Roachdale marshal given praise, town council discusses clean-up

Thursday, May 15, 2014

ROACHDALE -- Senior Trooper Charlie Boller of the Indiana State Police was present at the Roachdale Town Council meeting on Tuesday night to give praise to Town Marshal Mike Mahoy.

Boller said his visit to Roachdale to express his appreciation for Mahoy was years overdue and that he felt the need to acknowledge Mahoy in person.

Meanwhile, the council addressed the status of several personal properties and what to do about the seeming lack of progress from property owners to address the situation of cleaning the properties satisfactorily.

Roachdale citizen Randy Williams was present to express his frustration with the process in which his mother's house had been the subject of letters from the town stating the need to make improvements and/or clean up the property.

Williams felt threatened by the letters from the town which stated at various times in the last year that the Williamses would have 30 days to make the necessary improvements or else face fines.

Williams insisted to the council that he is busy with his job and that he has made sincere efforts to clean up the property when he was able to find time and when the weather was conducive to clean-up work.

Citing winter weather in addition to not having free time, Williams asked the council to give him time to fix the property, though Williams was unable to provide and estimate for how much time was needed to complete the work.

After some banter between Williams and the town council regarding fines imposed upon his mother's property, Williams paid a $50 fine and left the meeting.

In other business:

* Several private building permits were granted.

* Approval was given to Roachdale Elementary to build its outdoor shelterhouse.

* The hearing on the annexation of property on the edge of town was declared closed. At the June town council meeting, council members will officially pass the ordinance and annex the property. The property sits on the edge of town and technically part of the property is within town limits, with the other portion remaining outside town limits. The owner had requested for the remaining portion of property to also be classified as part of the town of Roachdale.

* The council approved the spending of $6,500 to acquire new property for the town.

* Marshal Mahoy announced that his recently acquired K-9 had received certification for apprehension and tracking skills and his training for further certifications. Mahoy also announced the resignation of a deputy due to unfortunate circumstances.

* The council approved to spend $3,000 to update a Dodge Charger and to keep it as a reserve vehicle for the Sheriff's Department.

*The council approved a bid from Quality Repair Services Inc., Greenwood, to perform repairs to several sewage-based systems, including new pumps and an electrical panel.

* The council discussed the pros and cons of establishing an official park board as opposed to a park advisory board. The council spoke on the matter briefly and will revisit the topic at next month's meeting.

* The council also discussed creating ordinances to make the park a no-smoking zone as well as creating an ordinance to handle late-night noise pollution in Roachdale.

The next Roachdale Town council meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Monday, June 2.

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