Burlington to work on collaborate efforts to improve the town
Susan Scholl Editor

Township trustee Al Jackson reported at the Feb. 12 meeting of the Burlington Town Council that Janet Ayres, a professor and Extension specialist in leadership development at Purdue University, is willing to assist various groups and organizations in town in coming together as a community to brainstorm how to collaborate and make the community better.

"This will be an opportunity to sit down and connect the dots," said Jackson. "She will help us establish goals."

Jackson also said that he had met recently with the park board and working together was "excited about the possibilities."

Jackson said he challenged the board "to be visionary about what we can do in a collaborative effort."

Speaking on behalf of the park board, Milt Rodgers said that officers are Larry Sedwick, chairman; Louis Mann, vice chairman; and Ruth Ann Johnson, secretary. Three new members of the board are Matt Jackson, representing the town, and John Conn and Rob Jordan, representing the township.

Kiwanis Club matched a $750 grant that was used to purchase new park benches.

Council member Teddy Huffer reported that the park lights are working now after being fixed by Duke Energy at no charge.

County EDC

Carroll County Economic Development Director Daryl Smith highlighted the Strategic Directions marketing study for the county put together by Dick Heupel, who is with the Center for Economic and Community Development at Ball State University, Muncie, and Bob St. Claire, president of the St. Claire Group, an Indianapolis consulting firm.

The study had wide financial sponsorship throughout the county, including the Town of Burlington.

Smith said the plan provides for basic, practical approaches to growing the county economic base through strategic imperatives. They are: 1) build on leadership in agriculture; 2) create a real estate development plan; and 3) raise the money.

"These are things we must do," said Smith.

The EDC has identified areas for growth in each community and "we want to partner with those communities to develop those areas," said Smith.

He explained that one way the EDC proposes to raise funds for economic development is for the county to raise its Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) rate from.1% (the lowest in the state) to .25% (the capped rate).

"We are not asking the county to raise the tax without a plan for the revenue," said Smith.

Smith recognized Milt Rodgers and Jay Bordner, who were both in attendance, along with Ruth Ann Johnson as the town's representatives on the county EDC board. Rodgers was recently elected vice president of the group.

Council president Stan Moore said he was impressed with the report and offered assistance in educating the public about the plan.

Street and utility

Moore's proposal to restructure the street and utility superintendent's position was approved. Currently one person handles the position and is paid $10,800 per year. Moore said he believes it will be more cost efficient to split the job between two people and pay them each $4,000 per year and maintain a pool of trained substitutes. The $2,800 savings can be used for other purposes such as tree trimming, etc.

Fred and Steve Michaels have agreed to split the street and utility position.

Grant problems

The council thanked the community members who spent hours and hours going over paperwork regarding problems with two grants announced at last month's meeting.

The council learned Jan. 2 that those two grants for sewer system improvements, which were received a few years ago, were out of compliance with federal standards.

Moore said that the council was told that this could have been a six to nine month process to straighten out and in a little over 30 days, "we have one knocked out."

"Burlington has stepped up to the call and we appreciate all the hard work by these anonymous residents," said Moore. "It made it easier for us to concentrate on other issues."

Other business

Moore said the council is working on having snow removed at intersections in town. "We need to get these corners moved out," he said. A couple of places have been secured to dump the snow.

A clean-up work day at the sewage plant will be held at 9 a.m. March 1.

Teddy Huffer explained that the surface drain in the parking lot at Burlington Meats is causing problems and the town needs to fix the problem.

Moore said that the council intends to work with the new street superintendents to put together a 5- year plan for street work.

He also said they want to start looking over town ordinances and make revisions where necessary with assistance from the town's new attorney, Justin Alter.

The council will review Huffer's suggestion that $30,000 be transferred into the town's Rainy Day fund.