New sidewalks, recent successes and new utility payments in Bainbridge

Thursday, July 10, 2014

At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the Bainbridge town council reflected upon recent successes and discussed integration of its new utility billing program among other items.

The success of the Mortonville Fireworks Fourth of July presentation in Bainbridge and the Jonah Fish Fry (put on by the Bainbridge Improvement Society) gave the board reason to reflect upon two recent town events and discussed how the town might harness the growing energy and attendance of these events.

The board estimates that 700-800 people participated in the Fourth of July fireworks show. The show is not put on by the town of Bainbridge directly, but the show is funded by the town.

"It was an awesome, awesome community success," board member Chuck McElwee said.

The town of Bainbridge works in conjunction with private land owner(s) for a location and with Mortonville Fireworks to provide the show, and the arrangement seems to be working well.

As the board members discussed what they saw and heard this year, it appears that each year more people are attending and more people from out of town are coming to Bainbridge for the event.

With the added success of the Jonah Fish Fry on June 13, the board discussed harnessing the momentum from the two events, possibly combining the now separate projects into one July 4 celebration next year.

"It (the fish fry) went really well," organizer and BIS member Thursa Evens said.

Other ideas discussed in addition to combining these events were to provide a bounce house or some other carnival-type amusement. Discussions were all preliminary and centered around the idea that the town has an annual celebration that seems to gain momentum and attendance with each passing year.

Clerk-treasurer Jason Harman spoke about the introduction of the new billing system for the town of Bainbridge that will ultimately remove the option to pay in person at the Bainbridge Town Hall but will open up the option to pay online with a credit or debit card.

The new bills were sent out Thursday and citizens will still be able to make in-person payments for at least the rest of the current billing cycle, about 30 days.

Hartman is trying to make the transition as smooth as possible, and despite doing extensive proactive troubleshooting he knows there will of course be some hurdles.

"I think this (billing) company has been pretty darn thorough," Hartman said. "I'm not saying something won't pop up, I'm sure it will. We know there's going to be a transition period."

For those who are unable to make online payments from home or who just need some help understanding the process, a laptop computer will be available at the Bainbridge Town Hall to provide access and provide an opportunity to ask questions.

McElwee acknowledged the work of law enforcement in its handling of a shooting incident that happened in Bainbridge in June.

"I'd like to commend the Bainbridge Police and the Putnam County Sherriff's Department," McElwee said regarding the incident. "The incident was handled without injury to the public or the suspect and it really could've gone a very different way."

The board discussed a complaint from a resident regarding the town's burn pile. Although the town had not been burning anytime recently, the citizen complained about the smell of smoke, perhaps from an unauthorized burn but the cause could not be positively identified. In discussing the town's current process of burning brush three times per year, the conversation shifted to the possibility of a better alternative: composting.

It was an issue that had been looked into in the past when the town was applying for a grant and had been deemed to be an expensive shift in policy once machinery and manpower was considered. In the case of the grant application, the town sought to use the grant to purchase a $50,000 machine to perform the tasks needed. At Wednesday's meeting, the board spoke of benefits and pitfalls, as well as the limits of the town's annual budget and decided to begin investigating ways in which a new system may work, including finding the cost of used machines and further discussing how a compost system might work.

No decisions were made regarding an actual switch of processes, the board merely discussed ideas that involve moving forward and trying to get more out of the town's brush.

In other business:

* Downtown sidewalk renovations will be taking place in Bainbridge Thursday and Friday but should be done before the weekend.

* The board confirmed that the public hearing regarding the IHCDA Grant will be taking place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 29.

* The board planned to have a private budget workshop after next month's meeting to prepare for setting the 2015 budget.

* Clerk-Treasurer Hartman suggested that money begin to be set aside for the Indiana bicentennial celebration and the Bainbridge bicentennial celebration, two and 12 years away respectively.

* The Bainbridge Police Dept. informed the board that it is in need of two new tasers. Only one of the present pair of tasers works, leaving one officer without a taser at all times. In purchasing two new tasers, each police car would have a taser and the station would refurbish the presently working taser and keep it as a backup. Tasers are typically good for 2-5 years depending on use and battery life.

* Hartman informed the board that the town is still awaiting a decision on FEMA reimbursement funds totaling $5,410 to help offset the cost of two days worth of labor, resources and machinery use to combat the extreme winter.

The next town council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Bainbridge Town Hall.

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  • To clarify the town of Bainbridge and BIS make donations towards the fireworks show put on by Mortonville Fireworks we do not fund this activity, but are VERY grateful for the show they provide for the town.

    -- Posted by BBSupporter on Thu, Jul 10, 2014, at 8:53 PM
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