The Town of Ferdinand is looking at how to reopen park facilities in the safest way possible.
Town Council members discussed the reopening plan during Tuesday night’s monthly meeting.
One idea brought to light was hiring a special sanitation employee.
Property and Street Department Director, Tom Lueken, and Town Manager Chris James are in charge of making the job description.
Council members tell us the salary could be paid by the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Act.
The Ferdinand Parks Department is also working on developing new policies, implementing new cleaning procedures, and is getting hand sanitizer dispensers for park shelter houses and restrooms.
The Town Council also heard an update on the Old Town Lake trail project.
All the work required for grants by the Indiana Department of Natural resources has been completed and finished. The town will be reimbursed.
Park officials say the project is right on track and should be completed by the end of the month. They hope to have a very small soft opening by mid-June and have a grand opening by July 4th.
The Town Council then approved a proposal from the Pavement Sealing Company of Evansville for the road striping project on Industrial Park road by CVS and Arby’s. The company must provide additional project information and the council will approve the amount.
A performance bond was also approved. Progressive Investment Company took out a bond with Ferdinand after selling part of its property for the construction of the new Arby’s. The bond orders the investment company to create a utility infrastructure on the vacant lot next to the lot where Arby’s is going in.
The council then began discussing the town’s emergency order. After going around the room to hear what other members had to say, the council decided to extend the emergency order.
The next item up for discussion was the Safe Haven Baby Box. Jasper Middle School students Isabella Harmon and Tori Hemmerlein initially presented the idea to the council in February. Currently, the plan is to place it in the Doc Thomas Building on Third Street, which is being remodeled into the EMT quarters. The next step is having Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center sign an agreement with Safe Haven Baby Box. After this, the Town of Ferdinand and the hospital will work together to create an agreement.
Council members then approved a new way for residents and insurance companies to receive copies of police reports. This new ordinance establishes an online service called Buy Crash. To use the system, residents will enter the number they received from the police into Buy Crash to find and purchase the report. The ordinance also takes away the $5 fee residents had to pay the town for copies of their police reports.
The town council approved update tax abatement procedures and approved a demolition permit for the Access Storage building. This is located at 307 East First Street.
They also gave the green light to present an updated lease agreement to Vincennes University. The lease is for the Senior Citizens Care Center that is used by Generations. The current lease agreement expires in July.
Hughes Paving of French Lick was approved to complete this year’s road projects through the Community Crossings Grant with a base bid of $173,430.50.
Council members then approved to proceed with a memorandum of understanding with the Boyce System for a new invoicing system for town utilities. Residents should start receiving the new bills in July.
The next agenda item was 2021 budget dates. Department budget meetings are scheduled for July 22nd at 6 am. The budget hearing will take place during the Ferdinand Town Council’s monthly meeting in August. The budget adoption is scheduled for the council September meeting.
Towards the end of the meeting, Police Chief Lloyd Froman took the floor to thank local businesses and members of the community for their thoughtfulness and generosity throughout the past few months.
The next Ferdinand Town Council meeting takes place on Tuesday, June 16th at 7:30 pm in the Ferdinand Community Center.
