Funds shifted to Depot Building

The Depot Building will be getting some additional financial help. 

At its meeting Monday, Dunkirk City Council decided what to do with leftover money generated from Bluff Point Wind Energy Center. 

It also heard a request from a Jay School Corporation bus driver to remove a basketball hoop that sits on Pearl Street. 

In October, Jay County Commissioners approved spending $50,000 in economic development money it received from NextEra Energy Resources to replace the roof on Dunkirk Public Library and The Glass Museum, which are housed in the same building.

The library didn’t need all of the money, council member Jack Robbins said, and somewhere between $16,000 and $17,000 was left over. Robbins asked that council direct the remaining money toward Dunkirk Industrial Development Corporation for the parking lot and landscaping at the Depot Building.

Council agreed to Robbins’ proposal. The Depot Building is currently undergoing a $70,000 interior renovation funded by DIDC and The Dunkirk Foundation. Also Monday, council heard about a basketball hoop that hinders traffic on Pearl Street. 

Kathy Crouch, a bus driver for Jay School Corporation, told council she requested at city hall this spring that it be removed, but no action was taken.

“It causes havoc. It’s hard to get through Pearl Street with the cars and the camper and the parked cars — it’s like a one-way,” Crouch said. “It’s sure giving us headaches down there.” 

City attorney Wes Schemenaur said Dunkirk has an ordinance that should address the problem, mandating that streets and sidewalks may not be obstructed.

Mayor Gene Ritter told Crouch the issue should be taken care of soon. 

In other business, council members Jesse Bivens, Tom Johnson, Lisa Street, Bryan Jessup and Robbins: 

•Learned Dunkirk City Pool closed for the season Monday and winterizing has started. For the first time, the pool made money — about $1,000 — on concessions, clerk-treasurer Tina Elliott said.  

•Removed a line from the township fire contracts requiring township trustees to secure a $200 insurance payment from people who have had house fires. Ritter said the city has never collected those payments, and Knox Township has not signed a contract with Dunkirk because of the requirement. 

•Approved paying $1,079 for new probes from Spear Corporation for the swimming pool and $730.54 for an Aquapro door assembly from USABlueBook for the wastewater department. 

•Adopted an updated ordinance spelling out the fees for pretreatment of industrial wastewater through Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The document hadn’t been updated since 2014.

•Heard from Bivens, who oversees the wastewater department, that council will need to schedule an executive session for a personnel matter as soon as possible. 

•Learned the city will be flushing fire hydrants Aug. 19 to 23. 

•Heard that the paving paid for in part by an Indiana Department of Transportation Community Crossings grant is almost completed. Roads closed for paving should reopen today. 

•Heard from Quincy Place resident Al Curts that Wade Jurney Homes is planning to build 13 homes in the residential area, with construction planned for later this year.