The Mail-Journal, Volume 26, Number 38, Milford, Kosciusko County, 4 November 1987 — Page 1

oeaquicentennial 1837-1987

Milford 658-4111 & Syracuse 457-3666

VOLUME 26

At Syracuse —

Inter-municipal agreement signed

(By GLENLONG Staff Writer Two major projects in the Syracuse-Wawasee area took another important step toward completion on Thursday, Oct. 29, as three Syracuse Town Board members, Jim Hughes, Bill Hess and Joe Morganthaler, met in special session and. voted unanimously to sign a resolution approving an intermunicipal agreement with Turkey Creek Regional Sewer District. As a result of this resolution, the Syracuse sewage system improvement project can continue to move forward. The Turkey Creek Regional Sewer District project to allow access to the Syracuse sewage processing plant from sewer lines planned for construction on the north side of Wawasee Lake can also proceed toward construction. Jim Hughes, board president, also had the happy duty of presenting a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which stated that a federal EPA grant of $2,130,113 has been approved for the Syracuse sewer system improvement project. The grant covers 50 percent of the total allowable project cost and the balance of expenses will be paid by a future bond issue. Hughes pointed out that helping with project funding will also be a $400,000 Community Improvement Program (CIP) grant from the Indiana Department of Commerce. The signing of the intermunicipal agreement was one of the compliance requirements of an order from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) agreed to by the town board. Noncompliance of the order could have brought civil penalties of $5,000 against the town by the state. The inter-municipal agreement had been signed Thursday morn ing by the board of trustees of the

Markley, Andrews, Clark —

Full GOP board > at North Webster

The Republican slate won all four positions in the North Webster election. Taking their seats on January 1 will be Margaret L. Lawrance, clerk-treasurer; Sidney E. Markley, trustee of ward 1; Kay L. Andrews, trustee of ward 2; and Myron Clark, trustee of ward 3. Markley and Clark are incumbent board members. A total of 210 registered voters out of 337, or a little over 60 percent, turned out to mark ballots. Iq, precinct 1, there were 138 voters who turned out and in precinct 2, there were 72 voters who turned out. (Continued on page 2) £29* SIDNEY E. MARKLEY

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Turkey Creek Regional Sewer District. Hughes said, “After many hours of labor and working back and forth, we have a resolution which I recommend we approve.” Joe Dock, utilities superintendent, stated when asked, “I think the contract is the best you can get. It is fair and equitable to both sides.” He added that since Syracuse is ahead of the schedule of the district in efforts toward grant approvals, the town’s system will be ready when the district sewer lines are ready to be hooked on. Robert Reed, town attorney, said the agreement will bind the district to pay costs for handling their sewage with no added cost to Syracuse. He said there is a slight risk involved because Syracuse will be building extra sewage processing capacity in expectation of the district finally getting its lines in place for a hook-on. He went on to say that based on the history of growth in Syracuse any added capacity would be used by the town eventually, anyway. Hughes publicly commended Dock and Hess for their extreme efforts to put together a proper inter-municipal agreement. Other Business Board members also signed the initial document outlining a user charge system and sewer use ordinance as developed by Jones & Henry, rate consultants based in Toledo, Ohio. Ron Sharp, concerned Syracuse citizen, asked if the town is legally bound by the rates being sent to the state. Reed answered that the town is not locked in to these rates. He said it is not a legal document at this time. Sharp commented that it could quietly become a binding document and stated his intent to study the rate schedule at the town clerk-treasurer’s office. The board approved spending of about S2OO to improve an alley behind the residence of Jim Snyder, Syracuse resident. The work will involve replacing sod on the alley with gravel and stone so Snyder can use it to get to his newly built garage.

fl Ib \, -* vs*. KAY L. ANDREWS MYRONCLARK

Consolidation of THE MILFORD MAIL (Est. 1888) and THE SYRACUSE-WAWASEE JOURNAL (E5t.1907) WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBEfc 4,1987

I / i Mt / f a * ilk I / K. flkl sfefl \ flf ' A Bgfl * /***'■■ /- l w — ■.... . IT’S UNANIMOUS — Syracuse Town Board member Bill Hess adds his signature to that of Jim Hughey, president (standing), and Joe Morganthaler, to make unanimous the town board’s approval of the inter-municipal agreement with Turkey Creek Regional Sewer District. \ "Die agreement is a necessary step toward improvement of the Syracuse sewage processing system and construction by the district of sewer lines in several areas on the north side of Wawasee lake. (Photo by Glen Long)

Total cost: $109,078 —

Rural Numbering System high on County Commissioners' Agenda

A concentrated effort by the Syracuse-Wawasee, Warsaw and Silver Lake Chambers of Commerce is being made to bring a Rural Numbering System to Kosciusko County. Representatives of the three chambers are scheduled to meet on Thursday of this week in the courthouse in Warsaw with the members of the Kosciusko County Board of Commissioners to explore the possibility of such a System being adopted. Also working for the new numbering system committee and appearing Thursday at the commissioners’ meeting will be County Sheriff Ron Robinson, representatives from the Kosciusko County EMS, Warsaw Fire Department, United Telephone Company, United Parcel Service, Northern Indiana Public Service Company and the Warsaw Post Office. According to Jeanne Gardiner, president of the SyracuseWawasee Chamber of Commerce, Ed Clayton, president of the North Webster Chamber of Commerce, is polling his chamber directors to see where they stand on the issue. Cost: $109,078 Rural numbering has come before the county commissioners before and was turned down due to the cost of implementation, said Mrs. Gardiner. The board of commissioners is as follows: Frederick Gilliam, Middle District, r 6, Warsaw; Maurice Beer, Northern District, r 2, Milford; and Charles Lynch, Southern District, r 2, Silver Lake. The estimated total cost of the program is $109,078. The chambers have a cost breakdown of this figure, $50,000 of which will be the cost to the people of the county. The remaining cost — $59,078 — will be “in kind” donations from interested businesses and industry within the county. Mrs. Gardiner said, “During the past 10 years when the program has been proposed, it always boiled down to finances.” She said the amount billed to the county is small considering the benefits in health, safety and convenience. The Kosciusko County Numbering Committee has adopted the following as its agenda to research, identify and recommend to county officials a more efficient and more easily

understood method of addressing residents who live in the county, as follows: 1. The identification of property in Kosciusko County... not the identification of an address; 2. The ability of residents to

Tatman, Johnson victorious —

Democrats win at Syracuse!

