Westport Town Council met on Monday. The council signed the funeral deeds, payroll vouchers, adjustments, and monthly bills.
There was an update on the Westport Water Projects. They are finishing up electrical work and have installed the tanks in Division A of the water plant. They are still waiting on the plastic tubes, however they should be in soon. The plan is for training and startup to be in early November and once everything is running and transferred over, the old plant will be decommissioned. The easements have been prepared for Division B. There was a pay request and a change order presented to the board from Thienamen Construction. These were approved.
The town was awarded $2,500,00 from the SWIF program as well as almost $4 million from USDA for their wastewater project. There was a motion made to do a rate study. This was approved.
There was a first reading on the Rental Inspection requirement for the Town of Westport. This is an ordinance to ensure rental homes have appropriate facilities for inhabitation as well as an original inspection and registration of a rental home. The registration is so the town has a point of contact and would cost the owner $5. The inspection would be once every 5 years minimum unless there are complaints and would cost $25 a property. There will be penalties for items not completed. This will be posted on the town website for the public to view. Many rental property owners feel the town has turned into an HOA and doesn’t need to put these requirements in place. The council stated that they are not doing this for any reason other than the safety and protection of renters and other residents of Westport. The first reading was approved.
There was a discussion on condemned property that have passed their expiration date of October 1. The owner of 219 E Main Street was present at the meeting. The house was recently broken into an vandalized by some kids and they are in the process of getting the kids to clean up their mess. They are going to replace one of the walls in the house and have the wall studded up to do so. The council thanked the owner for updating them, as that is all they ask of these property owners. They approved an extension date of December 31. The following properties the council has decided to move forward with: 606 Southwest Street, 306 E Main Street, and 209 North West Street.
The INDOT compliance for CCMG/ADA Title 6 was approved. This is just a transitional plan and their goal is to have a resolution written next month.
The board will start planning for ARP funding. They received their first increment of funding, which was a little over $219,000. They are going to start filling out forms on what it’ll be used for, as the rules are strict, and they need to get the planning started for this.
Morgan Schofield
WTRE News
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