Lapel town council gets new member

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LAPEL — Lapel Town Council conducted its first meeting of the new year Thursday, Jan. 3, down one council member — a position vacated when Michael Cates moved to Noblesville.

The Madison County Republican Party conducted a caucus and selected Jason Kleinbub of Lapel to serve the final year of Cates’ term.

Kleinbub is expected to be at the remainder of council meetings for the year, starting with the Thursday, Jan. 17, meeting.

“I’m looking forward to serving the people of Lapel,” Kleinbub said. “It’s a wonderful town.”

Kleinbub said he plans to run in the next election for a four-year term on the council.

He said he likes to refer to Lapel as a hidden gem, and while Kleinbub would like to see the area grow, he wants town leaders to be selective to maintain the town’s charm.

During the Jan. 3 meeting, the council elected a president and vice president as well as set the dates for meetings in 2019. Deb Wainscott will remain president, and Tony Pearson will remain vice president. Council meeting dates also will remain the same, the first and third Thursdays of each month.

As for other council assignments, Pearson will work as the liaison with town utility and fire officials.

Tom Marvel, council member will work closely the the town police department, while councilwoman Lindsay Washmuth will work with town planning and the town office. Wainscott also will be a liaison with the fire department, while Kleinbub will work with the park department.

One of the first things Kleinbub wants to do it to get Bulldog Park, located at 2842 S. Brookside Road, up and running, he said.

In other news, the council:

• Discussed water meters for the Pleasant View apartments and gave approval to order three new 2-inch water meters.

• Approved replacing a utility department and waste water department computer at an all-in cost of $900 per computer from Regal Computer Services.

This is part of the council’s overall plan and town policy to replace computers every five years with newer and more up-to-date programs.

• Approved a townwide text and email alert and notice system to be developed by Regal Computer Services at a cost of $150 per month for up to 12,000 messages per month.

In police business, Chief Kelly Naselroad informed the council it would cost about $6,500 to deck out a new police vehicle. This will include a little more than $2,000 for a cage and window bar system. It will also cost about $5,600 to install cages in the three other police vehicles.