By Brady Extin | The Times-Post
PENDLETON — Pendleton received almost $300,000 in the most recent round of state Community Crossings grant funds, bringing the town’s total this year to $1 million.
That information, along with updates from the town’s fire and police chiefs, was pressented during the Pendleton Town Countil meeting on Dec. 8.
The state announced earlier this month that Pendleton would receive $298,160 in the second of two rounds for the Community Crossings matching grant program. With that, Pendleton reached its annual cap.
Pendleton’s latest funding will be used for local road paving and crack sealing.
The town must contribute a 25% match for the funds, which amounts to $250,000 for the year, town manager Scott Reske later said.
He said the matching funds will come from Pendleton’s Motor Vehicle Highway Fund and Local Road and Street Fund, both of which are funded through the state gas tax, as well as the town’s stormwater fee, which is paid by property owners.
The town also paid an additional $40,000 for engineering and design work associated with roadword done with Community Crossings funds earlier this year.
In the recent round, 229 Indiana cities, towns and counties received more than $119 million in Community Crossings funds for local road projects, according to a state press release.
Pendleton was the only town in south Madison County to receive a grant in the most recent round.
Madison County received $973,500. Anderson received $548,044.
Also discussed at the Dec. 8 meeting, the town appealed to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance to up its tax levy because of high growth in Pendleton. The town was approved for an additional $37,000.
Fire department update
Pendleton Fire Chief Chris Nodine gave an update on the South Madison Fire Territory, which goes into effect starting Jan. 1.
On Dec. 20, the department will swear in its first full-time members to the new department. This includes the chief, two assistant chiefs, and nine full-time firefighters. This marks a historic change for a department, which has been volunteer since 1904.
The department has been working on purchasing a new fire truck. Its initial quote for the truck a few months ago was $585,000, but after receiving the new quote last week, the price has increased to $900,000, and is expected to increase once again at the start of the new year.
The department originally received a $605,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant, so there have been meetings to discuss ways to fund the extra $300,000. Included in the possibilibies are loans that they can be paid off during the next three, five or 10 years.
The department also applied for a FEMA Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant that would allow the hiring of three more firefighters over the course of a set amount of years, after which the department would add them to its budget.
Along with that, the town board passed Ordinance 22-42, which approved the use of a Tax Anticipation Loan for the new fire territory.
The department will now apply for a loan of $448,365 in January to make sure that everything is covered for the start of the new territory. It will reapply for a loan later in the year to cover the remaining costs for the second half of 2023.
Within the Ordinance, the department cannot exceed $1.5 million, which should not be an issue, Nodine said.
The loan must be paid off by the end of 2023, and the territory expects a smaller loan in the first half of 2024 before being self-sufficient by July 2024.
Police department update
Pendleton Police Chief Marc Farrer said the department has hired officer Kayla Gilley.
Gilley previously spent four years with the Anderson Police Department.
Additionally, the council authorized ordering a fleet of 12 new vehicles for the police department.
Although the process has begun, the council said it’s not known when the vehicles will arrive. A final decision to accept and pay for the vehicles will be made at that time.