July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Spot in Redkey is filled
Redkey Town Council
By Robert Banser-
REDKEY - After an absence of 25 years area businessman Jim Funkhouser was welcomed back as a member of the Redkey Town Council Thursday night.
Local Democratic Party leaders appointed Funk-houser to fill the unexpired term of Dottie Quakenbush during a caucus Wednesday evening.
Quakenbush announced her intention to resign from the council last month, even though her term was not set to expire until Dec. 31, 2011.
On Thursday, Funkhouser filed the necessary paperwork and was sworn into office at the Jay County Courthouse, and then attended the first town council meeting of his new term.
In the 1980s Funkhouser served on the town council along with Doug Stanley, current council president, and both agreed that they were happy to be reunited as council members once again.
Stanley said the first order of business Thursday night was to welcome Funkhouser back to the council.
"It's my privilege," Funkhouser said.
Funkhouser, 55, 223 E. Wayne St., manages and is a co-owner of Pengad Inc., Muncie, a printing and legal materials supply company.
A Dunkirk native, Funkhouser has lived in Redkey 34 years.
Funkhouser said he loves the town and wants to help improve it, and looks forward to once again working with Stanley.
In other business Thursday night, Redkey council members:
•Entered into an agreement with The Schneider Corporation to develop an engineering plan aimed at eliminating combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in Redkey.
The proposal calls for a spending limit of $2,500 on the planning work. Jay County community developer Ami Huffman will be working with Schneider to try to obtain grant funding for the project.
Currently Redkey is under an agreed order with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to develop a long-term plan to eliminate CSO problems in its sewer system. Deadline for developing the plan is April 30, and Schneider representative Paul Vincent told council members Thursday night that his firm will be working toward that goal.
Vincent said previous studies regarding the condition of Redkey's sanitary sewer system have been done in recent years, and he intends to bring those up to date to meet the requirements of the IDEM agreed order.
•Discussed the need to step up enforcement of the town's nuisance ordinance provisions. Attorney Leslie Mathewson, representing the town's law firm of Brooke-Mawhorr, joined in this discussion, offering several suggestions.
Stanley said the town has compiled an extensive list of properties in need of cleanup and repair work. Funkhouser asked if the town could obtain some of these properties where taxes were delinquent. But Stanley cautioned that the town did not have the funds to demolish dilapidated structures and by owning such properties, the town would be in violation of its own ordinances.
•Approved a resolution to transfer $75,000 from the town's sewer separation fund to the general fund as a temporary loan to deal with cash flow problems such as meeting payroll and other expenses. The sewer separation fund will need to be paid back by Dec. 31, 2010, according to the resolution.
•Agreed to turn over $100,582 in accumulated economic development income (EDIT) tax revenue to the Redkey Economic Development Corporation for its work in attracting new business development.
•Noted that work was continuing on preparing legal documents aimed at annexing the Bell Aquaculture property in the Redkey Industrial Park, as requested by Bell. Mathewson said that she has been working on this project. She said public hearings will be required and the potential completion date for the overall annexation process would be toward the end of September.
•Heard a report from councilman Charlie Noble that the Redkey Optimist Club was once again planning to bring a circus to the community. The proposed date is May 11, Noble said.
•Granted permission to council representative Terri Taylor and the street department to purchase up to $400 in additional salt to spread on town streets, if weather conditions warrant it.
•Agreed to renew its contract for another year with the Muncie firm of Brooke-Mawhorr for legal services.[[In-content Ad]]
Local Democratic Party leaders appointed Funk-houser to fill the unexpired term of Dottie Quakenbush during a caucus Wednesday evening.
Quakenbush announced her intention to resign from the council last month, even though her term was not set to expire until Dec. 31, 2011.
On Thursday, Funkhouser filed the necessary paperwork and was sworn into office at the Jay County Courthouse, and then attended the first town council meeting of his new term.
In the 1980s Funkhouser served on the town council along with Doug Stanley, current council president, and both agreed that they were happy to be reunited as council members once again.
Stanley said the first order of business Thursday night was to welcome Funkhouser back to the council.
"It's my privilege," Funkhouser said.
Funkhouser, 55, 223 E. Wayne St., manages and is a co-owner of Pengad Inc., Muncie, a printing and legal materials supply company.
A Dunkirk native, Funkhouser has lived in Redkey 34 years.
Funkhouser said he loves the town and wants to help improve it, and looks forward to once again working with Stanley.
In other business Thursday night, Redkey council members:
•Entered into an agreement with The Schneider Corporation to develop an engineering plan aimed at eliminating combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in Redkey.
The proposal calls for a spending limit of $2,500 on the planning work. Jay County community developer Ami Huffman will be working with Schneider to try to obtain grant funding for the project.
Currently Redkey is under an agreed order with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to develop a long-term plan to eliminate CSO problems in its sewer system. Deadline for developing the plan is April 30, and Schneider representative Paul Vincent told council members Thursday night that his firm will be working toward that goal.
Vincent said previous studies regarding the condition of Redkey's sanitary sewer system have been done in recent years, and he intends to bring those up to date to meet the requirements of the IDEM agreed order.
•Discussed the need to step up enforcement of the town's nuisance ordinance provisions. Attorney Leslie Mathewson, representing the town's law firm of Brooke-Mawhorr, joined in this discussion, offering several suggestions.
Stanley said the town has compiled an extensive list of properties in need of cleanup and repair work. Funkhouser asked if the town could obtain some of these properties where taxes were delinquent. But Stanley cautioned that the town did not have the funds to demolish dilapidated structures and by owning such properties, the town would be in violation of its own ordinances.
•Approved a resolution to transfer $75,000 from the town's sewer separation fund to the general fund as a temporary loan to deal with cash flow problems such as meeting payroll and other expenses. The sewer separation fund will need to be paid back by Dec. 31, 2010, according to the resolution.
•Agreed to turn over $100,582 in accumulated economic development income (EDIT) tax revenue to the Redkey Economic Development Corporation for its work in attracting new business development.
•Noted that work was continuing on preparing legal documents aimed at annexing the Bell Aquaculture property in the Redkey Industrial Park, as requested by Bell. Mathewson said that she has been working on this project. She said public hearings will be required and the potential completion date for the overall annexation process would be toward the end of September.
•Heard a report from councilman Charlie Noble that the Redkey Optimist Club was once again planning to bring a circus to the community. The proposed date is May 11, Noble said.
•Granted permission to council representative Terri Taylor and the street department to purchase up to $400 in additional salt to spread on town streets, if weather conditions warrant it.
•Agreed to renew its contract for another year with the Muncie firm of Brooke-Mawhorr for legal services.[[In-content Ad]]
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