Cloverdale remains busy, busy

CLOVERDALE -- Residents have already seen a few improvements in Cloverdale and can expect to see more as spring approaches.

At Tuesday's meeting, the Cloverdale Town Council approved paying Reed and Son Contractors more than $200,000 for installing a new drainage system on Lafayette Street. The payment will come out of a grant totaling a little more than $450,000 that Cloverdale received in 2015.

After paying Reed and Son, Cloverdale will have about $20,000 left over for landscaping the area. Although a few residents have expressed complaints as to culvert sizes and the location of some basins, Clerk-Treasurer Cheryl Galloway said most residents are "very happy with the work that has been done."

Town Manager Wayne Galloway announced that he is now collecting bids for blacktopping Lafayette Street from its intersection with Market Street to the Doe Creek Bridge intersection. Once the blacktopping is complete, Cloverdale plans to tear out the old sidewalks and put in new ones from Cloverdale High School to Logan Street.

Lowered sidewalks complying with the Americans With Disabilities Act have already been added to each street corner. The new sidewalks had been named as one of the Council's goals for 2016.

Changes will be made underground as well, with the Council estimating that $300,000 will be spent on fixing broken sewer lines this year.

Cloverdale will also be advertising sealed farm bids at 10844 S. County Road 675 East. The deadline to apply is March 7 at noon, and applications can be found at cloverdalein.com or picked up at the Town Hall at 154 S. Main St. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In other developments:

-- Town Manager Galloway reported that Spiker Excavating, Eco Infrastructure, Baker's Septic Service and Cloverdale employees worked long hours for three days to repair a manhole near Burma Road and Stardust Way and keep the laterals running. The repairs cost the town more than $9,000. The Council approved using funds from the food and beverage tax to pay for them since the wastewater budget has already been expended to fix a motor and a vacuum truck.

While some would like to use the food and beverage tax to lower utility rates by $5, Clerk-Treasurer Galloway said that, according to the I.C. 6-9-43-9 law, funds from the tax can only be used for water, waste and stormwater costs. Cloverdale instituted the tax in 2003 to offset the costs of a $4 million bond for the state-required wastewater plant.

Since the bond is still being paid off, Clerk-Treasurer Galloway said, the town must continue to use the tax to pay for it. Even if it were legal to use the tax for lowering rates, the rates would actually go up by $10 to pay for a new bond the town would have to take out to pay for the existing wastwater plant bond.

In other business:

-- The council approved Salary Ordinance 2016-1, which changed the 2015-10 Salary Ordinance to allow a raise for the water manager.

-- The council approved Resolution 2016-3, which made changes to the town's credit card policy to comply with the Indiana State Board of Accounts.

The next Town Council meeting will be March 8 at 7 p.m. in the Cloverdale Town Hall. A public hearing to vacate the alley on 251 S. Lafayette St. will be conducted March 3 at 7 p.m. at the Cloverdale Town Hall.