The Mail-Journal, Volume 22, Number 8, Milford, Kosciusko County, 20 February 1985 — Page 1

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VOLUME 22

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Jubilation! There was jubilation in Fort Wayne on Saturday night as the Wawasee Lady Warriors won the semi-state tournament and earned the right to participate in the state finals in Indianapolis this coming Saturday. . The top photo was taken seconds before the final buzzer when Coach Dale Brannock pulled his starting five. Anita Swope is shown as she was greeted by Brannock and assistant coach Barb Brouwer as she left the floor. In the bottom photo Lady Warriors Anita Swope and Sandy Payne are shown at the final buzzer. The girls defeated Kokomo 54-47 in the afternoon game and Bishop Dwenger of Fort Wayne 52-43 in the evening game to win the championship. The Lady Warriors had hoped to play NLC foe Bremen in the championship game since it was the Lady Lions who handed them their only regular season defeat. However, the Lady Lions were stopped in the afternoon by Bishop Dwenger 48-56 in overtime. The Lady Warriors will take a 22-1 record to In'dianapolis where they will play Austin (24-3) at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The second game will feature Rushville (26-2) and Crown Point (23-4) at 12:30 p.m. The championship game will begin at 8:05 p.m. Pep Session Thursday Because of the weather on Saturday, no pep session was held following the semi-state. A pep session will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Wawasee High School gym to give the girls a proper send off. A welcome home celebration will be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the gym. The girls, according to athletic director Hal Traviolia, are expected to arrive in North Webster at 1 p.m. and will parade through the three Lakeland communities before arriving at the school for the 2 p.m. festivities. See other photos and articles on the semi-state championship team elsewhere in this issue.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20,1985

Syracuse board backs Pacific Molasses

By JO STURGIS Staff Writer Some were for and some were against, but they all turned out to air their opinions concerning the petition filed by Pacific Molasses Company of Syracuse (Vylactos Laboratories) to rezone residential and commercial zoned property to light industrial at last night’s Syracuse Town Board meeting. The board heard indepth discussions by Steve Snyder, attorney for Vylactos, and other Syracuse residents before voting to approve the petitions. This petition was earlier unanimously approved at the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission meeting held on Feb. 6. Steve Butt went on record as changing his vote from no to yes to pass the petition so it would be brought before the Syracuse Town Board. Butt voted against the petition at last night’s meeting in favor of zoning the area commercial instead of light industrial. Carl Myrick, president; Joe Morganthaler; and James Hughes all voted in favor of the light industrial rezoning. William Hess was absent for the meeting. Snyder presented the case for Vylactos by stating the rezoning will not alter the land use or characteristics of the district, impairthe adequate supply of light and to adjacent property, inclfcase the hazards oi fire, flood, or other daggers to the residentuH area, diminish the marketable value of land, increase congestion in public streets or otherwise impair the public health, safety, welfare or comfort to the residents living in the area. The petition asked for the rezoning of lots 28-35 of Hillabolds Addition, which is now zoned residential, and the east half of lot 26 and lot 27, now zoned commercial. Vylactos purchased four lots and three residences along Baltimore Street to compile lots 28-35.

Option tax coming in July

A unanimous vote in Thursday’s meeting of the Koscuisko County Council passed a county option income tax to become effective in July. The seven county councilmen, Thomas Anglin, J. Norman DeGood, George Klinger, Carl Latta, Dennis Polk, Kathryn Teel, and Larry Teghtmeyer, granted an ordinance establishing option income tax rates for 1985-1990. As set, the income tax rate starts at two-tenths of one percent for the first year, followed by an annual increase of onetenth of one percent until a maximum of six-tenths of one percent have been reached. County wage earners will begin payment on July 1, 1985. As standard procedure, the tax will be deducted from the wage earner’s check and sent to the state by the employer. These tax dollars and the interest earned from them will see their way back to the county auditor’s office, who will distribute them evenly among the taxing units, in January, 1986. Included in these units are the Burket, Claypool, Etna Green, Leesburg, Menetone, Milford, North Webster, • Pierceton, Sidney, Silver Lake, Syracuse and Winona Lake Town Boards and the Warsaw Community Council. On June 30,1986, the Koscuisko County Income Tax Council has the right to continue with the onetenth of one percent annual increase in the tax rate or freeze the rate at any particular level. When it reaches the six-tenths of one percent, the council has the option of lowering dr revoking the tax. In 1973, the Koscuisko County Council passed an option tax and, in a 4-3 vote, revoked it in 1978. Those voting to revoke the option tax in 1978 were councilmen Anglin, Latta, Metzger, and Sharp. Councilmen DeGood, Horn, and Teghtmeyer opposed

