Carroll pays $10,634 to haz-mat team
By Jennifer Archibald

Carroll School Board approved the payment of a $10,634 bill, but members weren't happy about it.

The bill was from Tippecanoe County Hazardous Materials Response Team. It was for a chemical emergency last June at Carroll Jr.-Sr. High School. The emergency was caused when two pool chemicals were inadvertently mixed, causing a poisonous gas.

The board dealt with the bill at a regular meeting on Feb. 7. The vote was four in favor and one against. Board president Sam Zook said later that his nay vote was a protest vote, mainly because he feels that taxpayers are paying twice for the same service.

Superintendent John Sayers issued the following statement in regard to the bill:

"I certainly want to reiterate our previous expression of gratitude to the emergency response agencies from Carroll, Clinton, and Tippecanoe counties that assisted in the clean up of the inadvertent mixture of pool chemicals at Carroll Junior Senior High School. The response was quick and very professional.

"However, the cost associated with the response from agencies that are supported by governmental funding creates some concern to a tax-supported governmental entity. It seems that taxpayers are paying for agencies to address such incidents but local taxpayers are paying to reimburse for expenses for such organizations that are already supported by taxpayers. With agreements for mutual aid in place among public institutions, it seems unfortunate that funding for such responses falls back on the local taxpayer."

The bulk of the bill included $6,528 for six Level A chemical suits, $2,174 for hazardous materials technicians (labor), and $1,250 for five haz-mat apparatuses.

The Tippecanoe County Hazardous Materials Response Team covers a district that includes Carroll County.

Sayers said the bill will be paid out of the school corporation's Capital Projects Emergency fund.

He said the corporation's insurance company declined the claim twice, saying the incident was not covered. Sayers added that the school attorney is still pursuing the matter with the insurance company.

In other business, the board approved a committee for the corporation's 10-year facilities plan. Members are Stephanie Dickerson, Tyler Sausaman, Mike Miller, Michelle Cox, Autumn Filbrun, Richard Brown, Eric Johnson, David Lambert, Michael Eikenberry (ex officio), Jeff Hodson, Carolyn O'Connell, Charles Huckstep, and Tom Allbaugh.

Also approved was a fundraising request from Kathy Sanders and Jenelle Gish for a three-on-three wheelchair basketball tournament to be held at Carroll Elementary School. Half of the proceeds will go to MDA, and half will help meet medical equipment expenses for a Carroll student.

Midwest Transit's bid for two new school buses was accepted at $68,274 each, minus a total of $12,000 trade-in on two 1997 buses.

The board also had taken bids for the sale of a 1998 pickup truck, and accepted the bid of $6,600.

The next regular board meeting will be Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.