Abe Hepler, vice-president of residential services at Pierceton Woods Academy, speaks to Pierceton Town Council during a Dec. 9 meeting. InkFreeNews photo by Liz Adkins.

By Liz Adkins
InkFreeNews

PIERCETON — Pierceton Town Council members said they’re willing to consider a police partnership with Pierceton Woods Academy during a Monday, Dec. 9, meeting.

Abe Hepler, PWA’s vice-president of residential services, brought the proposal before the council. He said PWA would like to hire two full-time officers for the town of Pierceton.

“We would cover their salaries, the cost of their benefits, all of the expense of that officer for the community, as well as provide a complete town vehicle for them,” said Hepler. “It would be our hope to utilize those officers sort of like a school resource officer, to have them stationed on our campus for their shifts. From our perspective, we think there would be a lot of benefit by having full-time officers on campus at Pierceton Woods.”

Hepler said the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office was also willing to provide a couple officers as SROs if the town did not want to entertain PWA’s proposal. He noted issues over the summer with PWA residents, which led to PWA having KCSO officers on their campus 24/7 for almost a month.

“After that, we rolled it to a schedule where (KCSO officers) are on campus several days a week for a handful of shifts,” said Hepler. “That had a remarkable impact on youth behavior.”

Council President Glenn Hall said he was willing to have a police partnership with PWA, but expressed concern with possible difficulties in finding officers to hire. Hepler noted he was confident in a long-term commitment for PWA paying for officer coverage.

Council and Hepler said they will work with their attorneys on contract matters.

In other business, Town Marshal Jim Bumbaugh brought up the First and Market Street intersection to council.

“We realize that intersection has been an issue for years,” said Bumbaugh. “With an increase in traffic, which is not going to lessen, that’s just going to continue to be an issue. We haven’t had a significant number of accidents there, but there’s close calls there every day. We understand there’s a problem there, and I think we’re obligated to see what we can to do to reduce the likelihood of incidents at that intersection.”

Council said they would get in contact with the Indiana Department of Transportation to potentially see about making the intersection a four-way stop.

Town Superintendent Casey Boggs also reminded the community that leaf pickup only occurs in the fall, not the spring. Employees are still picking up leaves, but they must be bagged.

Residents with any sticks, leaves, and lawn refuse can also take them to the wastewater plant between Dollar General and the factory. There’s a burn pile located near the plant.

The council also:

• Asked anyone interested in serving a four-year term on the Pierceton Park Board to submit a letter of interest to Clerk-Treasurer Myra Mast by 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 27. Cindy Kreger’s term is ending.
• Reminded the community to utilize REACH Alert for notifications, as some residents are experiencing issues with not receiving utility bills via mail.
• Said the Pierceton Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Christmas decoration contest for both residents and businesses. Winners will receive $100 in Chamber bucks to be spent at town businesses. Entry forms are due Dec. 15, with judging taking place the week of Dec. 16.

Council will have a special year-end meeting at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 27. Their next regular meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13.