MILFORD – Milford is planning on reapplying for an Office of Community and Rural Affairs grant to improve the town’s utilities.
Clerk-Treasurer Tricia Gall said Wednesday during the Town Council’s end-of-year meeting that the town did not get an OCRA Planning Grant to help improve the town’s utility and future usage. She said there was a debriefing meeting and the town will reapply for the grant whenever their next call for the grant is, which she believes is in April.
As part of that, Gall said a resident survey is going to be put together. The release date for the survey is approximately Feb. 1.
“It’s going to help the town create a prioritized improvement plan with our utility systems,” Gall said.
The survey will help the town in its grant application, so “we want to get that done so we can have that information so we can use it for our grant application,” she said. She said there will be an online option with a paper option available in her office. Information will be on the utility bill in February.
Brett Roberts, community development planner for Michiana Area Council of Government (MACOG), said during the July meeting that OCRA is offering up to $90,000 to towns with a 10% match so the town’s portion would be $9,000 and the grant would cover $81,000, if approved.
Also Wednesday, the Council approved to draft a letter to the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals the Council didn’t have any objection to a request for resident Jr. Anderson to split the property at 313 N. East St. as long as there’s off-street parking as required.
The property is residential and Gall said there is a house currently on the property. Anderson said he is planning on building a garage and eventually another house on the other side of the property once it is split.
Gall said Anderson will have to petition the BZA and the BZA will check to see if the town has any objections.
Anderson previously requested the split and Council members had questions about it, according to Gall. One of the questions was about off-street parking. Anderson said he would add off-street parking if it was necessary.
In other business, the Council:
• Approved the 2022 Town Council meeting schedule to have meetings at the community building on the second Monday of every month, with the exception of October where it will be the second Tuesday.
• Approved the annual lease agreement for office space for Lutheran EMS.
• Approved an ordinance for the appointments for the town for 2022.
Appointments include Derek Kreider as town marshal, Thomas Waikel as deputy chief town marshal, Steven Marquart as the water, street and park superintendent, Mark Brubaker as the wastewater superintendent, Jay Rigdon as the town attorney and Virgil Sharp as the fire chief.
• Signed the annual conflict disclosure certifications.
• Signed the annual nepotism certification.
