Russellville council moves forward with water application

Thursday, November 19, 2020

RUSSELLVILLE -- Town leaders in Russellville moved one more step closer to securing funding for its new water tower. For the next month, it will be a wait of anticipation.

The council held a final public hearing on the final submission of the town’s project to the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) during its short regular meeting Wednesday evening.

Council President Cary McGaughey gave an overview of the project, which would see the dismantling of the current water tower and the building of a new 50,000-gallon one. This would also include new water mains to the water tower and new tanks.

The grant the town has pursued is a Community Development Block Grant from OCRA that would cover part of the $1.32 million improvement. Though the state would cover $700,000 of this, the town would have to pick up the remaining $620,000.

Clerk-Treasurer Martha Mandleco said that 52 letters of support had been written by residents. Larry Haag of Beam, Longest and Neff said the amount of letters was “stellar,” and demonstrated the community’s involvement with the project.

After closing the public hearing, the council voted to approve its submission of the application. All applications were to be submitted to OCRA by Friday at midnight.

Grant awards are set to be announced by the state on Dec. 17.

In a related item, the council also approved a water asset management plan contract with certified public accountant and local historian Larry Tippin. He will focus on the town’s utility inventory and longer-term financial planning.

Council member Cathy Jones was not present for the meeting.

The next meeting of the Russellville Town Council is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Russellville Community Center.

Town announces wellhead protection plan

RUSSELLVILLE -- The source of Russellville’s drinking water is groundwater produced from local drinking water wells.

To protect the underground aquifer and the water wells from potential contamination, the Town of Russellville has developed a wellhead protection (WHP) plan, which was approved by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) in September 2005.

The town’s local planning team held a meeting on Sept. 24, 2019 to discuss the WHP program, which focuses on public awareness, education, spill prevention and reporting.

A complete copy of the WHP plan and educational pamphlets are available for public viewing at the Russellville Town Hall, currently being housed at the Russellville Community Center, 300 N. Harrison St., Russellville.

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  • I'm just wondering why the BG covers small-town meetings in excruciating detail, but the County meetings (zoning, plan commission, commissioners, council) are often ignored completely. These affect the whole county (37,000 people) while Russellville, Fillmore, etc. affect far less.

    -- Posted by Ben Dover on Fri, Nov 20, 2020, at 10:53 AM
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