Main Street site is committee's choice for new fire station
Susan Scholl Editor
The committee appointed by the Flora Town Council to research and review all opportunities for a new Flora Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) presented its findings and recommendation at Monday night's council meeting.

Alan Flora, committee spokesman, said the committee had been meeting since the first of April and several of those meetings involved the VFD. The committee's recommendation was to pursue building a new fire station at the Main Street location on the former Abdon property.

Flora said the committee researched and analyzed three available sites in Flora expected to meet the needs of the VFD: Main Street, SR 75 South and SR 18 East. He explained strengths and weaknesses for each site were determined and then prioritized for greater impact. A preliminary financial analysis was done to compare the impacts of each site.

"Hopefully our cost comparisons are fairly close," said Flora. "All were within $50,000 of each other.

Projected costs for the Main Street site were the highest at $942,500, with $894,000 for SR 75 South site and $918,000 for SR 18 East site. The estimated costs for the latter two sites did not include undetermined costs associated with the need for traffic signals and deacceleration lanes.

As per the mandate by the council, the committee looked into possible associations with other entities, including the Flora Police Department and looked into ways to reuse the existing fire station.

Flora said the committee has no recommendation as to whether or not to have a joint fire and police station, instead suggesting that a feasibility study be undertaken.

"We (the committee) hope we've done something to stimulate the process and to keep working toward a goal," said Flora.

"We appreciate all the effort you put into this," said Council President Josh Ayres, "and we may need some more down the road. There is a lot more work to be done."

Council members will review the study and make a decision as to which site to pursue at the next meeting.

Others on the committee were community members Curt Hufty and Michelle Cox; firemen Mike Cottrell and Mike Kingery, and police officers James Bishop and Randy Larimore.

The report is available for copying and inspection at the town office.

New group homes

Trena Anderson, director of programming for Spectrum Community Services of Indiana, addressed the council and community on why her company chose Flora to build two group homes.

"Flora was picked for a reason," she said, because her company specifically wanted a community where "folks understood developmental disabilities and was tolerant and accepting." She cited the fact that Flora already has a group home, Carroll Village.

Anderson said that the home on Sunset Street is finished and she is currently training staff. The home on Third Street is expected to be ready for occupancy in six to eight weeks.

The people occupying these homes will not be sex offenders, she said. They will have developmental and physical disabilities.

"We expect them to be fully functioning members of the community."

She further explained that the goal was for the residents to "learn the skills they will need to have to acclimate themselves back into society."

The home on Sunset Street will house all males and the home on Third Street, all females. Resident capacity at both homes is four and the ages of residents will range from 20s to 60s.

"We do not do coed homes," she said.

The homes will be staffed 24/7 with three staff members on the day and evening shifts and two wake-staff on the night shift. A van, driven by staff, will be provided for resident transportation.

Anderson said even though initially local contractors were not used, she expects that to change. "We want to hire people from here and use local businesses. We want the money to come back into this economy."

"After we get the residents settled, we'll have an open house for the community," Anderson added. "We want to show off our home and program and want you to be as excited about them as we are."

Other business

The 2008 salary ordinance was approved. Ayres explained town employees were given "a very conservative raise," while the clerk-treasurer and council members received no raise.

Brian Beaver said while he and his wife were not at home recently, Flora Utilities employees replaced an electric meter at their residence. Had his son not been home at the time, they would not have known that the meter had been changed over. Beaver suggested that Utilities workers identify themselves by leaving some kind of information that they have been there and done some work, such as something left on the door.

Ayres told Beaver that the town would see what improvements could be made for situations such as he described.

Scott Sisson, a member of the Flora Park Board, said that repairs had been made to the stone arch where vandalism had occurred. During the repair process, additional problems were found and Sisson said the board is working to address those problems.

Chief Paul Redmon said that the town has a new canine. Officer Tony Liggett is now certified and "that will help us out."

Redmon reported problems with air soft guns. The guns are considered a toy, he said, but they can leave welts. His department was called to investigate a few incidents last week involving the air soft guns. He asked parents to talk to their children about proper use of the guns.

The police department has purchased two external defibrillators to have in the event of medical emergencies when police arrive before medical personnel. Some of the funding came from the police department's education fund that is funded from court costs.

The police department's report for July included: 12 arrests/ misdemeanors, 12 felonies, 38 citations, 34 warnings, 110 calls for service, 6 accidents, and 3 felony investigations.

Mike Cottrell, a member of the Flora VFD, is a member of an area training committee with its hub in Lafayette. He requested the town consider hosting land for training and storing a trailer with props. His request was taken under advisement while the council explores possible sites and liability costs.

Duane Pirtle, another VFD member, reported that the Flora VFD earned the Rookie Team of the Year Award at the recent Carroll County Relay for Life event. Through various fundraising efforts, the VFD raised $2,659 for the American Cancer Society.

Pirtle thanked the community for its support. "We live in a very giving community," he said.

In his wastewater report, Bill McCarty indicated that the department has met with T-Bird Design to work on a plan to submit to IDEM addressing Flora's overflow problems.

McCarty also reported that there have been no overflows the past two months.

So that there is no disruption in recycling pick up, town employees pick up recyclables when the regular driver is on vacation or sick, pointed out Ayres.

The town pledged $2,200 to Carroll County Economic Development Corp. as its share of costs for a county marketing plan that is being developed.

The Plan Commission approved the following permits: James Bowman, sidewalk; Don Craft, sidewalk; Bruce Ezra, pole building; Kevin Clothier, free standing deck; Jeremy Chaffee, garage and wrecking of porch; and Michelle Jones, deck.

Ordinance 2007-2 extending the town's contract with the Indiana Municipal Power Association (IMPA) for an additional ten years was approved. The contract will now expire on April 1, 2042.

Monday's meeting was a public hearing for the first reading of the 2008 budget. The budget will be approved at the next council meeting set for Sept. 10.

The town office will be closed Sept. 3 for the Labor Day holiday.