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Warren Council hears request to help fund KBC

It was a packed house on Monday, April 12, when the Warren Town Council convened for its monthly meeting.

Bob Pond, of the Knight Bergman Center, addressed the council seeking financial support to help a new KBC Preservation Fund, part of a three-year plan implemented by the center's board, to maintain and upgrade the center and its facilities.

The request for vacation of the alley/street by Heritage Pointe is still in progress as both parties (the Town of Warren and Heritage Pointe) are working out the details regarding access to existing sewer ways.

Council President Bill Cartwright noted that there are approximately eight Warren properties on the block at the next commissioners' sale, which will be held on April 27.

"It is my understanding that there is a real desire to sell these properties and the bidding on a couple start as low as $100," stated Cartwright. "The commissioners don't want these properties and are anxious to get them back on the tax roll."

In regard to the feral cat situation on Nancy Street, it was noted that the resident responsible for the problem was cited and given a timetable on when the matter should be dealt with.

Cartwright urged the group to encourage other residents to participate in the census. Final statistics are due by May 1 and Warren has only had a 56 percent response rate so far.

Indiana has the fourth highest return rate in the nation.

In new business, Jeff Souder, of Huntington County United Economic Development, addressed the council about plans to seek funds to hire an additional employee. The HCUED board has tentatively decided on a salary of $40,000 for the new employee and Souder's request was that a quarter of the seed money come from the four outlying towns of Markle, Warren, Roanoke and Zanesville.

"That's $10,000 and if you divide that by four, that's only $2,500 per town," Souder stated. "I think with all that HCUED does in bringing new businesses and jobs to the county, this should be seen as an investment that helps everybody."

Warren currently contributes $1,500 to HCUED's budget each year.

The council agreed to take the matter into consideration.
Clerk-Treasurer Marilyn Morrison reported that there was a shortfall of $42,000 in tax draws for 2010, due to two appeals that were granted, including $40,000 on one property alone.

The amount is almost 17 percent of all tax funds collected.

"While there is no need to panic as this moment, because there are funds in the budget to cover that, what we will have to do in a couple years is take a look at the capital plan and re-work it a bit," Morrison said.

She also requested that a special meeting be held and the capital expenditures be frozen until a plan is devised. Frozen funds would not include normal expenses such monies to the fire department.

The big item on the agenda was the report from the parks board. The board requested funds to make repairs to fencing as well as to repair gravel walkways at the baseball diamond before the start of the new season.
It was also discussed that for future seasons that the board be partially responsible for revenue earned from baseball each year.

"There needs to be some form of accountability about how all that money earned is allocated," Cartwright stated. "And maybe the park board could set something up so it could also earn revenue instead of just letting the baseball association use it for free. That would at least help with maintenance and upgrade costs."

After other reports including, utilities, fire department and town marshal, the group also heard from Ethan Stivers and his proposal to provide mowing services for the park and a few other areas around the town.

The matter was tabled for further review.