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North Manchester council approves ordinances, hires water operator and reviews wastewater funding options
Summary
Council approved multiple ordinances (alcohol permits, terminating dormant funds, annexation, rezoning), approved $10,000 for the Center for History, authorized hiring an additional water labor/operator, opened a water softener bid for later consideration, and discussed high-priority wastewater funding including a potential $28 million USDA offer and SRF ranking.
The North Manchester Town Council cleared a package of routine and project-related items at its meeting, approving several ordinances, authorizing personnel changes in the utilities department, and reviewing major wastewater funding prospects.
In unfinished business the council approved a $10,000 funding request for the Center for History and moved multiple general ordinances forward or adopted them on further reading: special alcohol allowances for two events (General Ordinances Nos. 3 and 4), an ordinance terminating specified dormant funds (No. 5), an annexation ordinance (No. 7) which the council moved to third reading and approved, and Rezoning Ordinance No. 8 to accommodate a development partnership. The council recorded motions and carried the items; specific mover/second names and individual vote tallies were not supplied in the transcript.
On procurement, staff opened bids early for the town’s water softener contract; staff reported they contacted four companies and received one bid totaling about $54,325 (presented as a total and broken to a per-delivery rate around $108.69); council will consider that bid at the July meeting.
The council approved hiring an additional water laborer/operator after staff explained the water department’s staffing (three employees, with one certified operator named Ryan) and the need for training redundancy and licensing capacity. The council also approved catch-up pay applications that were rolled into bond financing for recent water projects; the treasurer explained these entries increase the utility docket balance but reflect loans and bonds rather than operating cash.
Town staff provided a substantive utilities update: the town has caught up 18 SRF pay applications, is ranked highly for SRF scoring, and staff said USDA has offered about $28 million toward the wastewater project while other federal community project funds remain possible. The council discussed funding mixes and next steps for application processes; staff noted further negotiation and possible forgivable loan prospects are being explored.
The meeting closed after a second public-comment period and a scheduling announcement moving the regular July meeting from July 1 to July 8 at 7 p.m.
The transcript as provided shows the council acted on multiple procedural and project-level items and recorded approvals or took bids under advisement; where specific vote counts and mover/second names were not present in the transcript, the article notes that fact rather than inferring tallies.
