Town Council members Frank Kessler, John Hart and Viv Sade discussed various options for a possible site for a community swimming pool after hearing a presentation from the Muller Memorial Pool Committee at its Sept. 17 meeting.

Pool committee members have asked the council for a donation of two acres of land on the northwest side of the Churubusco Community Park for the pool, which is still in the planning and fundraising stages.

Hart - who also works part-time for the street department - said some of the available acreage in the park was unsuitable because of drainage issues.

Burnworth Pool in Columbia City. Photos by Jennifer Romaro Zartman of talkofthetownwc.com.

Frank Kessler said he needs more information before making a decision and would like to hear more from the park board on the issue.

The Council agreed to check with park board members to see what their thoughts were and how their plans for future expansion would be affected by a donation of park property.

Council members agreed that if a donation of land is made, the property will be deeded over to the pool committee so that any possible financial implications or obligations would not impact the town or taxpayers.

Committee members have said the project would fall in the $400,000 to $500,000 range for a simple community pool, with more elaborate plans falling in the $500,000 to $1- or 2-million range.

Clerk-treasurer Gerri Johnson said she had talked to the clerk of Columbia City, who provided financial statements showing that Burnsworth Pool in Columbia City had lost thousands of dollars each year for several years.

In other business:

• Charles “Chuck” Ransom said an earlier conflict with a water billing situation had been resolved to his satisfaction by the council and town supervisor Jeremy Hart. Ransom owns a building and lives in the upstairs apartment at 121 N. Main Street. For years the downstairs has been zoned and used for various businesses - most recently Pit Stop Pizza - but Ransom said it is no longer being leased as a business space. At an August meeting Ransom had asked to be billed only one residential fee for water and sewage instead of two. The council agreed to install a separate water meter for the downstairs which can be shut off when no tenant occupies the building.
• Noble County resident Jeff Schenher, who has several rental properties within the town limits, questioned the need for four police cars. He also asked if the town had any goals or maintenance programs in place. “These are hard times,” Schenher said, “Do you have a plan (for a shortfall in funding) or are you just going to wait and see what happens?” John Hart, who is on the Churubusco Police force, said the vehicles were actually better maintained and were lasting longer now that each officer has his or her own car. “They take ownership and take better car of the squad cars than when we had two or more sharing a vehicle,” Hart said. Jeremy Hart said the town maintains and regularly reviews a maintenance program and established goals. Sade said that she has always kept an eye on the police department’s budget, especially with soaring gas and energy costs. ”But the police department has not ended up in the red in the years I’ve been on this Council - they live within their budget ,” Sade said. She added that the town will see a shortfall from the property tax cap, a smaller one in 2009 and a larger one is expected in 2010, she said. “But because this town has always been fiscally responsible, it will not hit us as hard as it will many other smaller cities and towns who have a lot of debt. We do not.”
• Sade announced the closing of Cuno, and said that 3M - who owns Cuno - said the business will be completely closed by the end of the year. “There’s not a whole lot we can do about it, since they are located just over the Whitley/Allen county line, in Allen County,” Sade said. She added that Whitley County Economic Development Director Alan Tio had contacted WorkForce Development, and had already organized an emergency job training and career counseling workshop for Cuno employees who will lose their jobs. Somewhere between 35and 50 employees have lost their jobs at Cuno in the past year, Sade said.
• Council member Sade, town supervisor Hart and clerk-treasurer Johnson announced that they will be attending the annual conference of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT) Oct. 12-14 in South Bend.