LAPEL — Lapel Town Council has a new board member: Tom Marvel of Lapel was introduced during a recent meeting.
Marvel replaces Clay Parkison, a councilman who stepped down in May, a couple of months after replacing Michael Cates’ vacated seat on the council.
Cates had moved out of Lapel and was no longer able to serve. Parkison previously served on the council and was chosen by the Madison County Republican Party to fill the seat.
Madison County Republican Party leaders were made aware of Parkison’s resignation in May and recommended Marvel as the replacement.
In other town business, officials discussed adding a crematorium at a local business.
Mike Keller from Keller Mortuary, 801 Main St., Lapel, presented town officials a request for a “special use” permit to allow the installation of a crematorium in his business on Main Street.
The system Keller would like to install is smoke- and odor-free and sounds like an air conditioning unit when running, he said.
Council President Deb Wainscott wanted to see construction plans on changes to the interior of the business and have the building inspector look into the plans before granting the request.
An Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) permit would be necessary later in the process, officials said, and the system would require a two-inch gas line and would have to be monitored.
In other business:
• Representatives from AT&T and others discussed bringing fiber optic internet service to Lapel for businesses. They were expected to approach the almost 100 businesses in town to ask owners if they are interested in the service.
• The council discussed the expected cost to install a new gas line along Main Street to County Road 650 South to enable the town to provide gas service to new development along the State Road 13 corridor.
Town leaders said they received a cost estimate of $240,000 for materials, equipment and labor to run the gas line from County Road 400 South to County Road 650 South.
They discussed bidding out the project with hopes of spreading construction costs out across several years.
• Town leaders talked about repairs needed to the splash pad at Woodward Park.
The cost to fix the splash pad is expected to be about $900 in parts. The council approved using park funds to pay for the parts and plans to have town utility workers do the repairs.
• The town council voted to give Greg Lucas, a new town employee who has helped with projects around town, a pay raise. He will now receive $12 per hour.