Community event sparks conversation about board openings

Back in the ‘60s, activists liked to say, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”

At the recent Community Conversation, an all-Zoom session featuring Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory and City Council President Mark Hammer, audience members were concerned about just how they might get to be part of that solution.

They wondered, is there a list? How do you get on the list? Are openings on boards and commissions posted on the city’s website?

Noting that statutory limitations exist for some boards, including the need from them to be politically balanced, Mayor Dory said “sometimes it’s a network of who’s out there.”

League of Women Voters member Leslie Hanson, who helps coordinate the Community Conversations program, suggested that using such a network of names could easily result in “people of similar views” being asked to fill those board vacancies, negating any chance at diversity.

She suggested creating a pool of candidates from persons who are interested in serving on city boards and commissions as well as a list of overall openings.

“We do use our networks,” Mayor Dory said, “and our networks aren’t always homogeneous. Anyone who is interested is always welcome to stop by at City Hall.”

Hanson noted that the topic came up at an NAACP meeting earlier this year when someone questioned how a person might know when appointment opportunities were available.

The mayor said he hopes to add a list of boards, their memberships and their functions to the website.

Councilman Hammer noted that the recent appointments to the new Commission on Human Relations solicited a lot of interest, so much so that the Council had to whittle down its candidate list before making its three appointments. The mayor and Greencastle Schools had two appointments each.

Meanwhile, despite a press release and a number of other stories noting that the City Council had an appointment to the school board up this spring, only two candidates emerged, incumbent Brian Cox, who was reappointed, and Ed Wilson, who later became the Greencastle Township appointee.

Dory and Hammer were also asked about the status of the community center/YMCA project.

“There’s been a bit of a lull this spring because of COVID-19,” Mayor Dory said, noting that the engineers are finishing up design and site layouts and the city will be advertising for the construction management firm on the project.

“With the complex nature of this project.” Dory said, “we felt it was worthwhile to use that mechanism (construction management) for this project.”

Currently the access road (an extension of Calbert Way) and utilities are under construction, he added.

“The general arrangement we have with Wabash Valley YMCA is that the city owns the facility and will rent it to them at a nominal fee,” Dory said. “We have asked them (to consider) in lieu of rent, to create a sinking fund so when that first air conditioner goes out, we have funds for repairs.”

City officials, Dory said, have also adopted a stance that throughout the design process, they would rather spend a little more money now and have something that will last, likening it to getting a countertop for your bathroom.

“You can get a formica top and have it last in there for five years,” the mayor reasoned, “or you can get a stone countertop and have it last for 15 to 20 years.”

Dory and Hammer were also asked about the city’s recycling program and its status with Republic Services.

The issue with recycling “seems to have calmed down,” Dory said. “We’re not getting as many complaints as we were about trash in the recyclables.”

The mayor did say that residents can expect a likely increase in their trash/recycling bill as the city ponders negotiations with Republic on a new contract.

The old contract has been extended a number of times without a raise in fees, Councilman Hammer noted. “The $10 (per month) we pay for trash and recycling, I don’t think that has ever increased to my recollection. Unfortunately we will probably see an increase with that contract up for renewal in the next year or year and a half.”

Unfortunately, the mayor said, “the market has just tanked on recyclables” with China no longer buying our recycling items and national interest not making up for it, leading to higher costs for homeowners’ trash and recycling services.

The mayor also pointed out that Greencastle is the only place serviced by Republic where glass is still being recycled. Whether that continues under the new contract is unknown at this point.

In his opening remarks on the evening, Mayor Dory shared some interesting statistics among the necessary but menial undertakings by city departments.

For example, the wastewater department televised 24,400 feet of city sanitary sewers, looking for leaks or illegal connections, while they also cleaned 38,000 feet of sanitary sewers during 2019.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works, which is responsible for more than 48 miles of city streets and roads as well as adjacent sidewalks, curbs and storm drainage, put down 4.29 miles of preventative, crack-sealing product covering 13 streets. The department also completed 8,900 feet of new or repaired sidewalk, while constructing 3,200 feet of curbing and adding 57 ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) ramps.

And Forest Hill Cemetery benefited from repairs to almost all of the streets in the cemetery, Dory added.

“Overall, 2019 was a good year,” he said, knowing that 2020 has had its pandemic-fueled pitfalls all too fresh in our collective minds.

“We’ll probably see a 20 to 30 percent drop income tax money,” the mayor said for 2022. “We’re already seeing a drop in gas tax revenue, which impacts our public works budget.”

Mayor Dory and Councilman Hammer were live from City Hall for the event, while approximately a dozen residents participated via Zoom.