Council gets update

REDKEY — Like Jay County’s other smaller municipalities, the town does not have an animal control plan in place.

That could change over the next few years.

At its meeting Thursday, Redkey Town Council heard an update on the animal control task force’s progress toward creating a centralized system and facility for animal care in Jay County.

It also resolved a dispute about a damaged electrical circuit and approved next year’s budget.

Julie Forcum presented an update at the request of council member Doug Stanley, Redkey’s representative on the task force. The group was formed last October at the direction of Jay County Commissioners.

In the past year, it has assessed the current state of animal control in the county and created the goals of consistent, county-wide ordinances and enforcement, a centralized facility, funding for animal control, humane treatment of animals, public education and protection of responsible owners’ rights.

Over the next few months the group will come up with concrete recommendations to improve animal control in the county to be presented to local governing bodies in January and February.  

From there, Forcum said, the task force can seek bids for constructing a larger, centralized facility for the county and determine funding for the project and continued support.

Jay County currently pays the Fields family $43,000 a year for animal control outside of municipalities, and the City of Portland pays $15,000 and a weekly tank of gas for coverage in its city limits. Dunkirk has a contract with an animal control officer. But Redkey, Bryant, Pennville and Salamonie all run into the same problem of having nowhere to take animals, Forcum noted.

“That was part of the reason for establishing this initiative, let’s figure out a solution for taking care of the problem,” she said. “What do we do with these animals? You can have somebody get them; where do they go?”

Council members expressed their support for the task force’s goals. 

“This is something that I hope we’re going to welcome with open arms,” council member Ted Friddle said.

“I hope so too,” added council president Terri Taylor. “The only thing I see holding us back would be, like always, funding.”

Forcum said that until more concrete plans are in place, it’s not possible to know what Redkey’s monetary contribution would be. But options are available, including grants from foundations.

“This group is committed to moving forward with whatever plans are chosen to ensure that safety and quality of life are better for the citizens and for the innocent animals of our county,” Forcum said. “We are working hard.”

Also Thursday, council released the final payment to one of the companies involved in the town’s sewer separation project.

Mitch Hansel of Fleis and VandenBrink told council that Brackney Inc., which completed the sewer work, is finished with its part of the project. But there was one issue that needed to be resolved.  

When Brackney installed a sewage line underneath Union Street at its intersection with High Street two years ago, an electrical conduit was damaged. While Brackney insists it repaired the damage, a former council member has questioned the quality of repair.

“Red (Charles Coons) claims … Brackney cut the line and then they just duct-taped it back together,” Hansel said.

Brackney offered to dig up the conduit, but the town would be on the hook for $2,000 if there was no problem after all. The other option was for the company to pay $650 towards the $1,300 cost for town employee Bill Tressler to examine the conduit.

After deliberating and consulting with the town’s attorney, council settled on accepting the $650 from Brackney and having Tressler check the conduit, which controls street lights on the south side of the street.

It also voted to release the $144,254.65 retainage to the company.

The town’s 2020 budget, proposed at $554,961, was adopted Thursday on its second reading. Randy May, Taylor and Friddle voted to approve it, while Dave Dudelston abstained because of his employment with the fire department. Stanley was absent.

In other business, council:

•Approved setting up a way for residents to pay their utility bills with credit cards at town hall. The system comes at no cost to the town, but users will pay a 3-percent service charge.

•Noted that trick-or-treating will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 31. The costume contest lineup will take place at 5:15 p.m. at the fire station, with judging at 5:30 p.m.

The Flashlight Candy Kraze was rescheduled for 8:30 p.m. toninght in Redkey Morgan Park because of rainy conditions last week. 

•Settled on colors for Redkey Morgan Park Cabin, which will be renovated. Council selected a galvanized gray color for the siding and bright red for the roof.

“Everything out here is blue, but we like red,” Taylor said. “It’s Redkey Park.”

•Paid claims of $61,052.33.