Pictured, from let, Council President Tom Moore and Council Member Christina Archer.

LEESBURG — The main topic at the Leesburg Town Council meeting held Monday, Nov. 12, pertained to sanitary sewer issues. Derek Tenney of Tenney & Sons, Warsaw, reported issues with several pumps at residences over the past month.

“A couple of them were full of wipes,” said Tenney. “We discussed that with the property owners and gave a verbal warning. We made a notation of it and if we find it again at those properties, fines will begin to be assessed.”

“We’re finding a lot of wipes, feminine products, stuff  that should not be in there,” Tenney added.

Clogs end up costing residents due to the costs of unclogging pump stations and replacing worn-out pumps, There is a lot of misconception about what items can be flushed down the toilet. Baby wipes, wet wipes, feminine products, paper towels, diapers, pills, condoms, dental floss, Q-tips and cotton balls should never be flushed.

“Basically we need to start educating the townspeople about not putting that stuff in there, which is very hard,” said Tenney.

“How would you go about doing that?” asked Leesburg Council President Tom Moore. “It frustrates me. I don’t know if it’s still true, but at one time the wipes – right on the label – stated they were flushable.”

Council members discussed that in the past they used to distribute flyers addressing issues such as abandoned vehicles, burning ordinances, leaf pick-up, etc. 

“We might be able to devise a flyer and put that information on there with a bunch of other things that need to be addressed,” said Council Vice-President Doug Jones.

“We’ve had a big turnover of residents in the town and frankly I don’t think some of the people really understand,” Jones stated. “It’s not that they mean to be noncompliant.”

Tenney reported the failure of two wastewater pumps at the lift station, stating he first became aware of an issue on Sunday, Oct. 28, when they responded to two calls at the lift station. It was discovered that two of the three pumps are not working and parts for those pumps are obsolete. 

Council members agreed that Tenney should obtain specifications and a quote for a new pump. 

Moore reported that he met with two representatives from the Indiana Department of Transportation last week. INDOT will be performing traffic counts coming off of Prairie, Church and School streets in Leesburg and a traffic count coming onto SR 15 from the east and west, as well as traffic from CR 600N. Moore stated that INDOT will present their reports after the traffic counts have been completed, which could be sometime in February. 

Other News:

• Due to the large volume of leaves, stick and tree limb grinding has been postponed until leaf collection is finished, at the end of November. As of Dec. 1, all leaves will need to be bagged and placed in a trash tote. 
• The 2018 candelaria will be from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at the old fire station.
• No parking on any street between 3-5 a.m.
• No burning in the town of Leesburg.
• Construction has started on the Leesburg town hall building.
• A special executive meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19, at 100 W. Van Buren St., Leesburg, to discuss the 2019 salary ordinance.
• The next regular meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10. 

Council Vice-President Doug Jones

Derek Tenney of Tenney & Sons, Warsaw