By KELLEY SHEISS
for The Post & Mail

Two South Whitley residents attended this week’s council meeting to express concerns and share ideas about the current town park.  Katey Till and Colleen French said they are new to the area, but have been very active in the community.  The two mothers with young families said they are disappointed in the current park facilities and asked council members for an update on the park. Council president Tonya Porter said the swings have been replaced and quotes are currently in for resurfacing the tennis and basketball courts.
 “Things are moving forward, but it takes time since we don’t have an active park board,” said Porter. Till and French have looked at other community parks, citing Manchester as an excellent example.   French said that if the park was updated, it would keep the dollars in town and draw more people. They presented a list of ideas for park improvements which included a sprinkler area, play village for kids, fencing by the river, removal of the road through the park, handicap-accessible playground equipment and signage directing people to the park. Clerk-Treasurer Mitch Winger noted the town has budgeted approximately $8 to $9,000 for the parks each year, but it is rarely used.
 “It’s a matter of getting the right people to do the right thing,” said Winger.
 Both Till and French indicated they would be interested in serving on the park board if an organizational meeting was set. Porter set a meeting for 6:30 p.m. July 16.  Anyone interested in serving on the parks board for South Whitley is encouraged to attend.
 “Our thought is if we have a park that is really neat it will bring people to South Whitley,” said Till.
 Whitley County EDC Director Alan Tio also attended the meeting and took a moment to reintroduce the council to the EDC.
”We have a great story to tell,” said Tio, referring to the success of the EDC as well as their current work with business development partners.  Tio is working on visiting available sites in South Whitley to gain a good perspective on the facilities. South Whitley funded the full amount of their spring installment to the EDC, but opted to only fund half of their installment for the fall.  Tio indicated information for the 2009 budget will be coming out soon.
 “I appreciate the continuing communication,” said Tonya Porter, following Tio’s presentation.
 In other town business, Porter announced that a notice was sent to the owners of the Hicks&Deaton/Green Parrot building to have an engineer’s inspection done on the leaning structure. The inspection must be done in July. Council member Joan Eberhart is working on developing a letter and procedures for recouping costs incurred to maintain foreclosed properties.
 In the absence of council member John Dunn, Porter and Eberhart passed an ordinance regarding electric charges.  The ordinance does not change rates; it simply clarifies several rate adjustment passages and adds a new section.