Council member Jim Smiley, left, and utilities, street and park superintendent Steven Marquart chat at Milford Town Council’s Monday, Sep. 9 meeting. The meeting began with a public hearing on the town budget for 2025. Photo by Lilli Dwyer.

By Lilli Dwyer
InkFreeNews

MILFORD — Milford Town Council’s Monday, Sept. meeting began with a public hearing on the budget for 2025. The town budget is set at $2,459,989, with another $275,000 for ARPA funds.

“It keeps us basically at our max (tax) levy, which we have been for at least the last four years,” said Clerk-Treasurer Tricia Gall. “The max percentage that it could go up is 4%, based on the state legislature. We also have an annexation that took place that goes into effect, so that effects the tax rate and it actually makes it go down for existing residents. So, the advertised tax rate is 1.2429%.”

No public comments were made on the budget portion of the meeting.

Gall informed the council the recently-installed free food pantry at Milford Elementary School has been repeatedly vandalized and put forward a request to have it moved outside the Milford Community Building. The council agreed to keep the food pantry outside the Community Building providing it is not vandalized again.

Gall also announced this month’s Food Truck Friday is 5-8 p.m. Friday, Sep. 20. Street closures for the event will begin at 2 p.m. that day.

The fire department reminded the council Main Street will be closed from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Sep. 13, for hose testing. The closure extends from the intersection outside the fire station to the south side of the Goshen Physicians building.

The annual fire department barbecue will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6. Tickets are $7.

The department is currently seeking quotes for annual tornado siren maintenance. The council has included this need in its annual budget this year, so council approval is not needed on their choice of quote.

Superintendent Steven Marquart announced the resignation of town employee Tad Freed. The town is currently accepting applications for a new general laborer.

For the water department, Marquart reported tree roots will be removed from a sewer line in North Park this week. He is currently seeking quotes for the repair of the sewer line.

Vice-president Ken Long encouraged Marquart to seek quotes from Don & Sons Excavating and Beer & Slabaugh, as town employees are busy this time of year and repairs need to be done before winter.

“With the way we’re short-staffed right now, it doesn’t make sense to do it in-house,” said Long.

Astbury Water Technology has begun collecting wastewater samples for pollutant testing. So far, no issues have been reported. Aluminum sulfate will need to be ordered soon for regular phosphorous removal. Previously, it cost just under $5,000 from Biochem.

Miller Brothers is planning to start construction on four to six new homes in the Eastfield subdivision this year. The council approved permission for Marquart to order six new water meters from Utility Supply Company at $2,325.74 when construction begins.

In street news, fall clean up is scheduled for Sep. 26-28 this year. The next hydrant flushing dates will be Oct. 2-3.

For the park department, buoys have been removed from Waubee Lake and the pier is scheduled to be taken out in October.

The police department had no news for the council this month.

OCRA sent a notice to proceed on water meter replacement. A pre-construction meeting will need to take place and a release obtained before the town can order new water meters.

Gall provided a breakdown of the State Revolving Fund grant money the town will receive for its water projects. The SRF is offering “just under $7,000,000,” she said. This breaks down into $2,149,000 in a traditional low interest loan, $3,750,000 in a forgivable loan, and $1,011,000 in another forgivable loan for lead service line replacement only.

“It’s basically like $4.761 million free,” said Gall.

The town won’t receive this grant funding until April 2025. Milford has already engaged Commonwealth Engineers for water project services. Gall proposed seeking a loan between $500,000 and $600,000 from the Milford Redevelopment Commission to cover Commonwealth’s costs until then, which the council approved.

LWG CPAs & Advisors of Indianapolis sent an engagement letter for municipal advisory services at a cost of $35,000, not to be billed until after closing. The council approved paying the fee, pending final approval from town attorney Jay Rigdon.

The council also approved a contract with LWG for a water rate study at a cost not to exceed $6,000. Water rate studies must be done every three to five years regardless of current projects.

The next Milford Town Council meeting will be 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15.