The Mail-Journal, Volume 28, Number 36, Milford, Kosciusko County, 18 October 1989 — Page 5
I Under the . . . . jISHk Courthouse KFjg Dome ' By Ron Shorp |j ]| ||
IT’S TIME SOMETHING WAS DONE ON SOLID WASTE - Kosciusko county in the near future is going to have a problem that can cost taxpayers millions of dollars. At present time public officials haven’t even taken the first step in solving our waste problem. This is a problem that is not going to go away. In fact, it will get worse. If our one landfill in this county is closed, towns and the city of Warsaw could be faced with budget increases that will be astronomical. A big problem is that our county is not large enough to finance its own disposal system. " . The solid waste problem is not confined to our county but the entire state. Steps should be undertaken to form districts incorporating many counties. , An economically feasible district would include all of northeast Indiana. This district would include the following counties: St. Joseph, Elkhart, LaGrange, Steuben, Marshall, Kosciusko, Noble, DeKalb, Fulton, Cass, Miami, Wabash, Huntington, Whitley, Allen, Wells, Adams, Jay, Blackford, Grant and Howard. The district would have a population of approximately 1,250,000, with assessed property valuation of more than seven billion dollars. A three-cent levy per SIOO of taxable property in the district would raise more than two million dollars per year. This — combined with a user fee — would support the operation. The user fee would be based on garbage handled and reclaimed tin, glass, and paper. The system would need transfer and recycling centers as well as disposal plant for the garbage. — In the near future some of those landfill sites will develop problems. This could require digging up the poisonous material and seeking another means of disposing of it. This would compound the already existing problem with no solution for either present or past efforts to dispose of solid waste. It is time to bite the bullet, get out heads out of the sand, and take" positive steps to do something towards a permanent solution. A representative from each county could be selected by the county commissioners to start the project. This could later be changed to board members elected on a population basis. WHY ARE GROCERY STORES HANDLING LOTTERY TICKET SALES? All indications are that some of those purchasing tickets for the lottery cannot afford to do so. For those who are borderline poverty cases, money to purchase the tickets will have to come from clothing or food budgets. Everyone must — if they wish to eat — go to a grocery store. The question now is: Do they purchase the tickets for the lottery prior to purchasing food, or do they just hold out a few bucks from the food budget to purchase tickets? There is no way those drawing food stamps should be purchasing lottery tickets from food stamp funds. They cannot use the stamps for that purpose, but these same people can use their own meager fun Js to purchase lottery tickets. The state, which is now in the gambling business, is running ads that entices people with the prospect (how infinitesimal it may be) to win a $1,000,000. Making these lottery tickets available in grocery stores is equivalent to holding divorce court in a gun shop. —o— COURT SETTLEMENT — Rumor has it that an out-of-court settlement was made on the ground where the old school and armory were located in uptown Warsaw. Marsh Foodliners, Inc., and Zimmer, Inc., were both after the land. The Warsaw Community School board selected Zimmer, which is planning to build a structure. Marsh planned to build a new supermarket at the location. Marsh filed suit against Zimmer. It was rumored that the settlement was between SBOO,OOO and $1,700,000. Included in the settlement was property that Marsh had acquired next to the contested school property. —o— AWAIT STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS REPORT - The State Board of Accounts had an exit report on the Kosciusko County Treasurer’s office. « Both County Commissioners and County Councilmen were invited to the session. (Generally just the office holders are involved. Exit reports are used to point out to the officeholder improvements which should be made in the financial management of the office.) The date of the meeting was not published. According to one report, when asked by one of those attending as to the possible violation of the open meeting law, a State Board of Accounts member said that it was not necessary to inform the public about the meeting. A lid has been placed on what was said. No one is talking —. Here is the gist of the meeting — according to reliable sources: The commissioners were given a “going over” because they had not paid enough attention to the treasurer’s office. Also another statement, the State Board would take care of a lawsuit (whatever that means!). The State Board of Account has audited that office a few years ago when Vicki Shoemaker was treasurer. The board reported some minor discrepancies. The present audit covers the last years of Mrs. Shoemaker’s term in office. Recent rumors were that there was a $600,000 shortage. This was later reported as just a paper mix-up. According to authorities, the report will be released in about three weeks. Someone had better'come clean on this one. Trying to keep the lid on only makes it worse. —O'NEW BOAT BILL WILL COST LOCAL TAXPAYERS - The new law that placed a flat fee on boats regardless of the value will cost the taxpayers of the Wawasee School District more than $300,000 in revenue from property tax source. The value of boats in this district was almost $7,000,000 in 1988. Total assessment on all boats in the county was more than $9,500;000. The county government lost $100,000; Warsaw School District about $90,000. Total revenue loss from property tax on boats will be in excess of $700,000. There will be some return to the counties in the form of excise tax on boats. A very optimistic projection would be 70 to 85 percent of the present revenue. This is pie in the sky. Boater owners are not going to run all over Indiana to purchase their license They will probably purchase their boat licenses at the same location as their auto plates. In theory this money is then to go to the county where the boat is located. The change in removing the boats from the property assessment rolls to excise tax will benefit owners of the big cabincruisers. If you have a 20-foot rowboat, you will pay the same fee as a 20-foot deluxe boat. According to some, a Lake County state legislator pushed the law through the state assembly to benefit his area. Those “in the know " claim that the marinas on Lake Michigan will make a killing on rental fees from boats that would have been docked in Chicago. It would be a benefit to the remainder of the state if we could just “de-annex” Lake County.
