Angola mayor outlines growth and infrastructure plans as council approves appropriations and a software upgrade

The Angola Common Council on Feb. 16 approved a set of routine budget and procurement items and heard the mayor's 2026 State of the City address, which framed Angola as "strong, active, and growing" while warning of future budget pressures from state tax changes.

During the meeting the council moved and approved third reading of ordinance 17-96-2026 (establishing fees and services for the planning commission, board of zoning appeals, historic preservation commission and the Economic Development and Planning Department) and considered second and third readings of ordinance 17-97-2026 (an additional appropriation for the general fund). The council also approved resolution 2026-899, describing appropriations and encumbrances for 2026, and approved accounts payable vouchers 78427 through 78683 totaling $1,219,888.91, which included a $42,080 fund transfer.

Council members approved a purchase of the BS&A cloud financial and permitting system at approximately $99,235. Staff described the upgrade as a move from the city's 2012 server-based system to a cloud-hosted platform that would allow browser access for city staff, enable online permitting for the building department and offer integrated credit-card processing. A council member asked about cloud security and ongoing maintenance costs; staff said the vendor specializes in business cloud services and that first-year maintenance would be higher (staff estimated the recurring maintenance portion at about $53,000 annually) but that the city would reduce equipment-maintenance costs by removing server hardware.

The mayor delivered the State of the City address, noting strong employment, industrial expansion and more than $38,000,000 reportedly invested in new construction in 2025. "The state of our city is strong, active, and growing," the mayor said, and cited an average new-home price near $361,000 as a challenge for first-time buyers. He said the city finalized an expansion of its TIF district to include downtown and parcels with redevelopment potential and thanked Economic Development Director Bridal Hicks and Redevelopment Commission Chair Eric Yoder for their work.

On utilities and infrastructure, the mayor highlighted a major water-and-sewer extension project to open land north of the city, said water production grew about 8% and reported the two treatment plants produced roughly 312,000,000 gallons in 2025. He recounted recent emergency water-main breaks that required overnight repairs and a small boil-water advisory for some customers. Regarding wastewater, he said the treatment plant is operating at about 62% of its design capacity and described an ongoing compliance issue with a chloride discharge limit imposed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). "We have declined to make this expenditure. We believe this issue exists only on paper and does not pose an environmental or public health risk," the mayor said, and added that IDEM has indicated willingness to work with the city toward an administrative solution.

Public safety updates included Police Chief Whitmire reporting the department is fully staffed at 21 full-time officers. The mayor also described work to create a fire territory with Pleasant Township and announced a public meeting on that process, with a final decision expected in late March, and said the city created a fire-training captain position to strengthen the training academy.

Other items: city engineer Amanda Coppell said work at Poguegan Park is progressing and that a federally funded sign replacement project is now in INDOT's process and expected this summer; the parks department will celebrate the Sheetz Family Park grand opening in spring. Street commissioner Chad Ritter's team completed multiple road projects using a $1.5 million community crossing grant, though the mayor said grant availability appears to be declining and the council may need to reconsider use of wheel-tax revenue for street maintenance.

The meeting closed after routine motions and approvals; the mayor announced the next regular council meeting will be Monday, March 2 and reminded attendees about a fire-territory meeting at the township hall.

Sources: meeting transcript of the Angola Common Council, Feb. 16, 2026.