Chief Deputy Thomas Waikel, far right, was sworn in as Milford’s town marshal by assistant clerk-treasurer Renda Loetz at the Monday, Aug. 12 town council meeting. This followed the resignation of former marshal Derek Kreider, right. Photo by Lilli Dwyer.

MILFORD — Police Marshal Derek Kreider announced his resignation at Milford Town Council’s Monday, Aug. 12, meeting. He recommended chief deputy Thomas Waikel for his position.

“I trust and believe that his wisdom, knowledge and integrity and good character to be an outstanding marshal, to be able to take this department to the next level where it needs to go,” said Kreider.

Kreider has been marshal for five years. His career began with the Milford Police Department in 1995. From 1998 to 2010, he served the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department before returning to Milford. He became Milford’s marshal in 2019.

Kreider intends to stay on as chief deputy until a successful transition has been made before retiring from the department. Waikel was sworn in by assistant clerk-treasurer Renda Loetz.

“I just wish to thank you all again for entrusting me in this position, for the opportunity to serve as town marshal, the Milford Police Department and the citizens of the town of Milford,” Kreider said.

The council has made a decision on which firm to contract for replacement of the town’s water meters.

Last month, the council opened two bids for the project. The first bid was from Everett J. Prescott of Fort Wayne for $388,205.83, the second from Neptune Equipment Company of Cincinnati for $407,157. After evaluation, Ryan Lareau of Commonwealth Engineers gave a recommendation for Neptune.

While the EJP meters are the less expensive option, Lareau said the Neptune meters “met the needs of the town best.”

The EJP meters, he explained, “don’t have an open feed through the meter itself, they have small little screens, which is part of the problem with the existing meters, is they get clogged with iron and manganese. They all have buildup, so they require cleaning and they get less accurate.”

The council made the decision to accept the bid from Neptune, pending funding from OCRA.

Along with the meters, the town has plans for general water utility improvements, also overseen by Commonwealth. These include adding a facility for iron and manganese removal to source water treatment, looping dead end waterlines, replacing lead lines and installing a mixer in the elevated storage tank.

In presenting the project’s scope and fee, Lareau stated this would be an eight-phase project with an estimated $6.9 million in total construction costs. All costs would be reimbursable by the State Revolving Fund. The town has identified temporary funding with financial adviser Jim Higgins reimbursement is received.

The cost of the design phase task order is $654,200, with a new task order required for the construction phase. All phases are at or below the cost estimated when submitting to the SRF back in March.

The council accepted Lareau’s scope and fee.

The Michiana Council of Governments is providing grant administration services for both water meter replacement and Milford’s downtown revitalization plan. MACOG representative Zach Dripps told the council it would need to submit a new financial letter to OCRA due to the higher rate on water meters, which the council agreed to do. The council also accepted an administration services agreement with MACOG for the downtown revitalization plan.

In water department news, superintendent Steven Marquart received three bids on power washing for the water tower: $4,900 from FDEWA Inc., $19,500 from Pitchford Tank, and $6,300 from Maguire Water.

The council approved Maguire’s bid due to concerns over potential damage to the water tower during power washing. While it was not the lowest bid, it was the most detailed in what the company does and does not take responsibility for while on the job.

The council also approved yearly maintenance of the well house chemical system from Living Waters and at a cost not to exceed $4,1215.

Marquart also proposed purchasing six new Neptune water meters for homes in the currently-under-construction Eastfield subdivision, as houses not yet built were not included in the replacement project. The council decided to table this idea until next month.

For the street department, the council approved repairs to the leaf collecting system from Brown Equipment for $3,818.84 and four 2 1/2 gallon containers of mosquito spray from Clark Mosquito control for $4,302.40.

The fire department requested permission to close Main Street for hose testing from 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, which the council approved. The street will be closed from the intersection outside the fire station to the south side of the Goshen Physicians building.

The police department received approval to continue applying for the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, which currently pays for Officer Ben Sanders’ salary and benefits; sending Sanders and Officer Travis Bays to a three-day Desert Snow Interdiction Workshop in Louisville, Ky. for an estimated cost of $2,115, not to exceed $2,500; two new bulletproof vests from Brateman’s Uniforms in Fort Wayne for $1,488; and the purchase of new Dell tablets from Microbyte for $21 less than their last purchase of Dell tablets. The cost of the last purchase was unavailable at time of writing.

For the wastewater department, the council approved an annual wet test from C & F Environmental Lab for $3,150.

In other business, the council also:

• Approved an agreement with Wawasee School Corporation to provide student resource officer services to Milford Elementary School for a fee of $20,000.

• Heard from Lisa Frazetta of Frazetta Financial Services about the town’s insurance policy, which has seen a 0.01% rate decrease this year.

• Heard an announcement from Meet Milford that street closures for Food Truck Friday will start at 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16.

• Approved utility credits for $54.69 and $251.63.

The next Milford Town Council meeting will be Monday, Sept. 9.