OOLITIC – The Oolitic Town Council addressed multiple concerns and provided updates during their regularly scheduled meeting Monday night.
The council brought attention to multiple complaints received about the conditions of homes on Smith Avenue. The homes have become run down in some areas, as well as trash and unkept lawns are causing residents to feel uneasy while walking with their families.
Thoughts of a community clean-up were mentioned as well as having Town Marshal James Harrington provide notices to homeowners to better keep their properties. Additional comments about grants that can be given to homeowners to fix and maintain their properties were also mentioned, before moving on to the next items.
Town Marshal James Harrington then discussed his monthly report which totaled 75 service calls, which included:
- Abandoned vehicle – 1
- Article recovery – 1
- Agency assist OMO – 4
- Assist other agency – 4
- Canine deployments with alerts- 2
- Custody disputes – 1
- Criminal cases submitted to LCPO – 3
- Domestic – 1
- Drug investigations – 4
- Drug seizures – 2
- Motorist assist – 1
- Ordinance violations- 3
- Speak with an officer – 1
- Traffic stops – 22
- Training – 4
- Verbal warnings issued – 22
Marshal Harrington also discussed the need to perform an engineering study on the streets with speed limit signs posted at 20 MPH, as per Indiana Code Title 9. Motor Vehicles 9-21-5-6 in which the speed limit cannot be less than 25 MPH without an engineering study having been performed. This is the reason Marshal Harrington has given verbal warnings, as due to the statute, he can not legally write a ticket. The council will look into providing an engineering study to address the issue.
Council Member John Dillon then provided an update on the north school purchase. The purchase is going through the final steps and once completed Jim Deckard of Deckard construction will begin the renovation process. The building will house Deckard’s Home Health business as well as apartments.
Council Member Jon Broglin then discussed an update to the trees around the sewer plant. A bid has been received, but at the advisement of Town Attorney Greg Pittman, it will be looked into further to determine or not if more bids will be required.
The town then approved three roadblocks for now, including two for the Oolitic Volunteer Fire Department, in May and September, and one for Toys for Tots on October 8th.
The final bill for the water meter lids, with a remaining $3,771.64 to be paid for finalization was also discussed. The council will look into using money from the town’s water funds, with hopes to replace them with upcoming ARP funds in July, if at all possible.
The final update provided was the progress of the stormwater project. The town met in an executive session to discuss the outline and the schedule until the project concludes. Key dates include:
- April 1st: Approval of Permits
- May 10th: OCRA Funds are dispersed
- May 29th: End of 90-day grant period
- June 28th: Construction to begin (depending on weather and delays)
- December 25th: Project Completion