Leßoy Sloan of Syracuse owns lot 36, which was not purchased by Vylactos. This lot will remain zoned residential. The proposed use of the property is to construct a 100x350 foot warehouse, which will be used to store materials manufactured in the winter to meet demand in the summer. Currently Vylactos employs 20 employees with a payroll of $436,900 and with the proposed additions they expect to add-10-12 new employees with an additional payroll of approximately $230,000. Snyder stated economists have found that money changes hand seven times before it leaves the community, so. stated this results in over a $4 million benefit to Syracuse. Snyder said Vylactos plans to spend $2.5 million in the new plant and $l.B million in new equipment and upgrading their present equipment. Letters were received from the Chamber of Commerce, Todd Realty, Beer Realty and Christner Oil in favor of the Vylactos expansion. Residents also spoke in favor of the rezoning at the meeting. Remonstrator Leßoy Sloan stated, “Vylactos did not start improving the condition of they building until they were ready to go before the board to get this land rezoned,” and added, “what protection do we« as citizens, have that they will continue to upgrade their facilities after the land is rezoned?” Snyder refuted the comment by stating if the land is not rezoned light industrial, the residents in the area have no hope of Vylactos improving the conditions because without an expansion, it would not be profitable to do so. He added, “if the rezoning is approved, Vylactos will sink the money into the facility to upgrade the facilities.” Everado Ganz, president of American Industries, 806 S 7th St., Syracuse, signed the petition against the rezoning. “If they are trying to improve their facility,

the revocation of the tax. In contrast to their 1978 votes to revoke the option tax, both couhcilmen Anglin and Latta voted in favor of the newest option tax proposal due to the change in circumstances over the past years. As a result of the 5-2 vote in favor of a four percent homestead credit, which would provide property tax relief for homeowners, Anglin supports the new option tax. The 1973 option tax provided property tax relief for those living outside of the county and owning lake homes. This placed the tax burden on the local residents. Latta is now endorsing the option tax as a means to generate additional funds if Congress does away with the Federal Revenue Sharing funds. Approximately $120,000 in Federal Revenue Sharing funds will be lost this year which has been used to maintain and repair the county roads. Last January, Glen Albright, a field supervisor with the State Board of Tax Commissioners, cautioned the council to restrain in further appropriation expenditures due to the county’s poor financial state. In November, Albright informed the council that in the first quarter of 1986 the government could be experiencing a cash flow shortage. This prompted the council to discuss the option tax as a funding solution for the county’s financial condition. The homestead credit ordinance, which works in conjunction with the option tax, will begin on July 1, 1985, and continue through Dec. 31, 1988. The credit will become payable in 1986, but will not show up on the homeowner’s property tax bill statement until the spring of 1986. Afraid that the county would pay out more money than they would receive, DeGood, who previously motioned for a two percent homestead credit, voted

why don’t they start now?” Ganz asked. Discussions battled back and a forth between the public and Snyder for nearly two hours. Finally the board discussed the project. z Joe ‘Morganthaler, board member, said, “They have shown us good faith recently by making improvements in their operation, so I think we should show them a little good faith for future improvements and approve their requests.” Butt first made a motion to deny the petition in favor of commercial zoning, but the motion died because of lack of a second. Morganthaler then motioned to accept the petitions and this was seconded by Hughes. The motion then carried. Old Business Robert Reed, town attorney, presented the new town hall budget for approval by the board. The board approved a budget of $655,000 for the project. This is the amount Perry Glancey of Midwest Educational - Services estimated at the last meeting for the construction of the new town hall. Carl Myrick, Reed and Glancey will attend a State Tax Board Hearing on Friday, Feb. 22, for the new town hall. Jennifer Lewis, clerktreasurer, recommended the board approve the purchase of a new Canon copying machine from Executive Office in Warsaw. It was discussed whether to lease the machine for a three year period or purchase the machine. The cost to buy the machine outright is $2,345 and $3,334 to lease the machine. The board approved the purchase of the machine. New Business The board approved the First Federal Savings & Loan, State Bank of Syracuse and Lake City Bank as depositors of town funds. I c * The board approved a resolution for the Wawasee High School Lady Warriors for their outstan-

