North Webster Town Attorney Jack Birch, left, confers with Clerk-Treasurer Leigh Anne Jessop prior to Tuesday evening’s meeting of the North Webster Town Council. InkFree News photo by Keith Knepp.

By Keith Knepp
InkFreeNews

NORTH WEBSTER — The regular meeting of the North Webster Town Council was held Tuesday evening, Nov. 7, a week earlier than is the usual second week of the month. During the meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Leigh Anne Jessop announced the town was awarded $294,000 as its share of the Indiana Department of Transportation’s 20232 Community Crossings Matching Grant. North Webster was one of 188 Indiana cities, towns and counties that received part of the $91.5 million in state matching funds for local road projects through Community Crossings, a component of Governor Eric J. Holcomb’s Next Level Roads program.

Also during the meeting, Board President Dan Thystrup informed the council that Michiana Area Council of Governments, better known as MACOG, advised the town to split the funding requests to construct the proposed North Webster Trail into two components: the in-town portion and the portion that would connect North Webster with Wawasee Middle School. In doing so, it would reduce the town’s necessary seed money to begin the project from 20% of the total cost to 10%. The total cost of the project is $2,082,000, which means the town only needs to provide $208,200 rather than 416,400. Both amounts were covered by promise grants from the K21 Foundation, but with the reduced outlay, the additional grant money can be used in other aspects of the trail’s construction.

In other business: Town Marshal Greg Church informed the council he was not yet prepared to present a quote for a new patrol unit but that he should be ready by the December meeting. In October, the police department utilized 725.25 officer hours, drove 4,645 miles and used 369.67 gallons of fuel. In the utilities report, Mike Noe requested permission to spend up to $20,000 for necessary repairs on the lift station at the wastewater treatment plant. The request was unanimously approved by the council. Sue Ward, representing the North Webster-Tippecanoe Township Chamber of Commerce, requested permission for the chamber to decorate the town’s lamp posts for the holiday season. The decorations would tap in to the posts electrical outlets. The request was unanimously approved.

The next meeting of the North Webster Town Council will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19, inside the North Webster Community Center. The public is invited to attend.