I By GLEN LONG Staff Writer The Democrat Party broke into the win column in Syracuse in resounding fashion in the local election yesterday. Jack Elam, Syracuse Democrat chairman said he is elated, but now wishes they had fielded more candidates. Mark Tatman won the race for Syracuse clerk-treasurer over Republican Sharon Batesla and Kenneth Johnson bested incumbent Republican Joie Morganthaler for the ward five-trustee position. They had almost identical vote percentages of 56.8 percent and 56.4 percent respectively. Tatman received 209 votes in winning over Batesla’s 159 vote count and Johnson was chosen by 208 voters as Morganthaler Brw A KENNETHJOHNSON

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receive prompt emergency services, such as emergency medical attention provided by the EMS, emergency protection by the fire and police departments, and emergency service calls by the utility companies such as

MARK L. TATMAN garnered 161 votes. Republicans who were unopposed winners were Carol F. Ko(Continued on page 2) CAROL F.KOBLE

Democrats two board seats — Bice, Wuthrich, Lehman, Phillips win at Milford

I By MARK HUFFMAN Staff Writer Sunny skies brought Milford residents to the polls Tuesday, with 53.3 percent of those registered (305 of 572) taking part in the election of three town board members and a clerk-treasurer. Monica Bice kept her clerktreasurer seat, while fellow Republican Dennis Wuthrich will serve as the senior member of the town board. Democrats John Lehman and Robert Phillips will hold the other two town board seats. Bice gained the largest plurality when the final count was given, accumulating 188 votes, or 62.3 percent, to Democratic challenger Kay Dimick’s 114. Bice took advantage of a strong Republican contingent in the second and third precincts, garnering 106 of 168 votes cast in the second and 37 of 51 votes in the third. Bice completed a sweep of precincts by outdistancing Dimick 45 to 38 in the first. “I’m very pleased with the results, I translate it to be a vote of confidence in the work I’ve been doing,” Bice stated, adding,

NIPSCO, REMC and UTS; 3. The change of addresses in the-county required by the U.S. Postal Service of local offices due to the area’s immense growth, and finally; 4. The county’s ability to take advantage of the 911 emergency system. A similar rural numbering systehi was adopted a number of years ago by Elkhart County and it appears to be working well. ° Tony J. Rudasics, Syracuse postmaster called rural numbering “a great idea.” He said, “It will help the EMS, police, firemen, the sheriff, and the people of the community from a postal service point of view.” Rudasics said it will make an initial problem for the postal service implementing the system, but that the benefits will offset these problems. He said an address will never change.

I fl* ’ fl AND THE WINNERS ARE — Winners of this year’s $-11 year oM group at the SyracMe Halloween Costume Parade are pictured above. In front are Tony McMahan, first, place winner and overall winner; and Erik Weaver, one of the third place winners. In back are Brandon Zartman, second place; and Cherrie Weaver, Birdie Stamper, Erin Alfrey, third place winners. The Syracuse Halloween Costume Parade began at the Lakeland Youth Center Thursday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m. Tony received SIOO for being this year’s overall winner and s2s for winning the 6-11-year-old category. The parade was the kick off event for this year’s Syracuse Halloween Madness weekend sale. It was sponsored by the Wawasee Kiwanis Club in conjunction with the Retail Merchants Division of the Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber of Commerce. It was estimated that over SSOO worth of cash, gifts and gift certificates were handed out that night. (Photo by Carla Gaff) A <

JOHNE. LEHMAN

“I’m pleased that I can spend another four years in the town hall, the first four years are always like a kind of training and the next four should go a lot easier.” The incumbent felt good going into the campaign, certain that the Milford voters would opt for a “continuity” in the clerktreasurer’s office. “I think we can do a better job for the town when we’ve been there for awhile, it’s hard when you have new people coming in all the time.” Milford’s only other incumbent, Wuthrich, took two precincts to gain a second term as town board member, The lifetime native outdistanced strong Democratic challenger Margaret Brooks 159 to 141, gaining a 53 percent plurality. While Wuthrich lost to Brooks, 44 to 37, in the heavily Democratic first precinct, 93 to 75 and 29 to 22 margins in the second and third precincts, respectively, helped him retain his seat. Wuthrich was unavailable for comment on the election this morning. Two newcomers will join Wuthrich on the board, with a duo of Democrats taking back the Democratic majority that was found in the town hall before former board member Darrell Om retired last year and yielded his seat to Republican Charles Bird. Heavy campaigning by Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals member Lehman helped the Milford businessman gain a 54 percent plurality in outdistancing Gary Hurd 163 to 139. While Hurd took the second precinct 88 to 79 and tied in the third, 26 to 26, the first precinct placed Lehman into office, offer-

SYRACUSE IN D T NA

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if WT jA ' ’’Tv WBBfll DENNIS WUTHRICH :m ... MONICA BICE ing him a 58 to 25 vote advantage. “I knew going in that my work was cut out for me since Gary (Continued on page 2)