The Greentown Grapevine – 2006-05, 13:05

              The Greentown rcrpevzne
L Celebrating Our 13th Year?
Volume 13, Issue 5 uapcrperjbr t h e ~ k ’ ’ May 2006
Greentown Could Be Off
Sewer Ban - At a Cost
by Shannon Driver
Recommendations for repairs
that - would* release Greentown
from a state imposed sewer ban
were presented to the town
council during their April 4th
meeting. Karl Tanner and Ryan
Brown, engineers with M. D.
Wessler and Associates,
presented their findings after
smoke testing more than half of
the town late last spring.
Over 80 defects were found,
including severe leakages in 3
public and 16 private
properties. According to
Greentown Wastewater Plant
Operator, Steve Rule, of the
three public problems, one on
Payton street has been repaired,
estimates for repair to a second
property on Avalon Court will
be submitted for approval in
May, and a location on Holiday
Drive has been dye tested but
no leak has been located.
Ofthe orivate residences with
leaks, Rule says ‘ half have
already been repaired and the
rest are making arrangements
for the necessary improvements
to comply with the Clean
Water Act.
Tanner also reported
inspecting 290 manholes, 48 of
which were a priority one
rating, in need of immediate
repairs. Town council president
James Harris said the manhole
repairs are an ongoing
maintenance issue. The cost
will depend on the extent of the
damage and will be completed
as funds allow.
The cost suggested by Tanner
for phase one of the entire
project totaled over 2.25
million dollars. Though there is
no deadline for repairing the
problems that would release
Greentown fiom the sewer ban
which was issued in 1998, Rule
says smoking the remaining
portions of town should be
done sooner rather than later. If
the council approves the
smoking, Rule says it would
have to be done during a dry
period, possibly this summer.
That project would also be
completed by M. D. Wessler
and Associates.
Funding possibilities were
discussed as a way to keep the
impact on city utility fees to a
minimum. Tanner has
committed himselfto the search
for grants and loans, as well as
to contacting Umbaugh &
Associates to do a rate study on
i m p rov i n g the town ’ s
wastewater system. Harris said
he is meeting with various
organizations to seek funding
and has been in contact with a
potential grant writer for the
town.
Greentown is not the only
community facing a sewer ban.
Many towns are being required
to completely revamp their
current waste disposal systems
to comply with the Clean Water
Act.
Bonnie Nash with Indiana’s
Department of Environmental
Management says the problem
is a fairly common one.
“ Communities are placed on
sewer connection bans because
its wastewater treatment system
is overburdened and can’t
handle the flow capacity it
receives.”
All the ban means is that the
community may not allow
non- residents to hook up to the
sewer system. Only single
family homes are allowed to
hook up, and they must connect
to existing lines. This means
industries, shopping centers,
and subdivisions are not
allowed to connect and no new
lines are allowed to be
constructed.
Nash said in all, 18
communities have been placed
on sewer connection bans,
including Flora, Galveston,
Lapel, Upland and VanBuren.
Prom Queen anti k n g
Aslilcy Martiii iuitl Kyle MuIitlcll wcrc crowiictl quccii aid
king a1 Easterii’s I’roin Fricliiy, April 28. Otlicr court
mcinbcrs wrc: Jade Cavios, Holly (; mI) cr, Am, ui( la
Jacksoil, aiitl Stcpliaiic Moblcy, Aaroii Heck, Vaughii
I) ictcrm; iii, Colc Miller, aiitl Phil KohcrLs. Tlic prom was
held in Kokorno at thc Coriti~ iciilaIl 3allroom.
Photo by Wise Photography
Large Auction of
Greentown Glass Held
Rare Piece Now Resides in Glass Museum
More than 100 bidders from
17 states gathered at the
Kokomo Shrine Building April
7 and 8 for and auction of
Greentown and Greentown-related
glass. The auction was
managed by Otto Auction
Service. The offering of
385pieces brought a total of
about $ 350,000. The items
were from the collection ofGus
and the late Vivian VanDePerre
of Ithaca, Michigan.
The item which attracted the
most attention and brought the
highest figure was a Rose Agate
Holly pattern spooner, one of
only two items known in the
Rose Agate color. The color
was still experimental at the
time of the fire of the
Greentown glass factory in
1903. The spooner originally
belonged to Jacob Rosenthal,
the glass chemist who worked
Syringes Being
Improperly
Disposed
Letters were sent to physician
and dentist offices in
Greentown to ask for assistance
in identifying the source of a
serious disposal problem. Town
council president James Harris
said he was notified that
syringes have been showing up
in large numbers at the Waste
Water Treatment Plant. Harris
said p plant operator Steve Rule
informed him that more
syringes were showing up than
usual and were being processed
through the plant.
Proper disposal for medical
facilities is to place the syringes
in a disposal container for
incineration. The letters met
with a nearly unanimous
response from medical
practitioners in the area,
claiming they were disposing of
the syringes properly.
. Harris said that means the
problem may be town residents
flushing medically prescribed
syringes down their toilets.
Proper disposal for home users
Rose Agate Holly spooner
at the factory. It eventually
became a part of the
VanDePerre collection.
The spooner was purchased
through a jyint effort of the
Greentown Glass Museum and
the National Greentown Glass
Association for $ 25,000. It is
now on display in the museum,
1 12 N. Meridian, Greentown.
includes separating the needle I
from the syringe and placing
both in a container in the trash
to later be buried in a land fill.
Harris said they have
considered the possibility that
drug users are the problem. He
added that law enforcement
officials will be notified if the
problem continues..
NOTICE OF PUBLIC
HEARING BY THE
PLAN COMMISSION OF
THE TOWN OF
GREENTOWN
A public hearing will be held on
May 11, 2206 at 6: 30 p. m. in the
Town Meeting Room at the City
Building in Greentown to hear
Case No. CZ- 06- 01, being a
petition filed by Bill Hogan to
rezone Lots number 6 and 7A in
Hammer’s Addition to the Town of
Greentown. This petition is
requesting that the lots be rezoned
from R- 1 to B- 2 to expand the size
of the Greentown Hardware Store.
The location of this property is
known as 129 N. Hammer St.
At this time and place all
interested persons will be given an
opportunity to be heard in
reference to matters set out in said
petition.