Leesburg Town Council Addresses Sidewalk Program, Hometown Chats
LEESBURG — A representative of Leesburg United Methodist Church inquired about the sidewalk program at the town council meeting held Monday, Aug. 12.
Lori Everest said the church is interested in filling out an application for the sidewalk improvement program.
“We have three properties right in a row,” Everest said.
The church is at 111 W. Prairie St. The Leesburg-Oswego Preschool is beside the church at 109 W. Prairie St., and the parking lot is next to the preschool.
“How it typically works is the town will pay for concrete 4 inches deep, five feet wide and 66 feet long. Everything else is on the property owner,” said Council Member Doug Jones. “It’s a little bit unusual in your situation because you’re coming to us with three projects instead of one.”
“In my mind, since we don’t have anybody else working with it right now — we don’t have anybody taking advantage of it, I’m seeing three separate addresses,” said Jones. “I don’t have an issue with the town covering 66 feet at each property.”
Council President Christina Archer added that funds are available since no other requests for the sidewalk program had come in this year.
“We can typically do eight to nine projects per year with the funds we have,” said Leesburg Street Commissioner Craig Charlton.
“It’s a great program. The sidewalk is the homeowner’s responsibility,” said Charlton. “If someone should fall due to a mismatch of concrete, it’s the responsibility of the homeowner. Mismatched concrete on the sidewalk is a liability for the homeowner.”
“I would encourage people to take advantage of the program,” Charlton added.
“The only caveat is that for the town to be involved, the sidewalks have to be ADA compliant,” said Jones. “Which means they have to be 5 feet wide.”
Jones informed those in attendance that the town will not be reimbursed for street sealing done this year through the Community Crossings grant. According to Jones, there is a bi-annual callout for this and at each callout meeting, new rules are laid out. The rules change each year, said Jones.
“I did not attend the January meeting because we did not have any projects slated,” said Jones. “We are not allowed any longer to accept any bids or do any of the projects prior to acceptance of the grant.”
“We have to hire a consultant to come in and estimate the cost of the project. We can’t take any formal bids until we are awarded the project money,” said Jones.
According to Jones, when he filed the paperwork he was informed they were not eligible for the grant because bids had already been received.
“I do plan to continue applying for these grants as we need them,” said Jones. “Luckily the projects we did this summer were of minimal cost.”
Archer said there will be a Hometown Chat held from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, at the Leesburg United Methodist Church.
The Kosciusko County Community Foundation has already hosted numerous hometown chats elsewhere in the county. The purpose of the chats is for the Community Foundation to hear from residents in each town about what the needs are in each community. The chats will help provide information for the Community Foundation’s grantmaking and the initiatives they pursue in the future.
The Community Foundation was awarded a planning grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., as part of the Endowment’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow VII initiative.
“Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend,” said Archer. Childcare will be provided at the event and refreshments will be available.
Other News:
- The Plain Township trustee brought several items to donate to the Leesburg Town Museum.
- Charlton presented three bids for painting and sealing work on the windows of the town museum. Bids were received from Ellis Painting, Leesburg, for $2,450; Cornerstone Painting, Warsaw, in the amount of $2,975; and Bockman Brothers, Winona Lake, for $5,140. Charlton said the Ellis Painting bid included power washing. Council members agreed to award the bid to Ellis Painting.
- Council members gave approval for Charlton to replace downtown streetlights with LED light fixtures.
- The next meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9.