By GLEN WERLING
The Ossian Fire Department could have a paid part-time firefighter starting Jan. 1, 2023.
By a 5-0 vote Monday night, the council approved a request by Fire Chief Ben Fenstermaker to create the position of part-time firefighter to perform daily equipment and apparatus checks, respond on emergency runs, perform data entry, and do training preparation and inspections.
Fenstermaker recommended that the position pay $15 an hour and that the hours of the position be from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. There would be more than one firefighter hired to cover the responsibilities which is how the position will remain part-time only.
Money to fund the position will come from the fire department’s share of Local Option Income Tax funds.
He added he has already had an interest in the position expressed to him by four or five of his firefighters.
In other business, the council reviewed the 2023 town budget and held a public hearing.
The budget is based on an estimated net assessed value of the town of $166,329.317. The total budget is $4,504,493 with a proposed property tax levy of $659,000. The estimated maximum civil levy is $546,722 but the budget is advertised high because once it is advertised it may be lowered but it may not be raised.
No one from the public was present to ask questions about the budget or to express any opposition to it.
The budget is accessible for review on the state’s Gateway budget website at www.budgetnotices.in.gov
The council is slated to adopt the budget at its Oct. 10 meeting.
Council members Josh Barkley, Brad Pursley, Jeff Kemper, Jason House and Dennis Ealing also approved of a request from police commissioner Caleb Chichester to increase the wage of part-time police officers to $35 an hour.
An amendment will have to be made to the town’s salary ordinance and that amendment will have to be adopted by the council before the change can be formally put in place. The council hopes to have the amendment drafted by the town attorney and ready for adoption at the council’s Oct. 10 meeting.
The request was made by Chichester after the police commissioners discussed the increase at their meeting last week. The plan was to stay more competitive with surrounding agencies in the wake of the resignation of part-time officer Nick White.
Town Manager Luann Martin agreed that the going rate is $35 an hour as that is what it costs the town to hire police protection at outdoor events at Archbold-Wilson Memorial Park.
The town’s rate has been $30 an hour for part-time officers on the department for several years.
Chichester also informed the council members that he has posted notice on the town’s website that the town will be taking applications for a new police chief.
That prompted Ealing to pointedly ask Chichester when Chief Dave Rigney plans to retire. Chichester said that Rigney has not given a specific date and that was again confirmed by Rigney, who was present at Monday night’s meeting.
Ealing said that it was his understanding that Rigney may just be stepping down as chief and taking a patrolman’s position with the department. Ealing questioned how well that would work out for a new chief.
Chichester said that he had spoken with Rigney about the possibility of him staying on as a patrolman and how he would interact with a new chief. “I think they could make it work,” Chichester said.
Police Sgt. Stephanie Tucker added that it might be beneficial for a new chief to have Rigney’s experience and knowledge of the town for reference.
Ealing then turned to Tucker and asked her about her intent to retire. She has announced that she may retire this year, but like Rigney she has not given a specific date. She is running for the at-large seat on the Ossian Town Council and if she is elected in November, she would be required to leave the department as she cannot be a council member and an employee of the town.
She told Ealing that while she is eligible to retire, she does not know what the future holds and will not know for sure for the next few months.
Barkley acknowledged that he has been speaking with Sheriff Scott Holliday about the logistics and possibility of sheriff’s department coverage of the town, but he stressed that he has never been in favor of not having a law enforcement officer in town at all times.
“There is no one on the town council who is interested in waiting on a sheriff’s deputy to get here in case of an emergency,” Barkley said, adding, “If someone calls 911, obviously we want people there.”
But he added that the town only has so many officers since the resignation of officer Evan Holliday and officer Russ Mounsey’s decision to return to part-time. If the town would contract with the sheriff’s department for coverage, it would have to be for a deputy to be stationed in town, he emphasized. He added that it is just one option to consider since the town is struggling to to keep the department fully staffed and he expressed his belief that no matter what the position pays, it would be difficult to retain officers.
In other business, the council members:
• Approved contracting Miracle Midwest of Monnott, Mo., to install a new swing set at Melching Park at a cost of $3,795.
• Approved the final contract extension for Republic Services — the town’s garbage contractor — for 2023. The extension is included in the current contract the town has with the service but that contract will expire at the end of 2023.
The extension gives Republic the option of raising rates, which Republic took advantage of by raising the monthly pickup rate per household from its current rate of $17.06 to the new rate of $17.59 starting Jan. 1.
With the end of life to the contract coming at the end of next year, Barkley recommended to Martin that she shop around for other vendors to get competitive bids. She agreed to the request.
• Set trick-or-treat hours for Halloween night, from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31.
• Approved on first reading Ordinance 22-9-1, an ordinance that if approved on second reading and adopted by the council at its Oct. 10 meeting will follow the ruling of the Indiana General Assembly to repeal the water bill user receipt tax and provide for adjusted phased-in water rates and charges.
• Approved the following payments to API Construction of LaOtto for work performed on town streets: an increase of $6,685.52 on the Greenwood Trail project to build up property owners’ yards adjoining the new curbs of the street so that the height of the yard matches the height of the curb; $108,833.41 for the Greenwood Trail project; $37,814.60 to close out the retainage for the Greenwood Trail project; a decrease of $47,954.96 for various street improvement projects; $243,966.34 for pay application 3 for various street improvement projects; and the final closeout retainage bill for various street projects totaling $13,747.25.
• Learned from Fenstermaker that the credit cards the fire department has been using to buy fuel for the department’s gasoline-powered apparatuses continue to be declined because Marathon is having issues with accepting fleet cards. He wants to be able to purchase gas at the Ossian BP station. He said he would get with Martin about affecting a change.
• Agreed to a recommendation by Martin to instruct utility bill customers to no longer make their monthly utility payments at Farmers and Merchants State Bank in Ossian. Martin observed that the town has been having problems with the bank applying the monthly payments made by utility customers to accounts other than the town’s utility account. Customers are requested to pay either on-line, come in and pay or pay at the new drop box at the entrance to the town hall.
• Discussed — with future plans to discuss drafting a town ordinance forbidding the practice — problems with people parking boats, campers, trailers and other vehicles in their yards.
glenw@news-banner.com
