Demolition

 City Council meeting

The August 22 city Council meeting was brief. It began with the transfer of funds for tree removal in Weston Cemetery and for Community Crossings grant funding. Two street closings were approved. The first was for the St. Augustine's Fall Frolic on Saturday, August 27 that will close a block of Susan Street. The second was for the Eagles Lodge fish fry on September 10 that will close part of Harrison Street.

The most interesting item on the agenda was asbestos removal at the power plant. The city received quotes from two companies, one for $248,000, the other $443,500 to remove the asbestos on two old engines that remain in the building. The companies wanted a down payment, which is not allowed by the Indiana Board of Accounts. So there was a discussion of how to structure the payments to make both the company and the Board of Accounts happy. The Council then approved the lower quote. The reason for moving ahead on with this quickly is that the company that is demolishing what' is left of electrical generating equipment wants to move forward and it cannot until the asbestos on the engines is removed.

The Council approved the Police Chief placing and order to replace a 2013 squad car. The expectation is that it will take months for the car to be delivered. The Council also approved purchase of ultraviolet lights that are used at the waste treatment plant. Again, the expectation is that delivery will be delayed.

On September 13 there will be an open house for discussion of the City's Comprehensive Plan. It will be in the Council Chambers at City Hall from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. On September 11 the Fire Department is hosting a pancake breakfast.

Other things.

Last week demolition of the cooling structure at the City plant began.

There was a lot of strange piping.

I was able to get a closer look and found it had cooling fins on it.

Also last week the Electrical Department removed the transformers that were in the School House substation, which is north of the Library.

Last Thursday the Airport Authority had a brief special meeting to approve its budget for 2023. The budget will be on the agenda of the County Council in September.

Busy Bee is for sale.

There has been some activity at the long empty Forsythe mansion on the corner of Washington and McKinnley that spurred a lot of speculation on Facebook. Someone commented that the property had recently been sold but, if so, the sale has not yet been registered on the County's GIS site. The owner of the property has been paying about $1000 in real-estate taxes each year, which is a lot for a property that is earning nothing.

The last day of swimming at the City pool was Sunday.

Days are getting shorter. We are less than a month away from the equinox.

A video of last year's Weston Cemetery Walk will be shown at the Ritz Theater on August 31 at 7:00. Admission is $5.