Cloverdale council approves agreement with Humane Society

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

CLOVERDALE-- After a couple of months of discussion, the Cloverdale Town Council narrowly approved a continued local service agreement with the Putnam County Humane Society.

"If we don't have an agreement, they can just say they're going to charge us $80 or $90 dollars [to surrender an animal,]" board treasurer and clerk Cathleen Monaco said.

With Terry Puffer absent, the board was split on whether to approve the agreement or not. Board president Cathy Tipton and vice president Dennis Padgett voted to approve the agreement and board members Don Sublett and Larry Fiddler voted against the agreement.

Acting as a tiebreaker Monaco voted to approve the agreement.

Padgett added an increase to the price of a dog tag from $2 to $5 to help fund the agreement with the Humane Society.

The arrangement costs $775 for the remainder of this year and $1,860 next year. It allows town residents to surrender animals to the Humane Society for free. Without the agreement in place Cloverdale police would not be able to surrender animals to the Humane Society.

After a testimony from building inspector Mark Cassida, town attorney Allan Yackey urged the town council to take swift action regarding a well that could be a public danger. The well, located on Kennedy Boulevard, has a dangerous opening, according to Cassida.

"It has a couple of boards on it, but the top is open enough that a child could fall in it," Cassida said.

Cassida said attempts to get the owner to fix the problem have "fallen on deaf ears."

Yackey said he just needed the board's approval to move forward.

"Because of what the building inspector has told me, if the council approves it, I am prepared to move forward and file a petition with the circuit court to order an injunction to order the land owner to secure that well so that somebody doesn't get hurt," Allan Yackey said.

The board unanimously approved Yackey's motion.

Shannon McLeod gave a presentation on the status of the grant application to fix sewer lift station No. 4. McLeod is the grant writer working with the town on the grant application. She presented documents to the council they need to sign before the application could be finished.

There was a scheduling issue, as both the public hearing for the grant application and a Cloverdale Board of Zoning Appeals meetings are scheduled for Oct. 21. The grant public hearing may take place at the Cloverdale Community building.

The board approved the purchase of a new sewer incubator at a cost of $4,231. The incubator stores samples from the sewer and heats them for testing. The incubator is required by the state, according to Padgett. The old incubator needed a new compressor that would have cost $2,500. Rich Saucerman, the interim utility manager, said the old compressor could have further issues down the road if repairs were done.

"We don't know what else could go wrong," he said.

He also said they could make use of the old incubator.

"If we get the same model we could use some of the electronic parts maybe for stand-by parts," Saucerman said. "We hope we wouldn't have any trouble with the new one, though."

After a heated exchange with the board last month and this month, local business owner Dan Moon requested an apology from the board, which he did not receive.

Board president Tipton discussed bringing in insurance companies to make an estimate for town employee insurance at the next town council meeting. The town currently has insurance from Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

"Our insurance costs are just astronomical," Tipton said.

Town attorney Yackey said insurance companies might need more than a month to prepare an estimate.

"It takes them some time to go through the claim history of the group," Yackey said.

Tipton suggested speaking with the insurance companies other municipalities in the area use.

The council also approved Halloween trick or treat time for Sunday, Oct. 31 from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

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  • Too easy, sorry.

    -- Posted by Xgamer on Wed, Oct 13, 2010, at 6:08 AM
  • If the well opening is as bad as Cassida says it is, why didn't he go ahead and cover it at the time, or put signs around it. So, if a child does fall into this well do you think Cassida will be able to sleep with a peace of mind? If it is dangerous-fix it immediately!!!

    -- Posted by Nit on Wed, Oct 13, 2010, at 8:00 AM
  • Go figure Puffer was Not at the meeting. What were flights to Indiana closed that day.

    Hey here is an idea why not get rid of the insurance that they will not get a good rate on and go with a flex spending plan an save tax payers money.

    Dan Moon need a formal apology for how he was treated. Shame Shame Shame!

    -- Posted by jakesims on Wed, Oct 13, 2010, at 12:02 PM
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