Roachdale seeks second Community Crossings project for 2019

ROACHDALE — Even the November news that Roachdale would receive $325,457 in Community Crossings money was tempered a bit by the denial to fund another project.

Town officials learned last month that while grant funding had been approved to cover 75 percent of the project to resurface Indiana Street from the railroad crossing north to the town limits and Washington Street from Meridian Street to East Street.

However, they also learned that the application for $170,916 to help pave East Columbia Street from Indiana Street to Lonoke Street, as well as the entirety of Lonoke, south to State Road 236, was not funded.

This caused both the town and its contractor Midwest Engineers to wonder what hat happened to their No. 1 priority project, which actually came with a lower price tag.

On Tuesday during the December town council meeting, President Zach Bowers announced that Midwest had discovered a clerical error it made on the application.

The error has now been fixed and Midwest will resubmit it in early 2019, at no cost to the town, meaning Roachdale could have two Community Crossings projects in 2019.

In another big project, Clerk-treasurer Debbie Sillery revealed that bids for the new community center in the old TDS building had come in.

Unfortunately, they were all over budget, with the lowest at $606,300.

The project was already the recipient of a $500,000 grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs back in April, with an additional $27,000 grant coming from the Putnam County Community Center last month.

Sillery said next steps are being explored, whether they be choosing from the features they want in the existing bids or re-bidding the process entirely.

“Some of the things that we’re thinking of cutting out can easily be cut,” Sillery said.

She added that the goal is still to have the center up and running by late spring.

The council had some good news for Sillery when it came time for the 2019 salary ordinance.

For the most part, salaries do not have to be change yet. However, the salaries of elected officials cannot be adjusted in the same year that the actual change occurs.

This means that if the council wants to change its own salary or that of Sillery in 2019, it must be done by Dec. 31.

“Well, I’m not interested in changing the town council’s salary,” councilor Holly Cook said. Bowers and Kevin Cook agreed.

For Sillery, though, the three council members discussed it, ultimately deciding on a 10-percent pay increase for Sillery, a bump of approximately $5,000.

While Sillery was quiet during the discussion, she was quick to express her appreciation.

“Thank you very much. It’s much appreciated,” Sillery said.

In other business:

• The council may soon consider an animal control ordinance. While existing town laws are in place for barking or roaming animals, Town Marshal Adrian Lepine told of a situation Wednesday in which he had to remove several malnourished dogs from a home.

“I get probably two or three calls a day on dogs,” Lepine said. “It’s frustrating because we don’t have the facilities here.”

Town attorney Dave Peebles will draft an ordinance for an upcoming meeting.

• A building permit for a storage shed was approved at 507 N. Indiana St. The plan had already been approved by the Plan Commission.

Additionally, Plan Commission meeting dates will change in 2019 to the last Wednesday of every month.

• The council approved the purchase of a leaf vac from Busenbark Equipment in Crawfordsville.

The quote for the Landshark debris loader is $2,350, plus another $350 for a mounting bracket.

The council approved it for a cost not to exceed $3,000, with uncertainty if the price has changed.

• The town will also be purchasing a new alarm system for the water and sewer plants.

At a quote of $8,759, the new system will bring the town into compliance with IDEM requirements.

• The last piece of good news Wednesday came from Sillery, who reported that the 2019 town budget has been approved by the state with no cuts.