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Andrews town council meets

The Andrews Town Council spent a large majority of their time discussing issues with work done through the Community Crossings Matching Grant and an order change during its Monday, Jan. 25, meeting.

Townspeople and council members alike have found issues with the previous work completed by construction crews. Councilman Roger Newsome stated that at least one section of road was “the worst (he) had ever laid eyes on.”

Eric Woodmansee, of AME Consulting, discussed several bill items with the council, sharing the meaning behind each bill item and taking notes of the council’s grievances, such as being billed for crews working even on both days that crews left the job site after having hit water mains.

Councilwoman Laura Dillon requested that no further action be taken with payment until the spring, when the council could have a face-to-face meeting with the contracting company to go over their grievances.

Moving on to CCMG 2020-2, Woodmansee shared a schedule for the bid process. Woodmansee’s plan laid out that Feb. 15 would mark the advertisement phase, followed by another advertisement on Feb. 22. A pre-bid conference would take place on Feb. 26, bids would open on March 15 and Woodmansee would provide award recommendations on March 22.

Woodmansee will be bringing a proposal for a Domestic Water Study to the next council meeting, which is to be held on Feb. 8. The water study, which was last done in 2012, needs to be updated in order for the town to have the chance to receive Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) funding.

In unrelated business, Jessica Campbell of the Department of Community Development (DCD) shared updates regarding a property order that had not been complied with at 421 S. Clifton St. A pile of debris from having a garage torn down had been gathered on the property and the resident had been previously ordered to remove the pile.

Campbell reported that the property owner had not complied with the order for cleanup. The property owner originally asked to keep the debris to burn for heat in her home but was advised by Fire Chief Tom Wuensch to avoid doing so for multiple reasons. According to Wuensch, building materials cannot be burned, especially within the household, due to creosotes building up in the chimney.

Having previously taken bids for removal of the pile, council opted to choose with TW Excavating for removal. The excavating company will be paid by Huntington County and the property owner will have 30 days to then make payment to the county. A lien will be put on the property if the bill for removal is not paid by the end of the 30-day period.

Brant Ricker, also of DCD, shared a report regarding Lot 16 at the Antioch Mobile Home Park. Ricker shared that the property was unfit for habitation and had been condemned. Ricker also stated that the responsibility to clean up the mobile home could either fall to the owner of the home or the owner of the mobile home park itself.

During department reports, Wuensch requested help from the council in straightening out the fire department budget, so that the department would be sure to have funds available to cover the cost of a new truck. After further discussion, the council offered to sit down with Wuensch to figure out their best options for funding and getting the money required to cover the cost of a new truck into the budget without also negatively affecting taxpayers.

Clerk-treasurer Laury Powell shared that the town’s garbage disposal provider, H & H Disposal, had made a note of people leaving too much trash out and had provided a reminder letter of the rules for removal of larger trash items. Andrews residents wishing to have large items such as furniture removed may do so by calling H & H Disposal for pricing.