Ryan Wilson, of Roanoke, has been appointed to the Indiana Education Savings Authority board of directors by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

The agency serves as the governing board of College Choice 529 savings plans and the College Choice CD 529 savings plan. The board consists of five members appointed by the governor. Serving as ex-officio members are the state treasurer, state superintendent of public instruction, commissioner for higher education and state budget director.

Crews in Huntington and Warren will pick up your discarded live Christmas tree if you haul it to the curb.
In Andrews and Markle, compost heaps are open for residents to dispose of trees on their own.

Here are instructions for disposing of your live Christmas tree after the holidays:

Huntington
The Huntington Street Department will start collecting live trees on Dec. 27.

Residents who would like to have their trees picked up should call the street department in advance of their pick-up day at 356-4720.

The county and city emergency dispatch centers will begin a long-awaited merger after the New Year.

Huntington Police Chief EJ Carroll, who is heading the effort, says the county dispatchers will move into the space that currently houses the city dispatch center in mid-January as the two offices begin implementing the merger.

Carroll is working closely with Huntington County Sheriff Terry Stoffel, who has served on several previous committees that have attempted to combine the two staffs.

Stoffel says the merger has been a 20-year effort.

A meeting of the Huntington Common Council scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 26, at 6:45 a.m. has been canceled.
T
he council's next meeting is on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.

The Zanesville Town Council discussed maintaining trees in town rights of way during its Thursday, Dec. 20 meeting.

"If we have trees that are sitting on the right of ways that are our responsibility," said council President Patsy Brock, "we want to take care of the responsibility to keep them from maybe falling on someone's house or falling on someone's car and then putting the town in a larger state of liability."

Seventy-five percent of the students in the Huntington County Community Schools are accomplishing grades at or above their grade level, Assistant Superintendent Chuck Grable reported during the Dec. 17 school board meeting.

This Holiday Season the Huntington Street Department will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 24 and 25, and also on Tuesday, Jan. 1.

All trash collection will remain the same through the holidays except for residents with trash collection on days the street department is closed.

On Friday, Dec. 21, trash will be collected for both Friday, Dec. 21, and Monday, Dec. 24.

On Wednesday, Dec. 26, trash will be collected for both Tuesday, Dec. 25, and Wednesday, Dec. 26.

The Warren Town Council made quick work of a short agenda during its monthly meeting on Monday, Dec. 17.

The council agreed to appropriate $2,000 in CEDIT Funds to Historic Warren's Indiana Main Street Program for operational costs.

The transfer requires a quarterly finance report to council and an approved policy for expenditures.

The council was also commended for its receipt of a $5,000 Facade Improvement Grant.

In other business:

Huntington Mayor Brooks Fetters has appointed Nick Stanley to serve as a member of the city's Board of Public Works and Safety.

Stanley fills a vacancy left by the November resignation of Charles Herring, who moved outside the city limits.

Stanley is employed by Pathfinder Services as information technology manager and also works as an emergency dispatcher for the Huntington County Sheriff's Department. He provides information technology service to Johnson Junction, Inc., a local business operated by his family.

State Sen. Jim Banks (R-Columbia City) invites area middle school and high school students to spend a day at the Statehouse and serve as Senate pages during the 2013 legislative session, which runs from Jan. 7 to April 29.

"This is a unique opportunity for students to get hands-on experience in state government," Banks says.

"Former pages have applied what they learned through the program to their careers, education and civic activities. I encourage anyone with an interest in politics or government to apply."

The Roanoke Town Council learned it will receive $40,000 from the Huntington County CEDIT fund during its Tuesday, Dec. 18 meeting.

Council President Troy Karshner, who made the announcement, said the funds will go toward the town's recently completed High Street project, which extended the street to connect Roanoke to a cluster of businesses that were previously only accessible via U.S.-24.

The Andrews Town Council will hold a special meeting on Dec. 28, at 3 p.m., in the town hall meeting room.

The meeting is being held to discuss year-end closing and other matters brought before the council.

The Andrews Town Hall meeting room is located at 66 N. Main St., Andrews.

The Huntington County Commissioners announce an executive session meeting on Monday, Dec. 17, at 10 a.m., in the County Commissioners' office, 201 N. Jefferson St.

The commissioners will meet to receive information about and interview prospective employees.

Trash collection in Warren will be on Friday the week of Christmas and on Friday the week of New Year's Day.

The Warren Town Office Utility will be closed on Dec. 24, 25 and 26 to observe the Christmas holiday, and on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 to observe the New Year.

Mark Wickersham, executive director of Huntington County Economic Development Corp., addressed members of the Markle Town Council during the monthly meeting on Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Markle Fire Station.

Wickersham reported on the efforts of HCUED and presented his proposal for the council to renew its contract with the organization for the same amount as last year, which was $3,400.