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BbrA NEiIF mbi ■ WiL. a*' I 51s11 RED RIBBON DONATION — The Mail-Journal and participating merchants joined to help in a campaign to rid the community of drugs by making a donation of $745 to the Wawasee Community Red Ribbon Committee. The funds will be used by the committee to promote National Red Ribbon Week, Oct. 22-29. Red ribbons will be distributed to students within the Wawasee Community School Corporation next Monday as well as to area churches. The committee encourages residents of the community to wear the red ribbons in a support of a drug-free community and a drug-free America. The committee, in addition to a red ribbon for each student, teacher and staff, has purchased enough red ribbons for interested citizens. The ribbons may be obtained beginning Friday at the Lakeland Youth Center, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-noon. Banners will be erected in Milford, North Webster and Syracuse as well as two banners in each of the schools. On pages 10 and 11 of this issue is a red ribbon that may be displayed in a window. The MailJournal has contributed $5 for each ad sold to support this campaign. Shown in the photo are Wawasee Community Red Ribbon Committee members Karen Parr and Sandy Cobbum accepting the check from Gloria Baumgartner, representing the The Mail-Journal.
Still up in the air — Amtrak considers rerouting trains; Syracuse could get passenger service
I By MARY JANE LORTON Staff Writer While reports that Amtrak is leaving Warsaw continue to circulate, officials at the passenger station maintain that no plans have been made to reroute the train. The likelihood of the train leaving Warsaw is hard to estimate, said Debbie Hare, Amtrak public affairs manager, since no plans have been made for pulling out. At the same time, Hare noted the possibility for leaving can not be completely ruled out. Amtrak service is threatened by a conflict over who will provide maintenance for the tracks. Right now, Amtrak is sharing some of the cost with Conrail. as Conrail owns the tracks. Conrail has been removing some of its freight trains off of the lines, said Hare, adding, “as Conrail takes
DA permits issued to county property owners
The following Department of the Army (DA) permits were issued in the area by the Louisville District, Corps of Engineers, during the month of September: John D. Rucoi, r 1, box 176, Mentone, is authorized to place fill material to construct a seawall and to backfill behind the wall to prevent erosion and to provide boat access on Palestine Lake, Shireys Viewpoint Subdivision, > 4 of Lot 3 and Lots 4 and 5, in Mentone, Kosciusko County. Mr. and Mrs. Greg Herman, r 1, box 149E, Pierceton, are authorized to create an underwater beach area on Kuhn Lake, Lot 7, Brower Estates, near Pierceton, Kosciusko-County.
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freight off of the line, we’d be responsible for the continued maintenance of the tracks — the sole payor.’’ Amtrak could become the sole user and Hare commented, “we don’t operate enough trains over it to justify it (the cost of maintaining the tracks).” Amtrak currently operates four trains a day on those tracks, running two in each direction. While Amtrak continues to maintain it has no plans for leaving the area, Hare said company officials have looked into some alternatives should pulling out become necessary. A couple of summers ago she said Amtrak ran an inspection train over several routes. She noted one route, a CSX line, did include a passage through Syracuse. With the large ridership in Kosciusko County, local efforts are underway to support this
Lester W. Ready, 294 Peridot Court. Valparaiso, is authorized to place fill in connection with the construction of a seawall to prevent erosion of shoreline at lakefront property on Kuhn Lake, Leesburg, Kosciusko County. Jerry L. Badskey, P.O. box 202, North Webster, is authorized to place fill in connection with the construction of a seawall and underwater beach, for erosion control, and to provide boat access and a swimming area on Webster Lake, Kosciusko County. Galen H. Acra, P. O. Box 66, Leo. is authorized to place fill material in connection with the construction of a seawall and to fill in a boat well on Tippecanoe Lake, Kosciusko County.
