Board doesn't want to take out trash

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

CLOVERDALE -- At their monthly meeting, the Cloverdale utility board discussed trash and angry citizen issues facing the town and heard from two people with information related to funding projects.

Board president Cathy Tipton said the town's recycle bin had become an issue because of trash.

"Our recycle bin (near town hall), I think it's been a great idea, but I think we need to say that it's for recyclables only and not trash. I guess the last two weeks it's just been full of trash," Tipton said. "It's here for everyone's use for recycling. If people continue to put trash in it, it's going to have to be taken away, because we're not going to pay for everyone's trash."

Interim utility manager Rich Saucerman said a red 1997 truck that the town's employees use was in the shop, needing glow plugs, a cam sensor, transmission work and new tires, which would total $4,100.

Board member Don Sublett said he was reluctant to spend that much on a truck that was 14 years old. Saucerman said the transmission worked when he drove it in. Board member Larry Fidler suggested he fix everything but the transmission, which the board approved.

Saucerman also said the town's dump truck would need new tires.

The town heard presentations from Candice Bernier from the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT) and Kristy Jerrell, a grant writer out of Terre Haute with the West Central Indiana Economic Development District.

Jerrell was approved as the town's new grant writer following a presentation to the board. Her first focus is a grant for the Doe Creek lift station. The town has been seeking a grant to repair the station.

Jerrell said the next deadline to submit a proposal was July 22, 2011. The grant she is seeking would give the town of Cloverdale around $600,000, with the town having to match 10 percent.

Bernier gave a presentation on the Indiana Downtown program, a revitalization process that involves creating an executable plan to improve a town's downtown.

"(The program runners) are going to come to your town and do surveys of your businesses and residential areas and see what your niche is, what you want your downtown to be." Bernier said.

Bernier said the program focuses on working with both businesses and local government to create a five-year guideline on how to improve a town.

The reason for Bernier's presentation was that IACT currently has earmarked funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund a town's participation in the program, which would reduce the cost of participation by 50 percent. Tipton said they would contact business members to see if there was interest in this project and invited Bernier back to the town's regular meeting on Feb. 8 for an answer.

The board approved a bulldozer rental for $400 a day to lower the space where a new pole barn will be erected between two existing barns around six inches. Saucerman mentioned there would also be a need to move some electrical wiring to prepare for the new construction.

The town decided not to board up the abandoned Cloverdale Inn after receiving bids on it. The council members said that a price tag over $10,000 was excessive when the building would likely be broken into again.

The council also discussed what to do with an angry man who came into the town hall demanding that town workers be fired for incompetence. It was mentioned that the man had dementia, for which he receives medication. Town attorney Alan Yackey said the man couldn't be blocked from the building with his current behavior. Tipton emphasized that safety was the first priority.

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  • I agree that we all need to be responsible in what we put into the recycling bin. It's a privilege to have this service provided by the solid waste district.

    -- Posted by itsadogslife on Fri, Jan 28, 2011, at 8:29 AM
  • It's too bad there are a few who ruin it for everyone else concerning the recycle bins. When the bin was located at other sites, it wasn't uncommon to open up the bin-door and find laundry, garbage, construction waste, and other non-recycle items. I thought moving it by the town hall would be a deterance. Disappointing.

    -- Posted by Scripted Spontaneity on Fri, Jan 28, 2011, at 7:57 PM
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