PENDLETON — Pendleton/Fall Creek Township Parks and Recreation Board is working on a new five-year master plan, and new Falls Park Director Aaron Burris made an appeal at last week’s Pendleton Town Council meeting for people to attend an upcoming public forum on the effort.
“Everyone’s welcome,”Burris said. “Tell friends and family to come out and give (their input).”
The forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. May 30 at the Community Building, 299 Falls Park Drive.
The goal is to hear from the public how it would like to see the park system evolve, according to town information.
There will be a presentation and live polling, after which people will be able to share ideas with the planning team.
Park leaders want to learn, among other things, what the public values about the park system and what its recreational needs are.
The town council started its May 9 meeting by welcoming new councilman Shane Davis to the group.
Davis, 39, was chosen by a Republican caucus in April to replace former council Vice President Chad Wolfe, who resigned after moving out of the district in March.
Davis will serve out Wolfe’s term, which lasts through this year, and he said he plans to run this fall to serve a subsequent four-year term.
In a related move, the council elected councilman Bob Jones to the council vice president position. Jones had been president of the council for several years prior to stepping down in December.
The council also approved a couple of requests from local businesses:
• It approved a rezoning request from Pendleton Veterinary Clinic, 1011 S. Pendleton Ave., to change the property from single-family residential to planned business. The business plans to renovate the building, including updating the facade. Dr. Brent Crabtree explained the plans, and council members expressed approval of the new look based on drawings.
• It approved an easement encroachment in an alley next to the building at 110 S. Pendleton Ave. to allow the installation of a curb. The building is owned by Bruce and Brenda Ring.
In other business:
• The council discussed issuing Requests For Quotations (RFQs) to firms for town legal services. The town’s current town attorney is with Indianapolis firm Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, which council members have stated has been good. But council members said they are seeking to ensure legal costs are competitive. The town expects to receive responses from firms by the end of June, at which point it will determine if interviews are necessary. Town leaders plan to conduct the RFQ process with other service providers, they said. Town manager Tim McClintick said he plans to run the process with IT services.
• The council set 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 28, for an executive session to discuss personnel matters.
• In response to questioning and comments from resident Ana Blake, the council asked McClintick to order replacement work sweatshirts for certain town employees.
• The town discussed diversity training for employees. According to town council President Jessica Smith, employees in all departments will partake in the training.
• Pendleton Fire Chief Jeff Moore said a group from the department would travel this week to Brandon, South Dakota, to check out the department’s new tanker that is on order. Moore also said the department received new air packs from Hoosier Fire Equipment, and that about a dozen members of the department, including himself, are taking part in a state fire apparatus driver training class offered at the Pendleton station this month.
• Interim Pendleton Town Marshal Randy Sidwell told the council about recent department training as well as the installation of a prescription drug drop box for expired and otherwise unwanted drugs in the lobby of the Pendleton police station (See related story, Page 1.)