By John Estridge
On Monday, Aug. 3, it was a quintessential small-town, town council meeting, with some of the problems found in trying to govern a small town.
And Liberty Town Council members were back in their own customary digs at the Union County Courthouse Commissioners’ Meeting room after moving to the Liberty Volunteer Fire Department for several meetings during and right after the shutdown.
Topics of conversation included: unkempt properties, how a person outside the town limits could tap in to the town’s wastewater system, putting new stop signs on a town street and making sure people wanting street closures for events have insurance and hold the town harmless.
Street and Utility Supervisor Matt Reuss said there is a property on West Union Street that needs to have the grass and brush cut back. However, the property is so bad he needs to take a backhoe in to clean up logs, trash, old tires and a swing set among other items buried in the unkempt brush before anything can be done to the property.
Reuss and his employees have cleaned properties before, but he said this might be the worst property they have tackled. In taking a backhoe to the backyard, should he go down the driveway and remove part of the fence or should he come in from an adjoining property?
No one could answer that query.
Acting president Keith Bias said officials need to start taking before and after photos to add to the files. Because right now it is the residents’ or property owners’ word against the town’s word, he said.
Bias suggested they get county Area Plan Director Jeff Mathews and county Sanitarian Ron Parker involved in the process and seek guidance from them.
Clerk/Treasurer Melissa Shepler said there may be push back from the people who live in the house. Bias said he did not have sympathy for them.
“What is fair for one is fair for all,” Bias said.
Reuss said he is going to find a fee schedule for all the equipment they will need such as the backhoe, chainsaws and dump trucks to put on the bill. The cost of clearing the property will be put on the property taxes as a lien on the property.
According to Reuss, the town recently cleaned a property near Liberty Elementary School, and the brush alone took up two dump trucks.
Earlier in the meeting, council was going to amend the abatement ordinance, but Shepler said it was decided to dismiss the proposed amendment. Town attorney Walt Chidester said the town does not have to keep going back to a property and give notice each time the town goes in to clean it up or mow it over the summer. Once it is done, the town employees can then go in and do what needs to be done whenever it needs to be done.
Another situation was a person on Old Brownsville Road wanted to tap into the town’s sewage system. Reuss said the resident is technically outside the town limits. Thus, the person will have to pay out-of-town fees on the sewage portion of the town’s billing. Also, the person will have to install a pump station and grinder pump to make the connection work correctly.
Reuss said the person is technically within the Brookville Lake Regional Waste District area of service. However, the BLRWD does not offer sewage service in that area. Thus, BLRWD Director Ted Stubbs told Reuss the BLRWD had no problem with the town giving service to the resident.
However, Reuss is not acclimated to the specifications for grinder pumps. Stubbs said he will assist Reuss in inspecting the lift station and grinder pump once they are put in place. According to Shepler, the tap-in fee was approved by LTC members in 2015. At that time, the tap-in was $890. However, the price tag on a lift station and grinder pump could be around $8-10,000, officials said. Chidester said they should make the homeowner aware of how much everything is going to cost so that person does not have sticker shock.
Another tap-in with the cost of $1,955 was approved for Lot 6 at the Wynds DP property.
Also, Shepler said she attended a conference for town clerks a few weeks ago. One of the topics of conversation is what happens if a pedestrian becomes injured on a street the town has closed for an event.
An example in Liberty is Market Street for the Liberty Festival. The attorney at the conference said if the town allows the closure and a person falls and is injured while walking along the street, the town may have to pay subsequent bills.
The ordinance was approved.
Thus, the town is going to have all clubs, organizations and others to show a proof of insurance, and sign a document holding the town harmless in case of an accident. County attorney Jim Williams wrote the ordinance and Chidester read it and approved it.
Finally, a stop-sign ordinance was approved for the intersection of Meridian Street and Brownsville Avenue. Some residents requested the stop signs because some people were driving too fast on the town street, they said. Others are not happy with the new stop signs.
Apparently, it is being played out on social media.
LTC will meet again in two weeks at 6 p.m. on Monday, August 17.