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Covering Milford, Syracuse & North Webster, Indiana
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Sharing Her Plants With Community One Nation Under God
Page 6 www.the-papers.com
Formal discussion to combine middle schools at Wawasee begins %\ '(% 3$77(5621 (GLWRU ,Q &KLHI
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Richard stepping down as planning director %\ '(% 3$77(5621 (GLWRU ,Q &KLHI Dan Richard, who has been plan commission director for 45 plus years, is stepping down. Richard submitted his resignation at the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission’s Aug. 3 meeting. His letter stated he started and stopped such a letter many times in the last couple years. Not because he was anxious or a procrastinator, he wanted to make sure it was the right move. “Well, after 45-plus years as the director of the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission I feel the time is right. I would like to submit my letter of resignation/retirement,” Richard’s letter stated. “Due to accumulation of vacation days, floating holidays, personal days and banked sick days my final day as a county employee is being calculated. I will stay on long enough to make sure open positions are prop-
erly filled. “I have been so fortunate to work with the best staff and boards over my career. This decision does not come easily. I feel that I grew up with the Area Plan Commission. However, now I am ready to go on to bigger and better challenges with my grandchildren, family, fishing, hunting, volleyball, vacations, home projects, yard projects, naps, woodworking, travelling, reading, honey-do-list, etc. “Ever since my first job as a newspaper delivery boy, I couldn’t wait to retire and sleep in. What a fantastic ride it’s been.” Richard has been the planning director since June of 1977, replacing Bob Orcutt. The Leesburg resident grew up in Minnesota and had envisioned himself working with the Department of Natural Resources or some position relating to wildlife biology. But he later discovered he enjoyed planning and he’s been at it since
Bid totals for the Tippecanoe and Chapman sewer project came in over the preliminary engineering report estimate costs and above the funding allocated by the State Revolving Fund and USDA Rural Development. The low bids on all three contracts totaled $41,527,581.27. The PER estimated a project cost of $33.5 million, leaving a $9.6 million gap between funding amounts and construction costs.
Potential solutions were discussed during the Tippecanoe & Chapman Lakes Regional Sewer District regular meeting Monday night, Aug. 8. “We’re very optimistic we can close the gap,” said Ken Jones, president and CEO of Jones Petrie Rafinski. Conversations have been underway with officials from SRF and USDA Rural Development on additional funding. Jones stated SRF officials have indicated funding is possible through a 35-year debt service loan. “We don’t know the terms,” Jones stated.
Schrock ballpark nearing completion, park board approves equipment purchases %\ /$85(1 =(8*1(5 6WDII :ULWHU
$ 3520,1(17 ),*85( ³ 'DQ 5LFKDUG SODQQLQJ GLUHFWRU IRU .RV FLXVNR &RXQW\ $UHD 3ODQQLQJ &RPPLVVLRQ OHIW LV VKRZQ GXULQJ D SDVW .RVFLXVNR %RDUG RI =RQLQJ $SSHDOV PHHWLQJ WDONLQJ ZLWK /HH +DUPDQ 5LFKDUG KDV VHUYHG LQ KLV SRVLWLRQ VLQFH -XQH 3KRWR IURP 7KH 0DLO -RXUQDO ÀOHV then. Richard’s job includes trying attend high school for one year at ti implement the county’s compre- Carmel High School and attended hensive plan, as well as admin- Ball State University where he istrating the various ordinances earned a bachelor of science degree related to planning and issuing in natural resources. He then atbuilding permits. tended Indiana State University to He moved to Indiana in time to Continued on page 2
Sewer project $9.5 million over estimate, additional funds sought %\ '(% 3$77(5621 (GLWRU ,Q &KLHI
Formal discussion has begun to combine Milford Middle School with Wawasee Middle School into one facility. Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer alluded to the pending discussion in a newsletter emailed out to parents last week. He officially started the discussion with a presentation to the Wawasee Community School Corp. Board of Trustees Tuesday evening, Aug. 9. “It is really important to get it on the table right now and just be honest and upfront about this. I’ve had a lot of people ask me about ‘Hey, you’re going to close the school at Milford’ and the answer to that is ‘Absolutely not.’ We have no plans and I would say that the board, I’ve never heard plans from the board, for any decision related to closing the school at Milford. Our intention is there will be a school in Milford and there will be a school in the town of Milford for that matter,” Troyer said. Low enrollment at Milford Middle School affecting the academic possibilities for students is the main reason for the discus-
An answer is expected by Thursday from state officials. Once information is received, financial advisors with Baker Tilly can begin work on the proposed rates. It was also noted USDA could offer a loan for a longer term, but the “hoops” required to obtain that loan are unknown. Selge Construction Company, Niles, Mich., was the low bidder for contract A — Chapman Lake and contract C — east Tippecanoe Lake. Their bid for contract A was $15,448,283.22. The bid for contract C was $11,253,814.09.
