Some new additions have been made to the town of Ferdinand’s emergency personnel.
Tuesday night the Ferdinand Town Council approved the addition of five more officers to the Ferdinand Police Department’s reserve force.
Ferdinand Police Chief Lloyd Froman told the council the new additions will help reduce overtime and training for potential officers for the future.
The Ferdinand Police Department reserve force assists when extra officers are needed to assist with traffic control and crowd control and also steps in when full-time officers can’t work.
Also the council approved the addition of Steven DeKemper, a teacher at Forest Park Junior-Senior High School, and Ferdinand resident Nick Rountree to the Ferdinand Volunteer Fire Department. The new additions bring the fire department’s force to 33 members. Both DeKemper and Rountree must to pass a drug test before officially being added as members of the department .
Also the Ferdinand Volunteer Fire Department will have a new assistant chief. Luke fleck was selected as the new assistant chief, replacing Donnie Mohr, who served that position for about nine years. Mohr will step down to the next level of rank as exterior captain.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Tuesday night, Ferdinand Town Manager Chris James told the council about his meeting earlier in the day with members of a Dubois County housing study subcommittee.
James says the subcommittee discussed a certificate of occupancy, which is needed for industrial buildings that will be re-purposed into housing. The subcommittee members spoke with representatives from Morley & Associates, a Newburgh engineering firm, who can help the subcommittee solve how to obtain someone local to help issue the certificates.
Also Tuesday night, Ferdinand Street Superintendent and Property Manager Tom Lueken, told the council that the street department will end their curbside leaf pickup Friday.
Lueken says after Friday, residents will have to bag their leafs and take them to the town’s disposal site on West 23rd Street west of Industrial Park Road. It’s preferred that residents leave only leaves and debris, not bags, at the disposal site.
And finally the council approved the town’s 2016 Americans With Disabilities Act transition plan, which mandates that the town is in compliance with the ADA or risk losing eligibility for federal funding.
The council also created an ordinance that requires Ferdinand employees to contribute to their own health insurance. Previously, employees had to contribute only for spouses and children but not themselves.
An individual on the plan will now contribute $23 per month. The rates will change depending on if family members are included in the plan.