with Teel against the four percent credit. Teel would favor the four percent homestead credit, but feels that the county can only afford a two percent credit at this time. The five remaining councilmen passed the ordinance. Teghtmeyer’s figures show that approximately $295,000 will be received during the first year of the option tax, which will provide $62,000 homestead credit for the county’s property owners. Teghtmeyer projects that the county will net $233,000 the first year and $381,000 the following year through the option tax. The county council’s vote on Thursday is final, but the law requires that the auditor, J.D.

School calendar approved

T .alceland Community School Board members approved the 1985-1986 school calendar during the rescheduled board meeting last evening (Tuesday). Due to weather the board meeting last Tuesday was cancelled. The new school calendar is the same as the current year’s schedule. Dr. Kenneth Webster, school superintendent, commented the calendar was developed in conjunction with, neighboring school corporation’s due to vocational education classes and special education classes. In other business, board members received and reviewed a new field trip policy which would go into effect for the 1985-1986 school year. A decision will be made at a later meeting. The policy provides proper directions regarding field trips taken within the school day as well as other types of field trips such as tours and educational related trips. Dr. Howard Hull, principal, provided the board with informa-

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ding achievements in winning the girls’ basketball Warsaw Sectional, Regional and Fort Wayne Semi-State championships. The board also supports the team in the upcoming state basketball final four tournament in Indianapolis. The board also approved a proposal by the State Bank of Syracuse to hold a new car showing in the lower parking lot on Main Street. The event will be held the third or fourth week of April. Other Business In other business the board: • Heard a report from Joe Dock, street, water and sewer superintendent and approved the replacement of broken tubes in the boiler. The boiler will be inoperable for approximately two days. The tubes will cost approximately $2,000-3,000. • Approved the purchase of shock pants for the EMS at a cost between $595-675, a pager at a cost of $329 and the rebuilding of the ambulance carburetor at an undetermined cost. • Received the Rules and Regulations handbook from Warren Swartz, police chief and received the police department’s monthly report, y

.MMM—M—. MAIL-JOURNAL INCREASE EFFECTIVE ON MARCH 6 The subscription price of The Mail-Journal will remain at sls per year for in-county subscribers and will increase to s2l for out-of-county subscribers, effective March * 6. The counter sale price will remain 30 cents per copy. Subscribers will have until March 6 to renew their subscriptions at the current rate. Persons over the age of 65 will continue to receive their 10 per cent discount on subscriptions. This increase is due to the recent postal increase, according to Arch Baumgartner, board chairman of The Papers Incorporated.

Geiger, send a copy of both ordinances to the county income tax council units. Geiger will ask the town board trustees and the city councilmen to hold a public meeting to consider the option tax. The elected officials will be given 30* days to hold the public hearing and respond to the auditor. Failure to due so automatically casts a “no” vote. The vote on the option tax by the town boards and the city council wilt not incite the county council to vote again. With the majority of the population in the county areas, the county council is the determinant. They maintain the largest share (60) of votes.

tion regarding the ceremonies for the Wawasee girls’ basketball team at the state as well as local events. A pep session will be at 7 p.m., Thursday in the school gymnasium to send the team off on Friday and a parade has been scheduled for Sunday beginning at 1 p.m., in North Webster and traveling to the school gymnasium at Wawasee. An assembly will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday. David Blackwell, band director, presented a slide presentation for board members and guests of the bands participation in the Peach Bowl festivities. Steve Eastman, an eighth grade student at North Webster Junior High, was recognized by the board for earning the Eagle Scout Award through the Boy Scouts of America. The next board meeting will be Tuesday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m., in Milford Elementary/Junior High School cafeteria. Dr. Webster stated the board meetings will be held every other month in a different community.