Niblock Excavating Inc., Bristol, was the low bid for contract B — the west Tippecanoe Lake Project. Their low bid was $14,825,483.96. Bids ranged from $15.4 million to $20.9 million for contract A; $14.8 million to $22.5 million for contract B; and $11.2 million to $12.9 million for contract C. Jones stated while the bids were over the PER budget, people “need to understand the board took positive steps to offset individual costs to the homeowners.” These steps were allowing property owners, Continued on page 2
sion to begin. Approximately 148 students are enrolled at MMS to begin the 2022-23 school year, with over 500 students at WMS. He stressed the reason was not financial but educational. During his presentation, Troyer stated there has been discussion at length for many years of combining the two middle schools for various reasons. Troyer feels it is time to “take a hard look at the reality of Milford Middle School continuing.” Troyer stated with the low enrollment it is hard to offer a full middle school experience at Milford. He had spoken with teachers at MMS at the end of the last school year, indicating it was time to have “pretty serious conservations about what we’re going to do with Milford Middle School and what would be the considerations that we have to really think about, plan for and run through if we are going to in fact look at combining the middle schools.” He admitted the district is spread out, which presents a challenge, as there is no real direct route between Milford and WMS. “There are challenges to take a look at … There’s a lot of Continued on page 2
The playground is installed, the surfacing work is done with just a cement pad to be installed. The fields are mostly graded with some work still to be done on the youth football field. Such was the progress report on Schrock Fields the Syracuse Park Board heard during its regular meeting Monday night, Aug. 8. Chad Jonsson, park superintendent, suggested if progress continues and the fields are done by the end of August, as anticipated, the board hold its September meeting at the field for a walk-through. Board member Jeff Nicodemus asked about fencing around the complex. Jonsson explained there will be decorative fencing on the
east side of the complex and privacy fencing on the north and west sides; the south side is bordered by a soybean field. The board moved on to discuss a number of equipment purchases, The board approved purchasing a 72-inch 1570 Terrain Cut mower with rear discharge for $34,755.20 for the Schrock Fields. The mower will be purchased from Greenmark Equipment in Warsaw. The board was presented with quotes from Bobcat of Warsaw and Greenmark Equipment of Warsaw for a multiple purpose vehicle. This vehicle will replace the gator the park department has been using for a number of years. Jonsson suggested board members review the quotes and bring any questions to the SepContinued on page 2
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Milford Council to hold annexation meeting Aug. 15 %\ '$9,' +$=/(',1( 6WDII :ULWHU Milford Town Council moved forward with the proposed annexation of North Park subdivision and additional acreage to the east of town during a regular public meeting held Monday, Aug. 8. Town Attorney Jay Rigdon informed the council an additional public meeting is needed to allow landowners to voluntarily petition for or against annexation before a vote in September. Members voted to hold the meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 15, in the community building.
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For the second month in a row, Steven Marquart, water, street and park superintendent, reported the need for emergency repairs, this time to a wastewater pipe at the corner of Catherine and West streets. The council approved the resulting $10,020 bill. Speaking after the meeting, Marquart said the pipe was part of a larger aging wastewater infrastructure problem, which is particularly acute on the west side of Main Street where some pipes are nearly
100 years old. A week earlier, workers discovered a lead gooseneck while Beer and Slabaugh was repairing a water line at a residence on the 200 block of West Street. Marquart reported the section of the line on town property was replaced by Kline Excavating at a cost of $1,650. Marquart also reported a drainage problem in a storm sewer at Shaffer Street and Alexis Drive, which he said resulted from “imContinued on page 2
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