Published: January 13, 2009 10:10 pm      

Town OKs contract with new lawyer

VEEDERSBURG, Ind. — The Veedersburg Town Council approved a contract with the town’s new attorney, Stuart Weliever, on Tuesday.

Although Weliever did not attend the meeting, Town Council President Ken Smith relayed some information about the new attorney. Weliever is a resident of Crawfordsville, where he is a partner in the Henthorn, Harris and Weliever law firm. Weliever is a graduate of Wabash College.

As for experience, Weliever is already the attorney for several other local communities, including Hillsboro and Wingate. He will attend at least one meeting a month per his contract with the town and will be available to the town anytime for consultation by phone, fax or e-mail. Weliever’s one-year contractual rate is $1,500.

Stephanie Campbell, the previous town attorney, resigned for personal reasons. Campbell’s contractual rate for 2008 was $2,600.

In other business, town council members:

-- Re-nominated and re-elected Smith as town council president and Steve Cates as town council vice president.

-- Approved waste water Superintendent Connie Sichts attending a seminar presented by the Alliance of Indiana Rural Water in Pittsboro next Tuesday. Sichts said she would get five of the 10 hours she needs yearly to keep her certification in waste water treatment.

-- Learned from Sichts that Andrew Graves of Graves Heating and Plumbing of Switz City looked at the auger at the sewer plant. Graves determined the wear and tear that the auger has received is mostly caused by grit. The auger is not designed to handle grit; it handles floating material. Sichts said there is no way to get totally rid of grit, but did suggest some kind of regular cleaning schedule needs to be developed for the grit channels to at least keep grit levels low.

Graves will repair the auger, reattach the brush to the auger, and a few other maintenance repairs for $1,382. No decision was made on the repair because Sichts would like for distributor of the auger, H.P. Thompson, to pay for the repair as part of its warranty agreement.

-- Learned the waste water plant’s sewer chewer grinder has been sent to Chicago Pump Company of Chicago to be rebuilt. The town council also approved the motor that will run the sewer chewer to be serviced for $789.50 by Midwest Electric of Danville. Sichts informed the council that the motor itself is worth $6,000.

-- Learned from Town Superintendent Paul Keeling that progress has been made at solving the problems that were ad-dressed by the state inspector at the water plant in November. Keeling said the inspector was pleased with the plant’s progress at correcting the problems.

-- Decided the town will accept sealed bids for the 1994 three-quarter ton Ford Ranger pickup truck that was used by the town. Keeling said the truck has a little more than 100,000 miles on it.

-- Learned from Keeling that the re-ox water project is over. Keeling said “the re-ox was more trouble than it was worth.” Many residents complained about their water being dirty.

-- Learned from Electric Superintendent George Gowens that a heavier synthetic oil will be used in his department’s bucket trucks. The oil, which is associated with airplanes, will help the hydraulics in the bucket trucks perform better in the winter months.

-- Approved all three Veedersburg police officers attending a three-day class in Indianapolis from Feb. 25-27. The class is being held by the Indiana Drug Enforcement Association. Each officer will receive 18 hours of training toward his yearly certification. Two of the officers still need 16 hours of training from 2008. Beginning this year, officers will need to perform 24 hours of training to keep their officer certification up to date.

-- Learned from Town Marshal Neil Beck that his department has received 17 applications for another police officer in town. Beck told the council he is reluctant to hire anyone full-time yet with the way money is so tight for the town.

“It might be better to hire someone part time for a while,” Beck said. “I don’t want to hire someone full time and then have to lay them off because the money just isn’t there to pay them.” The council will review applications an hour before the next meeting on Jan. 27.

-- Learned some of Smith’s objectives for 2009. Smith said he wants to move forward on: getting sidewalks in downtown; getting the old elevator torn down; getting new town entry signs; and fixing up the water tower Christmas lights and renting out Christmas street lights.

-- Learned from Beck that several safe houses for victims of domestic violence are going to be established in Veedersburg in the near future.

-- Learned that Community Action will construct two three-bedroom homes at 507 Chamber St. if the agency is awarded a grant to build them.