By KELLEY SHEISS
for The Post & Mail

     With the April 1 deadline looming for building and business improvements in downtown South Whitley, one local property owner requested the town council grant an extension for clean-up purposes. Mavis Whitehead told the council that due to no heat in the buildings and a family illness, she has not been able to address the large quantity of items stored in two buildings along State Street. Council president Tonya Porter said Whitehead has had six months to clean-up the property and until this week no work had been done. Whitehead requested a three-month extension.
     “In my opinion, she’s not made an attempt.  What if we give her another three months and it’s not done?” said Porter.
     If improvements are not made by the deadline, Porter outlined the next course of action.  County building inspector Craig Wagner will be contacted for a work order and Police Chief David Wilkinson will schedule another walk- through inspection of the facilities with the state fire marshal. Violations will be dealt with accordingly, said Porter. Last fall, the council gave Whitehead the option to clean out the buildings or open as a business.   The request for an extension was taken to a vote, with council members voting unanimously to oppose the extension and stick with the April 1 deadline.
     Another local resident was present at the council meeting to express concern with the South State Street flooding.   Cindy Gaff said her home usually gets flooded and with traffic going through the closed road it causes additional problems with water on her property.  Gaff said if the road is closed, local police have the authority to ticket the offenders proceeding through the water.   Gaff stated that when she contacted the SW police department, they responded they didn’t have time. Porter made information available to Gaff regarding state mandates and said the state highway can have a roll to offer enforcement. Council member John Dunn said he has contacted the state highway department to see if a gate could be installed to close the road during times of high water.
     “The idea was we did ask the police to stop the traffic from going through and they wouldn’t do it,” said Gaff.  “There are signs up that this is a friendly community, but no one wanted to help.”
Porter replied that unfortunately they can’t change what happened and she will talk with the police department regarding the issue.
     The clerk’s office has received several calls from local residents regarding brush not being picked up in a timely manner.   Porter said the town is working on several options, including a possible dump site at Hagan Park, use of community corrections for clean-up, and working with local residents to communicate the separation of yard waste.  The winter ice storm left an unusual amount of debris in yards throughout the town.
     “We’re asking people to be patient.  It’s an overwhelming task,” said Porter.
     The new owners of the Green Parrot , Christian Heritier, Dave Huntley and Rob Eames, attended the meeting to inquire about the status of the downtown revitalization project.   Tonya Porter stated the town cannot have two open grants and because there is a grant application in process for the sewer project other grant requests have been put on hold.  Heritier indicated he would like to be an active part of the downtown revitalization project, noting he has seen what good it has done for Columbia City.  Eames asked about having a cooker outside for the town wide garage sale and other times during the summer.  Porter suggested he check with the health department and as a courtesy inform the town of their plans.   Eames also informed council members that a UAW motorcycle ride would like to come through South Whitley on June 13.   He asked about barricading parking spots for the cycles.  Porter suggested he contact the police department for details.