The Huntington Street Department will conclude pickup of loose leaves on Friday, Dec. 14.

Any remaining leaves must be placed in brown lawn bags.

To schedule pickup of the bags, contact the street department at 356-4720.

Penalties are adding up on overdue property tax payments, Huntington County Treasurer Brenda Hamilton says.

The fall installment of property tax payments was due on Nov. 13. For payments made after that date, a five percent penalty is assessed for taxpayers who have no previous delinquencies.

Beginning Dec. 13, an additional five percent penalty will be added, Hamilton says.

The penalty is an automatic 10 percent if earlier tax bills are delinquent.

The Andrews Town Council voted to increase utility rates by approximately 15 percent during its Monday, Dec. 10 meeting.

The decision comes at the recommendation of Thurber, Brock & Associates, Inc., the municipal financial consulting firm that council hired to conduct a water rate study of the town.

To Clerk/Treasurer Bill Johnson, increasing the utility rates is a necessary measure that enables the town to adequately maintain and upgrade its utilities infrastructure.

The average Huntington resident will likely see sewage bills increase by some $5 early next year.

That's how much a 14 percent rate increase would cost someone who uses the residential average of 4,000 gallons of city water each month, members of the Huntington Common Council learned on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

The December meeting of the Markle Town Council has been rescheduled.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, Dec. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the Markle Fire Department.

It was previously scheduled for Dec. 19.

The fire department is located at 150 W. Sparks St., Markle.

State Rep. Dan Leonard, R-Huntington, has been named chairman of the Local Government Finance Subcommittee of Ways and Means.

Leonard will also serve on the Judiciary Committee.

House Speaker Brian C. Bosma, R-Indianapolis, announced the committee assignments and leadership appointments for the Indiana House Republican Caucus on Wednesday, Dec. 5.

The Huntington County Commissioners announce an executive session on Monday, Dec. 10, at 9 a.m., in the County Commissioners' office.

The commissioners will meet to discuss a job performance evaluation of an individual employee.

The commissioners' office is located in the Huntington County Courthouse, 201 N. Jefferson St.

The Warren Town Council will not meet on Monday, Dec. 10.

The meeting has been rescheduled for Monday, Dec. 17, so that claims can be paid before the end of the year.

The Dec. 17 meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Assembly Hall, 131 N. Wayne St., Warren.

Congressman Marlin Stutzman has been named to serve on the House Financial Services Committee for the 113th Congress beginning in January.

"The finance industry has a proud history in northeast Indiana and I look forward to taking Hoosier perspectives to the Financial Services Committee," says Stutzman. "With our national economy struggling, many Hoosiers looking for work and small businesses fighting to keep their doors open, I look forward to using this new committee assignment to help end the era of bailouts and over-regulation."

Eric Sands, vice president of the Roanoke Town Council, announced he would be resigning from the council, effective Dec. 31, during the Tuesday, Dec. 4, meeting of the council.

Those interested in filling Sands' seat are invited to send a letter of intent to Clerk/Treasurer JoAnne Kirchner at the town hall, 126 North Main St., PO Box 328, by 5 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2013. The replacement would serve out the remainder of Sands' term, which lasts until Dec. 31, 2014.

After years of watching test wells being drilled around the former Dana/United Technologies Automotive plant in Andrews, town leaders are finally getting an idea of what's going on.

John McInnes, representing Stantec Consulting, spoke during a special meeting of the Andrews Town Council on Nov. 28. He was invited by the council, Andrews Clerk-Treasurer Bill Johnson says, adding that a representative of the company that owns the land is expected to appear before the council in January.

With the winter heating season underway, The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor says Hoosiers should be aware of the state's winter disconnection moratorium and how it works.

Indiana's statutory disconnection moratorium can help the neediest consumers stay connected to natural gas and electric services during the year's coldest months. But it only applies under certain circumstances. The moratorium is in effect from Dec. 1 through March 15.

To qualify for the moratorium, residents must either:

The Huntington Board of Public Works and Safety will meet on Monday, Dec. 10, at 3:30 p.m.

The Dec. 10 meeting is being held in place of the regularly-scheduled meeting on Dec. 3, which has been canceled.

The board will meet in the mayor's conference room, located on the third floor of the City Building, 300 Cherry St., Huntington.

The Huntington County Local FEMA Board has been chosen to receive approximately $5,000 to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the county.

The selection was made by a National Board that is chaired by the United States Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency and consists of representatives from American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; The Jewish Federations of North America; The Salvation Army; and United Way Worldwide.

The next monthly meeting of the Huntington County Soil and Water Conservation District is Tuesday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m.

The meeting will be held at 3261N-496W, in Huntington.
For more information, contact the district office at 356-6816, extension 3.