Ordinance changes sought by council

REDKEY — More changes may be coming to Redkey’s ordinances.

Redkey Town Council discussed various ordinances and agreed to move forward with making some amendments during a nearly two-and-a-half-hour meeting Thursday.

Council agreed to require the minimum wastewater fee for properties hooked up to the town’s wastewater service. It also agreed to stop a property’s trash pickup if their water service is shut off.

Council member Brenda Beaty brought up the discussion by addressing residents hooked up to water and wastewater lines despite their services being turned off. She suggested residents either pay a monthly fee or have a plumber cap off their access.

“I want to put a motion on the floor that we … address the sewer fees of homes that are not paying their fair share of the stuff being hooked up and allowing runoff to run into our sewer system,” she said.

Beaty suggested charging the minimum water fee and the minimum wastewater fee. Town employee Randy Young noted the town can’t charge property owners for water if they are not using it. If a property owner is connected to the wastewater lines, though, they can be charged a minimum fee, he added. If the property owner doesn’t want to pay that fee, Young continued, they may have their access capped off at the property line on the town’s side.

“That should help you be able to see if there is some other house that is flowing into this (Indiana Department of Environmental Management) issue, right?” said Beaty, noting the town’s failure to meet last year’s deadline for dealing with combined sewer overflows (CSOs).

Redkey was granted an extension and now has until Dec. 31 to update its CSO Long Term Control Plan and address the two CSOs. (One starts near Union Street, and the other originates in a rural part of the county just north of town and lets out near Main and George streets.) Choice One Engineering is conducting a master utility study for the town, which should be completed by the summer. While it will name the CSOs as a priority project, it won’t create a plan for their removal.

Council, with “Watermellon” Jim Phillips dissenting, agreed to move forward with the change. 

Clerk-treasurer Gloria May also noted a property owner has not paid their water bill that is now at more than $1,400 and has had their water services disconnected, but they are still utilizing wastewater and trash services.

She said county attorney Wes Schemenaur suggested putting a lien on the property. (Schemenaur, who had been there at the beginning of the meeting, was not in attendance when the topic came up.)

Council president Dave Dudelston asked how many residences were more than two months behind on their water bill, with May’s assistant, Billie Hammond, saying there are probably three or four residents that meet that criteria and have had their water services shut off.

“Shut their trash services off,” Dudelston responded.

Beaty made a motion stipulating if a property owner’s water service is shut off, so is their trash pick-up service. It passed unanimously.

“I can tell you right now, you shut my trash off, you can come pick it up out of my yard,” a resident in the crowd said. “That’s what’s going to happen.”

Other ordinance discussion included:

•Towing unregistered, inoperable vehicles

•Citing residents for living in campers or RVs on their properties

“We’re going to start enforcing these rules,” said Dudelston.

Council also heard from Jay/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn about setting up zoning restrictions in town.

Hemmelgarn suggested the group touch base with Dunkirk, which utilizes its own zoning board. He noted potential issues Redkey may run into if it decides to enact zoning restrictions, such as disputes from residents, and explained the decision may be costly. The town could hire its own enforcer and enact its own rules, create a joint board with Dunkirk — both municipalities would need to agree — or request to join Jay/Portland Building and Planning, which currently serves Portland, Pennville and rural Jay County.

Beaty told council she would reach out to zoning boards with Dunkirk and Jay/Portland Building and Planning to coordinate meetings on the matter.

Also Thursday, council OK’d applying for Thriving Communities — it’s a grant program available through Norfolk Southern railroad — to purchase new playground equipment.

The program is granting up to $50,000 to non-profit organizations, government entities or schools within a 90-minute radius of the Norfolk Southern network. According to the grant application guidelines, Thriving Communities “is designed to promote economic development, support vibrant community life, and provide equal access to basic necessities.” Applications open April 1, noted community coordinator Nate Kimball.

In other business, council members Floyd Life, Chance Retter, Phillips, Dudelston and Beaty:

•Agreed to become registered challengers in the Indiana Broadband Office challenge process. (It’s connected to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. Jay County has committed $3.9 million toward a project with Mainstream Fiber Networks to install 395 miles of fiberoptic or fixed wireless internet across the county.)

•Learned public forums have started for East Central Indiana Regional Planning District’s comprehensive economic development strategy, a five-year plan for Blackford, Grant, Delaware and Jay counties that serves as a summary of the economic conditions of the region and contains a list of projects identified and prioritized by each county. Jay County’s forum is slated for 5 to 7 p.m. April 9 at Jay County Public Library, 315 N. Ship St., Portland.

•Heard about hopes to add permanent installations for electricity hookups downtown to be used during Gas Boom Days. Mark Leavell of the Gas Boom Days committee and local resident Shane Branham said they would look into specifications for the project.

•Learned from Phillips a farmer’s market will begin April 27 in Redkey and continue from 8 a.m. to noon each Saturday.

•Were reminded about the Easter egg hunt slated for 10 a.m. March 30 at Redkey Elementary School.

•Heard various changes to the personnel policy have been drafted and will be brought to the next meeting.

•Agreed to trade in equipment and pay $5,250 for a John Deere utility tractor.

•OK’d filling in holes on Main, Oak and Sherman streets and Bell Avenue for $2,000.

•Gave permission to marshal Zach Moser to purchase new tires for the police department’s Dodge Durango.

•Decided to reject mowing bids. Phillips, Dudelston and Beaty all agreed to donate their time and mow for the town properties themselves at no charge. In recent years, Kesslers Mowing had been providing the service at $398 per mowing.

•Suggested May touch base with surrounding municipalities about affordable asset management plans. May had proposed buying a program from Boyce, which would cost approximately $4,538 to set up and cost up to $1,000 annually.

•Made $1,923 in water bill adjustments.

•Decided to move forward with setting up direct deposit for town employees.

•OK’d contributing $1,500 to install a flag pole — it was donated to town employee Randy Young — at Redkey Fire Department.

•Heard a request from Alicha and Bob Miller — they are two Tennessee residents moving to Redkey — to vacate Washington Street and nearby alleys.