From left, Claypool Town Council President Benny Stage Jr. and Council Member Liz Heiman look over paperwork from Baker Tilly. InkFreeNews photo by Liz Shepherd.

By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

CLAYPOOL — The sale of Claypool’s water utility to Indiana American Water will be finalized next week.

At a March 21 meeting, the town’s council passed an ordinance regarding the sale, which will officially close on Tuesday, March 28. Discussions and negotiations with IAW acquiring Claypool’s water utility first began in February 2020.

With the water utility’s sale, council created the ordinance to establish a restricted fund which will hold the monies Claypool receives from IAW once the purchase is complete.

The ordinance states the restricted fund can only be utilized upon approval from the council and may be used for: projects costing $10,000 or more; preliminary costs associated with anticipated upgrades to the town’s sewer system; and for general improvements to the town.

Council also approved a resolution with Commonwealth Engineers Inc., Fort Wayne, for accepting their wastewater/stormwater master plan for the town. A public hearing on the plan was held prior to the council’s meeting. The plan will now be submitted to Indiana’s state-revolving fund loan program for review.

Tyler Coffel, senior consultant at Baker Tilly, also attended the meeting to provide council with updates on the town’s finances within their sewer utility. Coffel said a rate study will be worked on in the next month or two for Claypool’s sewer utility and estimated a 30-35% increase to residents’ sewer bills, which would be about $15 to $20.

In other business, Eric Ivory, municipal account representative for Borden Waste-Away Service Inc., Elkhart, attended the meeting to answer residents’ questions on curbside recycling in the town.

Borden is offering curbside recycling services county-wide following the closure of the Kosciusko County Recycling Depot’s outdoor drop-off stations. In a letter discussed at the council’s February meeting, Borden said they “were prepared to provide curbside recycling service to the entire town of Claypool at just $4 per month, per household, billed directly to the town. Alternatively, (Borden) is also prepared to offer residents a subscription-based service at a heavily reduced rate of just $6 per month, billed directly to Claypool residents as subscription customers.”

Council asked Ivory if Borden offers large bins similar to how the county depot’s remote site was set up. Ivory said it is a service they offer, but noted the company tends to see the sites “get abused.”

The council voted to put a notice in residents’ bills to get a consensus on who would participate in recycling if the town was charged $4 per household.

Council President Benny Stage Jr. also said the town was awarded a $10,000 Go Forward! grant through the Kosciusko County Community Foundation for emergency tornado sirens. The council voted to pay for the remaining cost of the project, totaling $32,400, through the town’s American Rescue Plan Act and tax increment finance funds.

Council also:

• Introduced the community to the town’s new attorney, Andrew Grossnickle. The council held a special meeting on March 2 and voted to hire Grossnickle at that time.
• Approved Town Marshal Ben Sanders buying several storage totes for Claypool Police Department in the amount of $243.80.
• Approved a software transfer in the amount of $2,387 for sewage billing.

The council’s next meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, at the Claypool Lions Club building. Council will also hold an administrative and TIF meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 30.