Mentone Town Marshal James Eads addresses town board members at the regular monthly meeting on Monday, March 4. In the background is Water Superintendent Joshua Shepherd.

MENTONE — Mentone’s Water Superintendent Joshua Shepherd told the town board at its regular meeting Monday night, March 4 that a standing water issue within the town limits has been a chronic concern for his department and local residents alike.

“There is the water issue on Princeton Street,” Shepherd said. “We definitely know we’re going to put some kind of catch basin there. We just need to get it done at this point.”

Town Board President Jill Gross agreed. Shepherd told the board he was working with Emans Engineering in order to address the problem. “The water there is ridiculous and we’ve just got to have a place for it to go,” Shepherd said. Shepherd told the board that several residents told him there used to be a tile at the location, but that the tile was severed when sewer was installed.

In other business, Board Member Tim Croy told the board he was coordinating with property owners of several plots in the town where buildings are in a state of disrepair.

“That would be the house at 105 S. Walnut St.,” said Croy after the meeting. “I contacted them about a month ago about the house starting to fall in. The house will be coming down this month. After the house on Walnut Street is taken care of, I’ll be starting the process of getting two houses in the 400 block of North Tucker Street taken care of, due to being beyond repair.”

The board also:

• Heard an update from Gross on a search for a new town attorney. Gross said she has talked to two attorneys and has an upcoming meeting with a third candidate. The town is looking for counsel to replace Larry Beeson, who recently stepped down.
• Heard an update from Town Marshal James Eads who told the board he would likely have to replace two tasers currently being used by his department.
• Took a report from Shepherd about town-wide Spring clean-up. “I just want to remind everybody that when they start cleaning their yards up, as far as the grass and leaves, that they need to be in some kind of container so that we can dump it on our trucks,” Shepherd said.
• Shepherd also praised the efforts of Scott Meadows for his recent efforts of digging graves despite weather-related challenges.