Butler Company Clean-Up Selling Bricks

Article by Jeff Jones | KPC News | October 20, 2020

BUTLER — The Butler Company was a historic manufacturer in the community for over 100 years.

Several buildings were destroyed in a March 2015 arson fire. Since then, the City of Butler has jumped through countless hoops and over hurdles to track down owners of the property and acquire the land to begin cleanup efforts.

Cleanup of the Butler Company property began in earnest Monday, City Planner Steve Bingham told the Board of Works.

Fritch Construction & Excavation crews began clearing the east side of the property, taking down the remnants of a building. SES Environmental has packaged asbestos materials for removal later this week.

“We’re glad to finally see it started,” Bingham said.

Residents can purchase bricks recovered from the debris for $1 each by contacting the Butler Utility Office at 868-5881.

Butler residents are making progress at paying delinquent water bills, or at least making arrangements to pay past-due bills, Clerk-Treasurer Angela Eck reported.

Monday, Board of Works members Robert Haywood and Eric Johnson approved payment plans of 6- 12 months for 15 water utility customers. The payment plans will result in the city collecting nearly $7,900 from those accounts.

Under payment plan terms, the affected residents agree to pay their regular monthly bill, as well as an additional amount each month to pay their balance.

Had they not contacted the utility office, those customers would have had water service shut off.

Monday, the city turned off service to 17 more residents, Eck said. Seven of those residents paid their bills later in the day. Ten accounts remain shut off, with only two of those customers making contact with the utility office.

Later, Bingham said he will submit a proposal by Friday to the Indiana Department of Transportation for a $324,055 Community Crossings grant. If awarded, INDOT would pay 75% of the total project cost, with Butler responsible for the remaining 25%, or $81,013.

All of Park Lane, North Park Lane and South Park Lane would be paved in 2021 with this grant, along with parts of East Green, West Green, Elm, High, James and John streets. Work would include1-1/2 inches of asphalt, adjusting storm inlets and manholes.

Board of Works members approved these measures at Monday’s meeting:

• A 2020 Freightliner dump truck was purchased from Stoops Freightliner of New Haven for$124,099. This includes a $7,500 trade-in of a 20-year-old dump truck;

• Henderson Construction of Waterloo was hired, not to exceed $30,000, to lay two rows of concrete footers in Butler Memorial Gardens cemetery;

• Cornerstone Stewards of Fort Wayne was hired, not to exceed $41,700, to replace air lines and install new flange coupling adapters to a digester at the wastewater treatment plant;

• BizTech of Fort Wayne was hired for $6,461.75 to install new backup equipment to the city’s computers; and

• Parkview DeKalb EMS will lease space at the Butler Fire Department to house an ambulance at$700 per month. Previously, the city leased the space to DeKalb Health hospital, but earlier this year, the hospital entered into a partnership with Parkview. There is no change in terms.

In a brief City Council meeting, Eck said the city received notice its COVID relief request of $87,857has been approved.

Bingham said he has issued an improvement location permit for a new residence with 2,314 square feet of living space and garage at 415 Westward Drive.

City Superintendent Eric Dohner announced that leaf pickup has begun. Residents are asked to rake leaves to the curb, not in the street, and away from vehicles. Tree limbs and branches are to be kept separate from leaf piles.

“We made a round last week and made another round this morning,” he said. The city has hired Auburn Tree Service to trim the tree canopies this week. Fire hydrants are being flushed throughout the city.

The walking path at South Side Park has been crack-sealed. “If we do this every 3-5 years, that will last us a long, long time instead of us having to repave it at $20,000,” Dohner said.

Three people were reappointed to seats on the Butler Public Library board of directors. Teri Fritch, Trent Groves and Sondra Phillips will continue to serve. Fritch was appointed by the City Council. Groves and Phillips were appointed by Mayor Hartman. The library board is allowed one representative from the townships it serves, with Phillips living in rural Wilmington Township.

Article source: https://www.kpcnews.com/butlerbulletin/article_455152c6-a049-5e55-a9aa-9f2ff995b7b7.html