During its monthly meeting Monday night, Milford Town Council tabled a proposal presented by utilities commissioner Randy Veach to purchase a new Bobcat utility vehicle for his department. Full consideration of the request was delayed until next month’s meeting as a result of mandated town budget cuts scheduled to be discussed and finalized by the council before the end of August.

Purchase price of the unit, a Toolcat 5600, is $34,597 from Bobcat of Warsaw, including an $11,000 trade-in allowance for the 1999 Bobcat currently owned by the town and a $19,000 municipal discount offered by Bobcat. Veach noted the updated vehicle would provide much greater efficiency and serve more purposes than the current unit.

The council plans to meet in public session before the end of August to discuss the mandated budget cuts, which include $56,000 from the general budget and $58,000 from the motor vehicle highway budget. The meeting date and time will be announced and published in the coming days.

Following the town attorney’s report, the council unanimously approved a wastewater ordinance concerning the operation and compliance of the town wastewater facility.

During departmental reports, the council reiterated their appreciation of the Milford Volunteer Fire Department, especially in lieu of the line-of-duty death of New Carlisle Assistant Chief Jamie Middlebrook last week. They applauded the department’s willingness to open the fire station to host various community events such as this week’s United Way Day of Caring luncheon.

Town marshal Rich Miotto requested and received approval to attend the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police fall conference, scheduled for Sept. 15-16 in Indianapolis. This year’s event will focus on school safety.

It was requested by councilman Doug Ruch that Miotto, Veach and town attorney Jay Rigdon investigate the parking situation on certain Milford streets on the east side of town, including Alexis, Lehman, Jeremy and Michele drives and Heide Lane. He expressed concern vehicles are being parked on both sides of the street, which would cause difficulty for emergency vehicles should they be necessary in the area. Veach added the parking arrangement also makes snow plowing difficult during the winter. It was agreed the situation would be investigated and recommendations made at a future meeting.

The next regular monthly meeting of the Milford Town Council will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, at Milford Town Hall. The public is invited to attend.