Syracuse route and a possible stop there as well. Jim Caskey, president of the SyracuseWawasee Chamber of Commerce, is drafting a letter on behalf of the chamber to the Indiana ' 1 Association' *of Railroad Passengers noting a desire for a stop in Syracuse. In addition, he is sending a similar letter to all United States senators and
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“CRUZIN around CUSE”
(Continuedfrom page 4) be totally removed on the east side of SR 13 in front of Village Plumbing, England’s Family Diner, and the Next to New consignment shop. Also, the cable cover on a large phone cable running through the trees was getting worn. Now, the businesses can be seen much better. SUDDENLY GONE last week were the beautiful flowers from the downtown planters, the fire station and town hall. Planted by the Syracuse-Wawasee Garden Club, these ladies watered and trimmed the arrangements over the summer. The flowers had taken a beating from the last rain, and the removal of their beauty and fragrance was another preparation for winter. It seems we had our “Indian summer” — that brief season of warm, mild weather in autumn — last weekend. The term is defined as a happy, flourishing period toward the end of something. It was indeed the end of a beautiful summer for our lakes’ community with the usual
BZA rules 'no jurisdiction' on petition for construction
The Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals have told Dale and Suzanne Simpson of Turkey Creek Township that their petition for a variance to construct a boat cover over or near their pier space would have to be presented to .the DNR. Board members agreed that any petitjon requesting boat covers or other structures to be erected in the water fail to fall in the BZA’s jurisdiction. Contractor Mike Buhrt filed a
representatives from Indiana. While it may have no plan of action just yet, the Kosciusko County Convention and Visitors Bureau is also watching the situation with interest. It has been reported that Mike Scime, director of the transportation department’s railroad division, is writing a letter urging Amtrak officials to consider us-
Wed., October 18,1989— THE MAIL-JOURNAL
commotion, activities and busyness, but especially with the beautification of the parks and the music series at the Lakeside Park. And so with good, warm memories, we enter our winter season. Now, all the fun is over, as the yards are blanketed with fallen leaves and the work of raking is underway. ENJOYING SOUTHERN Indiana over the “Indian summer" weekend were Kathryn Kline and daughter, Judi Vultaggio, as they drove down to Bloomington to visit Judi’s daughter, Barbara, who is a senior data controller at one of the U.S. Department of Education’s Educational Resource Information Centers; and son, Duane, who is a junior at I.U. From there, they drove on down to Brown County State Park, which was in its autumn perfection, and browsed through the antique and craft shops in Nashville. Traffic was heavy getting in and out of the quaint town, as everyone seemed to know it was the best weekend to visit.
petition for a variance to allow the construction of a small residence addition on property located on the northeast side of Lake Wawasee, just west of Pine Drive. Buhrt filed the petition on behalf of the property’s owner, John Ryan. The petition simply asked that a small guest house be expanded to two feet off the drive’s right-of-way, enough to allow for the installation of a furnace. Remonstrator Gerald Williams
ing Norfolk tracks. This letter, which will be signed by Governor Evan Bayh, details a route which will include a stop in Fort Wayne. With a connecting link with Conrail tracks west of Fort Wayne, the route would still go through Warsaw. r.xjCl V'V Local opposition to the move from Fort Wayne and Kosciusko County has been realized at Am-
who owns property adjacent to Ryan, voiced concern that parking would be a problem if the addition be allowed, and further noted that a septic system is located one foot off the drive’s right-of-way. The board voted to approve the petition with the stipulation that no vehicles block Williams’ property at any time. The next meeting of the BZA will be held Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 8:30a.m. in the Kosciusko County Justice Building.
trak offices, Hare noted. In the event Amtrak had to leave, Hare did say the passenger service would want to serve the same communities in the new route as in the old one. However, should Amtrak decide to pull out of-War-saw, even alternate roiging through the county would not necessarily guarantee a Kosciusko County stop.
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