn’t have. If an employee is called in, they are paid a minimum of two hours pay, even if they’re at work less than two hours. Council members decided to leave it as it is. Wilkinson will add those items and bring the employee handbook back to the council for final approval next month.
General Fund Projects
Wilkinson said they needed to continue discussing what projects they wanted to move forward. “I know there are a lot of uncertainties, but we have to keep the conversation going.” He added that they decided to set aside $3 million to not be touched.
Scherer said they needed to have a work session to delve into the projects more fully. “We can’t continue to stand still. We need to do the things that make people want to work and live here,” he said.
Musser agreed, saying, “We all have different ideas, so we need to sit down for a work session, or we won’t get anywhere.”
They decided to check availability to meet the first week of December for a work session.
Chamber Comments
Brent Randall, director of Syracuse Wawasee Chamber of Commerce, spoke during public comments, saying it was “refreshing to hear” the discussion between the council and Abbott and how the council was being forward-thinking. He said he hoped that work session would include a decision about entryway signs and said the ones they currently have are not lit so they’re not working during the evening hours. He pitched the entryway signs as a branding and marketing tool and said the chamber supported it.
Siegel countered with, if the chamber supports it would they be willing to do a fundraiser to pay for the $125,000 signs. Randall said he’d bring it up to the board.
Fire Chief’s Last Meeting
Turkey Creek Fire Chief Mickey Scott thanked the council for all the years working with him and said it was his last council meeting as he was retiring next month. He introduced his replacement, current Deputy Chief Quinn Hunter.
Council members expressed appreciation for Scott. Later, someone mentioned that a retirement party was planned for Scott on Dec. 12 from 4 to 7 pm.
In other business, the council:
• Passed an ordinance for additional appropriations in the amount of $60,054.95, transferring from the general fund to miscellaneous fund to reimburse three families for insurance.
• Tabled a decision on ordinance fees.
• Heard about the Parks Department being awarded the AIM award and the council congratulated those responsible for the recognition.
• Agreed to charge outside water users the same amount as residents plus 15%. Currently, they’re paying less than residents. Rigdon will draft an ordinance for the council to pass.
• Decided to check with Rigdon about paying off the bonds and BAN (Bond Anticipation Notes) that are $1.2 million each.
• Will ask Rigdon to prepare a resolution stating that any grants requiring a match amount by the town needs to be approved by the council first.