At the Pierceton Town Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 14, are from left: Town Council President Mandy Espinoza, Town Council Member Tom Barker and Town Council Vice President Matt Brubaker. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

PIERCETON — Pierceton is working to fill a vacancy in the police department.

At its meeting on Monday, Nov. 14, the Pierceton Town Council heard that news from Town Marshal Jim Bumbaugh.

“The hiring process for the … full-time officer is open and resumes are being accepted until Nov. 17,” he said. “We had a handful of resumes submitted and a couple of good applicants out of that pool, so I’m confident that we’ll get some good candidates.”

The vacancy was created in December 2021 when Officer Ryan Piper left to take a job with the Warsaw Police Department.

To help fill that spot, the town hired Lucas Rhodes as a part-time officer. He previously was a reserve officer for Pierceton.

Rhodes’ hiring was only meant to be temporary though as he’s to soon enter the U.S. Air Force. Bumbaugh recognized Rhodes at Monday’s meeting.

“His last day with the department will be Sunday, Nov. 27,” said Bumbaugh. “He’s done a tremendous service to the town of Pierceton. He’s been very, very professional and has been very flexible in helping us out. … I would like to publicly thank him and wish him well on his new endeavors.”

Tax abatement

The council also approved a declaratory resolution related to Midwest Roll Forming and Manufacturing/OMCO’s request for a tax abatement.

Attorney Randy Morgan presented the request on behalf of the company.

“We’re here today as the company is planning to invest a little over $4.2 million dollars in new manufacturing equipment,” he said. “We’re expecting approximately 60% of the investment to be made within the first year.”

The new equipment should help add 50 jobs to the business, said Morgan.

The declaratory resolution isn’t the final approval for the abatement, which allows the company to ease into paying full taxes. Instead, there will be time for the public to comment before the council takes a formal vote on it.

Township fire proposal

The council also didn’t make a decision on whether to contract with Washington Township for its fire department.

Washington Township Trustee Dean Rhoades had met with the council in a special meeting last week to make the suggestion. As the arrangement currently exists, the fire department is its own entity and partners with both the town and the township.

A benefit of having the department be a township one would be its eligibility for special funding that it cannot currently qualify for as its own entity.

If the department would fall under the township model, the Washington Township Board would choose its fire chief and approve its members.

Council Vice President Matt Brubaker noted that Rhoades is to actually oversee the department starting in January anyway as a feature allowed under law regardless of what the council decides. When that happens, the town will still own the fire department equipment and building.

The potential contract with the township would be a annual one.

Christmas activities

The council also heard from Stephanie Campbell of the town’s Christmas decorations committee that it’s planning the annual Christmas parade and tree lighting for Saturday, Dec. 3.

Lineup will be at 5:30 p.m. at Pierceton Elementary School, with the parade at 6 p.m. The route is to travel down SR 13 from Pine Street to Market Street and end at Brower Park. If people want to join the parade, they can contact Campbell at [email protected]. Following the parade, the tree lighting will occur at 6:30 p.m. and there will also be hot chocolate and cookies.

Santa is to arrive via a firetruck during the parade, and will head up to Harvest Community Church to visit with kids at 7 p.m. The latter is in conjunction with the Pierceton Lions Club.

That day there will also be the primitives show from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the elementary school and the Shop Hop at the town’s shops.

In other business, the council:

• Agreed to set aside funds for a dinner to honor volunteers that have helped the community in various ways.
• Heard from Bumbaugh that he hopes to purchase a replacement vehicle for the PPD. He gave the council preliminary information to look at.
• Heard from Bumbaugh that he applied for a $20,000 grant for body camera equipment and storage.
• Heard from Town Superintendent Casey Boggs that workers will finishing up leaf pickup with the town’s machine primarily within next week. After that leaves will need to be bagged and put by the curb.
• Accepted a .10 acre triangular parcel of land from Chester Richmond near the railroad tracks.

The council’s next regular meeting is 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, at the Pierceton Community Building.