A relatively-short meeting was held at the Huntingburg Common Council on Tuesday evening, where members preceded the meeting by individually signing the Nepotism Contracting Agreement for City Employees.
Mayor Elkins asked for approval to add Justin Martin, Santiago Nunez, and Christian Calderon to the volunteer firefighter list for the City of Huntingburg, which was unanimously approved by the Council. This now fills all 30 positions available for the Huntingburg Volunteer Fire Department, with other candidates still on the waitlist to join.
Ordinance 2024-22 was passed and adopted, setting the 2025 Elected Officials Salary to 5% for the Clerk-Treasurer and Mayor Positions, and 2.5% for Councilmembers for the 2025 fiscal year.
2025 Board Appointments were presented and passed, with new additions of Huntingburg Residents Nick Stevens and Jayme Rasche to the Redevelopment Commission (RDC).
Huntingburg Resident, John Songer, discussed the burning of large tree-limbs and tree parts on 14.65 acres of land that he and his family members own, that resides inside the city limits. He ensured the Council that the large open fires wouldn’t be a repeat activity – just when the debris from the many trees on the property is abundant due to the weather. Instead of spending thousands of dollars to get the trees professionally removed, or to spend the time and labor to dismantle the trees individually to remove them from the property, the property-owners would like to instead obtain permission to create a sizeable, open-fire to safely dispose of the burnable materials. There was open-debate on how to resolve this issue, with the Council considering some kind of permit-style system that residents could apply for on a case-to-case basis. City Attorney Phil Schneider stated that due to lack of immediate understanding on the topic, he will be conducting research on what the City of Huntingburg’s regulations are, and more importantly, the regulations enforced by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).
Southridge High School Student, Maleah Dearing, announced her newly elected role as President of the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council. The Council officers for the 2024-2025 school year were elected as Jack Boeglin as Vice-President, Maggie Rasche as Secretary, Riley Blessinger as Communications Chair, and includes members: Colten Obermeyer, Jolynn Bowers, and Alex Hoffman.
Mahleah concluded her announcements to the City Council by sharing updates on what the group hopes to accomplish in the coming months.
Clerk-Treasurer Dippel discussed the Bid Opening Committee for the Transit Van sale, to which the Council approved the appointment of this Committee to members Thomas Dippel and April Blessinger, Transit Director. The sealed bids for the Transit Van will be opened on November 26th, 2024 at 11:00AM EST. You can view the original notice of bid sale opening below:
Mayor Elkins and various Councilmembers concluded the meeting by commenting on the great success of the Huntingburg Christmas Stroll, presented by the Huntingburg Merchants, and hope to continue to bring more inclusive events like the Stroll to the City.
The next scheduled meeting of the Huntingburg Common Council and Utility Board is set for Tuesday, November 26th, 2024 at 5:30PM EST in the Council Chambers of the City Hall.
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