The Ferdinand Town Council met on Tuesday night, February 20th to discuss a plethora of issues and agendas. Here are some of the focal point areas:
Town Manager Chris James’ resignation was announced effective Friday, February 23rd. James says he felt it was in the town’s best interest moving forward, so a fresher approach could be undertaken.
In a Press release, James said “The Town of Ferdinand is incredibly blessed with its current leadership, at the elected level and with top-notch department heads and legal counsel. I have no doubt in the ability of the supervisors to help guide the council and the Town into its next surge of steady growth. There are several exciting projects being worked on that will benefit our community and make Ferdinand the ideal location to raise a family. I truly feel the Town is in very good hands and will continue moving forward in a positive fashion. Ideally, the next Town Manager will be more suitably skilled and versed in municipal management, able to give the Town of Ferdinand exactly what it requires to lead this growth effort.
“I look back with much gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to grow and learn over the past ten years, in what was a brand-new, and completely different, career path. I am very much looking forward to my next chapter.”
Discussion was had about two Tesla EV Chargers being placed at the edge of town in the parking lot where Subway and China Garden sit. Each Charger would have 4 ports essentially allowing 8 EVs to be fast charged at the same time
The Ferdinand Volunteer Fire Department announced they had received LUCAS devices back on February 6th and had put it into use already. It was announced that now all 12 departments in Dubois County will have one. The FVFD also announced the purchase of 8 SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatuses) with a 90-day turnaround delivery expected.
The Electric Department asked the council to look into the hiring of a high school intern to prepare them for jobs in the trades field. The council agreed with the understanding that students are kept safe as electrical work is very dangerous
A $142K hydro excavator purchase was approved that will be used by multiple departments with the agreement that the current one, a 2009 model, would be put up for sale while it still had a little bit of value left.
The Electric Department also announced that the tree-trimming and line-clearing project started a couple of weeks back is 50% complete and they currently have no planned outages.
Talks were brought before the council about how a Redevelopment Commission was needed to help with the Ferdinand Economic Development. It was said that the town used to have a Redevelopment Commission and was a 5-member board. The council agreed to look into it as the Redevelopment Commission was a suggestion from the USDA.
One of the biggest focal points of the meeting was the discussion about the Total Solar Eclipse in April. Ferdinand Police Chief Kerri Blessinger expressed her concerns about just how big this event will be. She told the Council she had done a lot of research and spoke with some of the cities and towns that experienced the Eclipse back in 2017 so the town could be better prepared. She informed the Council that the FPD and FVFD were placing backup plans in place as well. All Ferdinand City Police would be working increased hours and patrols starting the weekend of the Eclipse through the day after the Eclipse, Tuesday, April 9th.
John Hoppenjans the Chief of the Ferdinand Fire Department talked in conjunction with Chief Blessinger about the increase of staff to help with the Eclipse. It was stated that most of the Fire Department work full-time jobs and some would be taking off to help the Town for the Eclipse. It was then proposed that the town offer some compensation for the loss of days’ wages to help with this event. The Council agreed to pay for 6-8 guys working 12-hour shift rotations at $20 per hour and if nobody was needed they could cut out the dollar per man hour and send some men home.
