Bicknell Board Of Works Meeting For Tuesday, October 14th

The Bicknell City Board of Works met in on Tuesday morning.

The Board moved to pay the following line items: $189 to Busy Bee Laundry, $6000 to Mullins Supply for demolition of property located at 409 E. Murlin, $3700 to Myers Contracting for a 50/50 deal on sidewalks on Illinois St., and $251.13 Utility Supply for tools and supplies.

It was mentioned that the street sweeper has been down since before Labor Day. Cost of repairs is in excess of $18,000, the city paid $30,000 over five-years-ago. After pricing new models, it has been determined that buying a used model may be an option.

A motion was approved to extend the order for demolition of property located at 931 W 4^th for 30 days.

In regards to property located at 711 Durbin St., there had previously been a question of whose name is on the deed. The State of Indiana was listed as owner on the deed, but according to sources through the Governors office it was revealed the state should have never taken possession; ownership has now been reverted back to the previous owner. Owner has been notified of ordinance issues being caused by the current residents. The owner says the issue will be resolved, so the board is currently giving the “benefit of a doubt” for the time being.

The board discussed 301 W 7^th St. where over last month there have been complaints from at least 2 neighboring property owners of roach infestations in their homes. The neighbors have been in contact with the Board of Health, who spoke with the owner and the owner’s son. The owner’s son allowed B.O.H. Representatives enter the property, where it was confirmed that the house was full of trash and contains a major roach infestation. Said confirmation now allows the board to take action on the ordinance violations. It was discussed that due to the structural soundness of the house, and the ill health of the owner, it may not require demolition; but it will require cleaning out and fumigation. Four optional courses of action laid out before the board were: 1: Send notice to the owner to fix the issues or face a $5000 fine. 2: Immediately levy a $5000 fine 3: Clean the property and see what happens. 4: Clean it up and levy the $5000 fine. It was determined that there must be a hearing before a fine can be levied, however, the board will not have to wait to start cleaning the outside of the property due to the “health emergency” posed by the current condition. Currently, the property is locked by order of the Board of Health. Ultimately the board moved to issue an initial order of cleanup of the interior of the property and remediation of any pest, insects, and rodents or otherwise; along with an order declaring an emergency on the exterior of the property specifically any trash causing pests or rodents, allowing the city to begin exterior cleanup. The fine was also levied with the orders.

The city has received two quotes for cleaning of the second 600 gallon permanent water filter at the water plant. The first was from Layne for the amount of $64,490, the second from Bastin Logan for $48,989. The city moved to accept the bid from Bastin Logan.

It was reported that the city received two quotes from Sinclair Electric for the fire station for conversion of lights at the bay and the station. The first quote is to convert the truck bay to LED in the amount of $4,895.20, with the second quote for LED conversion in the office at a cost of $2,537.13. Both quotes were approved unanimously. It was stated that there is currently $9,200 in available building repair funds.

The board heard a request for funds to purchase a Spectrophotometer to detect ammonia at the sewer plant. This device will detect phosphorus as well. The board unanimously approved $7,206 for the purchase.