PENDLETON — People driving on East Street near Pendleton Elementary School be aware: it’s no longer legal to do a U-turn there — even if you are running late for work or a doctor’s appointment.
“This became a concern for us near the elementary school where folks were just making a U-turn in the middle of the street,” Pendleton Town Council President Marissa Skaggs said Jan. 11 after introducing a traffic control ordinance. “And so we wanted to add no-U-turn signage on East Street from Madison back to State Street.”
Pendleton Police Chief Marc Farrer told the council U-turns were a problem in the area.
“All these parents, what they do is they drop Johnny off and just loop right in the middle of the road while kids are walking, other traffic’s coming, it’s just silly … it’s just not safe,” Farrer said.
The council voted unanimously in favor of the change, suspended the regular rules to allow a second reading, and then voted again to make the change effective immediately.
The ordinance is just the latest the town has made in recent months to address safety on local roads, including lowering the speed limit on Water Street from 30 mph to 20 mph between Main Street and U.S. 36, the addition of stop signs at the intersections of Water and Broadway streets and Water and County Road 300 West, and new and bolder street marking downtown and around PES.
Town manager Scott Reske later said this is just the beginning of efforts to address pedestrian safety around town, efforts made more urgent by three “near misses,” which were caught on camera. In two of the cases, vehicles made light contact with the people.
The goal is to improve safety for pedestrians while helping improve traffic flow through downtown, Reske said. That might include the addition of turn lanes on State Street at the intersections with Main Street and Pendleton Avenue. It will also include the installation of “a temporary experimental roundabout,” paid for with federal funds, at High Street and Pendleton Avenue.
The town council also started the new year by voting on its leadership at Thursdays meeting. It voted for Skaggs to serve as president for another year and for Councilman Steve Denny to serve as vice president, a position filled previously by former Councilman Shane Davis.
The three other council members have been on the council for less than six months: Jerry Burmeister was appointed in the summer after the death of District 1 Councilman Chet Babb and subsequently was elected to an at-large seat in November; Cory Hall was elected to the District 1 seat in November; and Bryan Williams was appointed to the District 3 seat in December after Jennifer Roberts stepped down with three years left on her term.
In other business:
Farrer said in his monthly report that Ryan Baker was voted Officer of the Year by the department, with honorable mentions given to officers Jerry Branson and Nathan Silva. Total recorded dispatch calls were 1,017 for December. The department made 64 adult criminal arrests; three juvenile arrests; responded to 17 traffic crashes; issued two ordinance warnings and three ordinance citations; and issued 69 Indiana Code warnings and 66 Indiana Code citations.
Reske reported the town has hired a new water treatment plant operator, Matt Fedor. Fedor comes from Anderson and carries qualifications beyond what is required for the town, Reske said. “That brings a depth of knowledge that we can definitely appreciate,” Reske said. He also said people have started responding to the Water Service Line Inventory Project survey, which seeks to identify where lead pipes exist between water meters and homes. Customers should have received the survey with their bill in late December. The survey can be completed on paper and returned with payment or dropped off at town hall, 100 W. State St.; or it can be done electronically by scanning the included QR code or going to surveymonkey.com/r/PendletonLeadSurvey. For more details on the survey, call 765-778-1301.
The council passed addenda to update the town’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan and its Comprehensive Plan and Thoroughfare Plan. The changes included things such as new street names and the inclusion of property acquired by the town related to the plans. To see town plans, visit town.pendleton.in.us/town-code-approved-plans-standards/pages/plans.
The council adopted its regular meeting times for 2024 as 6 p.m. on the second Thursday each month at town hall, 100 W. State St., Pendleton.
