LAPEL — Lapel Town Council is considering increasing trash pickup rates for its residents as the current rate does not include any payment to the town for its trash-related costs.
“As we have discussed multiple times, with our trash rate, we currently lose money as a town on our trash service because we pass the trash cost directly to the customer,” council President Chad Blake said. “We don’t receive any funding for billing or funding for any processes for managing our trash service to our citizens.”
Currently, the town is in the third year of a five-year contract with CGS Services Inc. as Lapel’s disposal company.
In the contract, a built-in 3% increase raised rates as of July 1 from $12.88 per month to $13.27.
Town council members discussed raising the rates by $2 to $15.27 to recoup costs.
Councilman Jason Kleinbub said even with a $2 increase, Lapel’s rate would remain significantly lower than those of some surrounding towns.
“We are still very competitive and cost-effective for our citizens at a rate of 15.27,” Blake said.
Town attorney Ashley Hopper told the council an ordinance would need to be made before the town can increase rates more than what is already contracted in with CGS.
There are 850 trash customers in the town.
Plan pursuit
Madison County Council of Governments spoke to the Lapel Town Council concerning a new comprehensive plan for the town.
At the council’s May meeting, Blake recommended the town look into developing a new plan. He said the town’s last plan was done in 2009. He believes a new plan would help bring developers and businesses to Lapel.
MCCOG presented a booklet as its statement of qualifications to council members. The information submitted is a breakdown of MCCOG’s approach, services and time frame for providing a plan.
MCCOG is a regional planning organization funded in part by Pendleton, Anderson, Alexandria, Anderson, Daleville and Elwood, as well as Madison County.
Its main goal, outlined on its website, is “to increase communication, cooperation, and coordination among local governments in planning and implementing programs to meet mutual challenges and problems.”
“We’re just in the process of starting this. We have a few other firms that have reached out to us,” Blake said. “We’re going to get some proposals in front of us and make the decisions that are best for the town. Obviously, we want our vision to fit in with the county’s. (The booklet) will be very helpful.”
Main drain
The town is deciding what funds to use to repair a drain problem near the intersection of 11th and Main streets.
A proposal from E&B Paving for maintenance on the project gave the town two options for the collapsing drain.
One option is to replace existing casting with new casting and a concrete lid. The second option is to remove two brick structures and connect newer drain structures directly to the rest of system, eliminating the brick structures. The costs for the options are $11,985 and $23,990, respectively.
The drain problem was noticed during work on paving and sidewalk repairs funded by a state Community Crossing grant. The drain issue was not noticed by engineering consultants prior to the application for the grant.
Blake said he was told by E&B Paving and engineering firm RQAW there should be extra funds in the grant to pay for whichever option is chosen, rather than going into the town’s budget.
Hopper recommended tabling the decision to check the grant application to see if the grant money could be used for the repair.
Blake later made a motion to table the decision until discussions can happen with the Indiana Department of Transportation, RQAW and E&B Paving to make sure the drain issues and sidewalks are addressed properly with what the grant provides.
Other business
The town approved $2,250 to be paid to Morgan’s Tree Service to remove seven dead trees from various Lapel parks.
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The prime purpose of the Council of Governments is to increase communication, cooperation, and coordination among local governments in planning and implementing programs to meet mutual challenges and problems. Each local government has the opportunity for involvement in policy making and programming of MCCOG.
The Council of Governments is advisory in nature and lacks the normal governmental powers of taxation, regulation, and operation of public facilities. Instead, its purpose is to provide a forum for dialogue and joint decision-making within a regional context. MCCOG has no direct power to implement these decisions. We must rely on the representatives of local governments to see that these decisions become a reality.
Source:www.mccog.net
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