Absence of attorney limits work (6/21/05)

REDKEY — With town attorney John Brooke absent because of a funeral, a minimal amount of business was conducted at Monday night’s town council meeting.

Because Brooke could not attend, council members postponed several items on the agenda — including the final reading and passage of three ordinances.

The three ordinances concern setting regulations for golf carts, dealing with the removal of junk or abandoned vehicles in town, and establishing a Redkey Plan Commission.

Council president Violet Erlenbush said that a special meeting may need to be called prior to the next regularly scheduled one at 6 p.m. July 18 to handle these and other issues.

Erlenbush and fellow council members Dixie Toy, Dottie Quakenbush and Darrell Smith handled routine business matters and reports, as well as studied and approved claims.

At the council’s June 2 meeting, members agreed to scrutinize claims carefully in light of the town’s budget problems.

Also at that session, Brooke asked Redkey clerk-treasurer Brenda Adkins to prepare monthly departmental budget status reports, as she was directed more than a year ago by the Indiana State Board of Accounts.

At Monday’s council session, Adkins said the reports weren’t ready due to a problem with the adding machine in the clerk’s office. Adkins said she would have the reports ready for review later this week, noting that council members could inspect them by visiting her office.

Also Monday, Smith asked the clerk-treasurer if she had been able to prepare a list of delinquent water and sewer billing accounts, also as requested by Brooke.

“I’m still working on that,” Adkins replied.

The seriousness of the town’s financial problems came to light last month when a special meeting was hastily called to approve a motion to borrow $20,000 from MainSource Bank, Redkey, in anticipation of the town receiving its next tax draw. Part of the $20,000 loan was used to cover payroll expenses.

In other business at Monday night’s meeting, council members:

•Received a report from Quakenbush that John Hill, a resident of Dunkirk who grew up in Redkey, had been elected president of the Redkey Park Board, replacing Delford Lowe, who recently moved to Tennessee. Hill, 37, has children in the baseball program at the park. He is employed with the Muncie Community Schools in maintenance.

Quakenbush said the park board normally meets at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month in the Redkey Park Cabin. However, due to the July 4th holiday, the group’s next meeting is June 28 at 7 p.m. in the park cabin.

•Learned that the Redkey Volunteer Fire Department was sponsoring its annual fund-raising truck and tractor pull at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 25, in a large field just off Ind. 1 on the south side of town.[[In-content Ad]]