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City to review take home car policy for employees |
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Monday, May 19 2008 |
By TJ HEMLINGER
Staff writer
A 33 percent increase in the price of liquid asphalt has Columbia City scrambling to provide paving services to residents.
The Board of Works approved a bid by Niblock of $139,847 to pave some city streets. The bid is for 105 tons of asphalt.
There also has been a 10 percent increase in the cost of laid asphalt, mayor Jim Fleck noted.
In other business Friday, Fleck said the city is reviewing the policy of allowing city employees, most of them in the police department, to take home vehicles in the face of rising gas prices.
“We may need to review it again and make some adjustments,” he said.
“I’ve talked to department heads and told them to come back with recommendations,” Fleck said, noting there is evidence it reduces crime to have police cars in neighborhoods. “We want to have a fair and just system that’s fair to the public and gives them the services they expect.”
Currently, in addition to the police, department heads and the mayor have take-home vehicles.
“We’re looking for the best we can do in terms of cost and still provide services the public expects. If it saves lives, parking these vehicles is not necessarily the best decision.”
The city expects to make a decision by the first of the month.
Electric department head Larry Whetstone told the utility that a trucker working for a company from Churubusco knocked down a power line, resulting in melted insulation. Repairs would cost $2,200 and the company is to barter some stone and gravel to offset the cost.
Fleck told Whetstone “to proceed with caution.”
The city is removing some trees at various locations around town, and Whetstone said parking may be disrupted in limited areas.
The city is continuing to hook up houses in Heritage Place. Whetstone reported that it is almost filled up, and there are four new services to be installed.
He also said his crew has made “quite a few” preparations for the new hospital site at the intersection of U.S. 30 and state Route 205.
“Everything is going smoothly,” he reported.
Fleck said he had received “a lot of good feedback” on the electric department’s response to a transformer outage at Parkview Whitley Hospital.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, May 22 2008 )
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