City will lease patcher

The City of Portland will lease a new spray patcher instead of buying one outright in an effort to save money.

Portland City Council approved a resolution authorizing a lease for a new spray patcher for the city at its meeting Monday.

Council members also voted to join a statewide opioid lawsuit.

At the council’s previous meeting on March 5, a vote to approve the lease did not pass. It was presented again Monday and received unanimous support from council members Janet Powers, Judy Aker, Michelle Brewster, Kent McClung and Don Gillespie. Judy Hedges was absent.

Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman said there are several advantages to leasing a spray patcher versus buying it outright. One would be that Portland would not be responsible for paying for repairs to the machine.

“If you do the leasing, the leasing company is responsible, then they would bring a spray patcher down for us to use while they’re fixing it,” Geesaman said. “That way we don’t have to pay $65,000 up front. There may be other things that we need.”

Portland will pay about $17,000 to Hoosier Equipment LLC out of Plymouth each year in rent after trading in the old spray patcher. The total amount due is $67,180 over the course of four years. After that, the city has the option to buy the spray patcher or to begin a new lease.

Council members also decided on Monday to join a class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies to recoup some of the money spent dealing with the effects of opioids.

Many cities and counties have already joined the suit, which is being handled by Cohen and Malad LLP out of Indianapolis. Jay County Commissioners joined the suit at the end of February.

It does not cost anything for Portland to add itself to the suit, and the lawyers will only receive payment if a settlement is achieved. Money from a settlement would go toward drug addiction education and recovery efforts.

In other business, council members:

•Learned the state will pay for environmental cleanup at the site of the former book bindery (518 S. Wayne St.). The city was originally on the hook for removing lead deposits or would have had to market it as-is to potential developers. Geesaman told council he received a call from the Indiana Brownfields Program offering money from a grant the program had received, and the work will begin as soon as weather allows.

•Approved Fort Recovery Industries’ request for a five-year abatement on an almost $3.2 million project. The company had requested the abatement at the March 5 city council meeting, and the tax abatement advisory committee approved its request.

•Heard about a blighted property that recently came under the city’s control. Geesman told council the property at 815 E. North St. had just been turned over to the city when Portland Police Department got calls about methamphetamine labs in the garage and in the house. He said Portland Board of Works will hear two quotes for demolition of the house and garage at its special meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

•Got an update on the street sweeping schedule for this year. A new employee will start on April 1 and will sweep the streets twice a week. Geesman said the city will be sweeping all streets this year.

•Heard that clean up week will be May 7 through May 11.