Officer Ben Sanders was promoted to chief deputy at Milford Town Council’s Monday, June 9 meeting. Photo by Lilli Dwyer.

By Lilli Dwyer
InkFreeNews

MILFORD — Officer Ben Sanders was promoted to the role of chief deputy at Milford Town Council’s Monday, June 9 meeting. The council also discussed Waubee Lake Association taking over the park concession stand, beautification and more.

Public Input

Eldon Seidner of the Waubee Lake Association appeared to discuss a contract shifting use of the Waubee Lake Park concession stand from Milford to WLA. The town will provide the building and equipment, while WLA provides product and volunteer labor, with all proceeds going toward the nonprofit’s efforts to enhance the lake.

Resident Jay Urban asked why, if Milford owns the property, the town would not receive a bigger monetary benefit from letting WLA operate the concession stand.

Attorney Jay Rigdon pointed out management of public amenities is often outsourced, and benefits conveyed by letting WLA run the concession stand would be a positive for the town.

“We’ve operated the concession stand at a loss for the past couple years,” added Clerk-Treasurer Tricia Gall. “So we’d be saving money.”

The council approved the terms of the contract, setting annual rent at $1. The council also approved extending the beach curfew to 11 p.m. Friday, July 11, to allow fireworks viewing.

The Papers, Inc. owner Ron Baumgartner appeared to discuss his proposal for a beautification project at the closed railroad crossing on Fourth Street.

Determining the railroad’s right of way has been a concern for the council in proceeding with the project. Last month, the council voted to pay Norfolk Southern $500 to map the right of way throughout the town; however, Long said an individual had provided him a railroad map, last updated in 1959, that showed a 50-foot right of way from First Street to Syracuse Street.

He stated he had no reason to believe the right of way had changed since then and the beautification could proceed based on that.

“If the railroad does come back and says, ‘oh no, that’s wrong,’ we can use the map as our reason for doing it,” said Long. He also said the town would look into removing asphalt around the tracks to put in plants, which Baumgartner will provide.

Baumgartner asked the council to consider adding a turn lane at the intersection of Emeline Street and SR 15.

“I’ve gotten caught in that myself, because the car ahead of you will straddle the available space and that car wants to turn left or go forward, and you can’t turn right. … If the space is there to paint a line down the center, to be able to go forward or turn right, might help the traffic flow there a little bit,” he said.

Utilities Superintendent Steven Marquart said the intersection is the responsibility of the state, and may not have the right radius for a turn lane. President Doug Ruch asked him to look into the matter.

Lisa Frazzetta of Frazzetta Financial discussed a potential change in provider for town employee insurance. Medical, life and vision are currently with Anthem. Short-term disability is with Reliant Standard.

Frazzetta stated there have been difficulties since Anthem transitioned its life policies to a company called The Standard.

“From my perspective as the agent, and then from the town’s perspective just on invoicing and whatnot, it was really wasting people’s time and it was difficult to administer,” she said.

Frazzetta has been shopping around for a better rate and is considering Guardian and United Healthcare for life, vision and short-term disability. Benefits would not change; however, because there have been changes in town employment since she began getting estimates, a new one is needed. Ruch asked Frazzetta to come back next month with more solid numbers.

Gall informed the council Main Street will close at 2 p.m. Friday, June 13, for Food Truck Friday, which takes place from 5-8 p.m. that night.

Barb Zimmerman of Milford Lions Club thanked the town council, town employees and the police department for its help with the Milford Lions Festival May 24.

Departmental Reports

In other police business, Marshal Thomas Waikel asked to have the department’s Hummer declared as surplus so it can be sold, stating it has not been used in all the time he’s worked for MPD. After some debate, the council decided to auction off the Hummer at a $7,500 reserve, via Metzger Property Services.

Waikel then proposed using the money from the sale to purchase a new squad car. He presented two quotes for a 2023 Dodge Challenger: $34,000 from Thomas Dodge of Highland; and $38,928 from John Jones Dodge of Corydon.

There were also two quotes for outfitting the vehicle: $18,004.10 from John Jones Doge; and $14,312.68 from Copsgear.

The council approved spending up to $38,928 on a Challenger if the cheaper option becomes unavailable; and outfitting from Copsgear.

The fire department received permission to close First Street from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, June 27, for its annual hose testing.

For the wastewater department, Marquart presented quotes for replacing the 21-year-old autosampler at the treatment plant. Town employees are currently using ice to keep wastewater samples at the right temperature.

From BL Anderson: Repair the autosampler with no warranty, $2,850; replace the autosampler’s thermal board assembly, $8,050; replace with an ISCO autosampler, $14,248; replacement with a Hach autosampler through Hach for $12,496 and free setup through BL Anderson.

USA Bluebook gave a quote for a new autosampler without setup for $10,789. Setup is an additional $1,707.

The council approved buying the Hach sampler and setup through BL Anderson.

In water news, Marquart reported the next hydrant flushing dates are July 16-17. Large meter replacement began that day, July 9.

For the clerk’s department, the council approved a salary amendment increasing lifeguard pay up to $20 per hour and Sanders’ yearly salary to $53,508. It also approved $684,03 in utility credits.

Earlier in the day, Milford Redevelopment Commission had its monthly meeting. There was no new business to discuss.

The next town council meeting will be 7 p.m. Monday, July 14, in the Milford Community Building. It will also be livestreamed on youtube.com/@MilfordIndianaKosciuskoCounty.