Bainbridge 'ceases purchase' of park

BAINBRIDGE -- Several residents and community leaders met at the town hall in Bainbridge Wednesday amid debate concerning the purchase of a property east of town.

The property, currently owned by Leon and Donna Tippin, is located on U.S. 36 at the east edge of Bainbridge. The board initially approached the Tippins with the idea to use the property as a park, but the idea of a park is seen by some as intrusive. Others say a park in the area would improve quality of life for Bainbridge residents.

Both arguments came to a head Wednesday and the issue was ultimately turned down by a 2-1 vote -- Councilmen Jerry Lents and Joel Thompson approved to "cease proceedings to purchase" the property while Board President Chuck McElwee voted against its cessation.

"The East Point Park property goes over to the Tippin property," McElwee said. "We had proposed to buy the 25 acres of the Tippin property -- which would make the two properties continuous."

One concerned citizen raised the question of a house located between the town and the potential park, wondering if the driveway would be affected.

"We were actually going to purchase that land and it's typical in those situations that an easement (would) be provided so that they would be able to maintain the driveway and have access to their residence," McElwee said.

There was also concern expressed by Councilman Lents at October's meeting about the replacement of an existing septic system. That, Lents said, is now irrelevant.

Several residents expressed worry over the park's impact and the process of the purchase itself. One resident said the adjacent Bainbridge Cemetery's privacy would be affected while some claimed a nearby park would be ideal compared to other potential installations. Another said that, after so much work had been done to investigate the matter, it'd be a shame not to support those efforts. Councilman Thompson countered with the fact that many prospective purchases are investigated each year without final approval.

Originally the board sought and received approval for help purchasing the property from the DNR.

"It wasn't the DNR that wanted it," McElwee said, addressing a resident's question. "The town council, as it was constructed at the time, supported the purchase.

"We worked on that for a year," McElwee continued. "We approached the DNR about assisting us with a grant called the Bicentennial Nature Trust. There were hundreds of applications and we were the only town in Indiana that was approved. We went to our state legislators, our state senators, the county council, the Putnam County Foundation -- we garnered support and input from every legislative body associated with this area."

Counters included DNR rules that accompany the grant, which deem the park as "passive," meaning no football fields, baseball fields or the like.

After much discussion, the property was ultimately voted out of potential use.

In other business:

* Thursa Evens reported on the status of several events -- a trip by Gleaners Food Bank to the Bainbridge Community Center's parking lot showed the food pantry's success. North Putnam football players helped set up the event which fed more than 130 families.

Gleaners will return on Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the community center.

She also expressed appreciation that Bainbridge Elementary had held a food drive, providing a "huge delivery" on Monday to the Two Fish Food Pantry in Bainbridge. Volunteers can come to the next Nov. 21 event at 9 a.m. to prepare for 10 a.m. deliveries.

* Evens also reported that on Sunday, Nov. 22, a community Thanksgiving dinner at noon at the community center.

* Town Marshal Rodney Fenwick reported that several of the police department's radar guns have been problematic and received approval to, in the event the radar guns cannot be repaired, purchase new equipment. Also, Fenwick stated that mobile recording units, or GoPro cameras, have been provided via grants and are now used in addition to operational dashboard cameras.

* The utility report was read aloud by Councilman McElwee in the absence of Utility Board President Jeff Kiger.

"The snow plows have been serviced and (are) ready for action; salt has been delivered -- we purchased 25 tons this year at $87.37 a ton," McElwee read. "The Vine Street Project is complete; the solar park is up and running; this winter we will be working on changes to our operator-qualification plan and our operations and maintenance manual for the gas utilities; and disinfection season is over at the wastewater facilities and all tanks and pumps have been removed and cleaned for winter."

Kiger will also soon be attending a conference for damage prevention.

*New business with the Putnam County Hospital was tabled until the board's December meeting due to the absence of an expected hospital representative.

* Ordinance 2015-8, or Cross Connection Control, was adopted with unanimous approval following last month's second reading.

* Appointees were approved for the following positions: Laurie Hensley, Park Board; Scott Curran, Planning Commission; Dustin Osborne, Planning Commission; and Mike Aynes, Board of Zoning Appeals.