Fillmore Town Council addresses varied agenda Thursday

Friday, October 4, 2019

FILLMORE -- Fillmore officials had an assorted agenda to cover during their regular meeting Thursday evening.

The council addressed a question as to whether a minimum can be charged on a property that is vacant, and if the property owner can pay on sewer only. The question concerned an unspecified resident, but which Council President Bill Ashcraft said was behind on water bills but not using these utilities. It was also asked if the water meter specific to that property could be removed.

After going through previous policies, Town Attorney Jeff Boggess said that the water meter could be removed, but that there was a $750 reinstallation fee should the owner wish to put it back.

While Town Marshal Darrel Bunten did not attend the meeting, he asked the council about installing solar-powered speed limit signs in the town. Council member Robin Duncan suggested that Greencastle officials could be consulted as to how they acquired signs like the one on Jackson Street near DePauw University.

While Ashcraft said grants to purchase them were a possibility, he and Duncan agreed with Terry Wood of the Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department that they could not be effective. Wood added that this was compounded by there not being a consistent police force to catch speeders.

The council also briefly considered how it would sell an old police vehicle. Boggess said the town could either advertise it for bids or take it to auction. On the advice that an auctioneer may be reluctant to take up the sale due to the vehicle’s low market value, the council decided to advertise it for closed bids with a $500 reserve.

Without any discussion or additions, the council also adopted its budget for 2020. Clerk-Treasurer Jayna Haldeman said it would be made public once approved by the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF).

The council also accepted a bid from Boswell Tree Service to trim tree lines on roads such as Putnam Street and Cemetery Road. The bid totaled $2,850, but the council agreed that trimming needed to be done. Haldeman, however, expressed some hesitance about paying a large sum for the task.

In his report, Town Maintenance Director Joe Cash said that he was in the process of trying to clean out the town’s lift stations. He said that he had planned to do this once a year in October, and that maintenance on the pumps is not as frequent or involved by doing so.

The next regular meeting of the Fillmore Town Council is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Fillmore Town Hall.

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