By KELLEY SHEISS
for The Post & Mail

An unstable building on South Whitley’s State Street resulted in county building inspector Craig Wagner addressing town council members this week regarding what to do with the situation. Wagner received a call from a local resident who was concerned the structure’s condition had worsened following the recent earthquake.   The building currently is occupied on one half by the Green Parrot tavern and the other half is owned by Gary and Susan Hicks. Wagner noted the biggest issue is the leaning of the building, but he has also heard of deterioration of wood beams in the lower portion.  The tavern has done remodeling and any attempt to level the foundation could result in damage to the renovations.  Wagner said the town can request an engineer’s report on the structure and the feasibility of repair. 
“The building has leaned for 75 years,” said Susan Hicks, noting that older pictures show the building’s condition has not changed.   Gary Hicks said he would like to have the alley vacated and build additional support, but such a request has been denied by council members in the past due to the presence of power lines above the alley and below ground.
 “My recommendation would be to have an engineer look at it and give a professional opinion on the issue,” said Wagner.  Susan Hicks added they have already had an engineer look at the situation and the professional recommendation was to build in the alley.  Council members voted to move forward with Wagner’s recommendation and have another engineer’s report conducted at the building owner’s expense.
 In other business, the council voted to move forward with Cyberlink’s request to place an antenna on the water tower.   In exchange, Cyberlink will provide monetary compensation to the town at a rate of $200 per month.
 Discussion was held regarding no current active park board operating to address improvement needs.   A park board was developed, however there have been no formal meetings in some time.   Town attorney Greg Hockemeyer stated that an option would be to disband the board and oversee park business themselves, however he did also suggest taking out an ad to see if any community members would be interested in serving on the board. Council president Tonya Porter said that people are interested, but convening meetings has not worked.  She added that no more active than the park board has been it shouldn’t be too much for the town council to handle, but repairs need to be done and decisions need to made.   Porter suggested revisiting the issue of a park board next year.  In the interim, council members approved giving the town jurisdiction for park improvements.
Police Chief Dave Wilkinson announced that two of the three reserve applicants had been hired.   Charles LeWallen of Silver Lake and Jessica Houser of Columbia City have started the training process.   This brings the total number of reserves in South Whitley to four.  Wilkinson said he plans to leave it at that number for a while.