Published: September 22, 2009 11:57 pm      

Veedersburg works on possible grant

VEEDERSBURG, Ind. — Veedersburg hopes to receive a planning grant. Anita Carpenter, the town grant writer, told town council members Tuesday she is working on a grant for downtown revitalization.

The grant is available through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The grant is for $50,000 and the town must match 10 percent of it.

Carpenter said the grant would be used to hire an engineer to design a plan for downtown revitalization and figuring out how much the plan will cost. After the engineer has come up with a plan, the town can then have Carpenter apply for a construction grant through IOCRA with a maximum grant amount of $500,000.

Several people voiced their ideas for improvements. Debbie Swingle and Marcy Roark both agreed that sidewalks need to be replaced.

“A lot of people walk around town and the sidewalks need to be repaired,” Roark said.

Councilman Bob Barker said that he would like to see a walk way between Veedersburg and Sterling that is handicap accessible.

Town council President Ken Smith said he thinks the downtown sewers and infrastructure should be added to the downtown revitalization plan as well.

Councilman Seth Hoagland said that one of his fondest memories was attending Veedersburg street fairs and Old Settlers Days and he thinks revitalizing downtown would help Veedersburg community spirit to re-emerge.

Carpenter thanks everyone for their input on the planning grant and said that the town should know if they will receive the planning grant by the end of this November.

In other business, town council members:

-- Learned from waste water superintendent Connie Sichts that the sewer chewer has been installed at the sewer plant and that it runs fine, but there is a problem with the computer control panel. Sichts said she is going to replace the battery that runs the control panel, but if that does not fix the problem a new control panel will cost $4,918 plus freight charges from Invironmental of Indianapolis.

-- Learned that the town’s meeting with Krupp Gerlach concerning amending its sewer use permit went well. Sichts said that they looked at changing some their metal-testing frequencies. For example, cadmium and cyanide will now be tested for only once a year by the town and once a year by Krupp Gerlach since, according to Sichts, neither metal has ever shown up in testing. Sichts hopes that the amended sewer use permit will go into effect Jan. 1. The council will have a document drafted for the amendment for vote at a later meeting.

-- Learned from water superintendent Paul Keeling that the water tower has been cleaned and that water lines are being. The wells and the chemical treatment are going to be checked for any problems on Wednesday, which may be causing the town’s dirty water problems.

-- Learned from Keeling that he has ordered a special chemical cleaner that can get iron of clothes when washing. Residents are asked to contact Superintendent Keeling if they want some of the chemical for their clothes.

-- Received a repair proposal from Steve Menardo to improve his property at 202 Jackson St. Menardo said he plans to begin repair work next Monday. His goal is to sell the house after he has rehabilitated it. Smith said that the town will give Menardo 30 days to fix the house. If the council does not think that the house has been improved enough, they will proceed toward its demolition. Steve Beisecker, owner of the house at 203 West Harrison Street, spoke with the town council prior to tonight’s meeting according to Smith and improvements have already been made to Beisecker’s house so it will not be demolished.

-- Discussed the progress toward demolition on the houses at 705 N. Sterling Ave, and at 101 W. Seventh St. The town is just waiting for confirmation from the gas company that it has shut off the gas to those properties.