South Whitley Town Council approves expenditures for Phase I of Doodlebug Village
(Talk of the Town photo provided) South Whitley residents are looking forward to the construction of Phase I of the town park renovation project that will include the creation of "Doodlebug Village," an interactive play area for toddlers and young children. Below, an artist's rendering shows what the Farmers Market stand will look like in the Doodlebug Village, an area that will feature a pint-sized village for life play. Other features will include a tiny school, farm and other buildings.
From the Tribune-News
South Whitley has moved one step closer to the installation of an innovative new play area in the town park.
Park Board representative Katie Till received approval from the town council for two expenditures: $36,158 to Grounds for Play and $3,622 to Little Tikes for playground equipment for the new Doodlebug Village, a play area for the under 5 years old set.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Till said about the project, adding, “we are really excited. I think South Whitley will be really pleased with this.” 
Till added that fellow park board member Ron Anderson is arranging for concrete for new pathways and that the board will call on volunteers for help with installation.
Clerk-Treasurer Mitch Winger informed the council that due to $8,394 in unpaid utility bills on the building at 503 E. Broad Street owned by JTC Property, it was time to send a notice that power will be disconnected in five days. Councilwoman Joan Eberhart questioned the disconnection.
“Are we proceeding according to policy?” she asked and added that, “policy is policy.”
Winger explained that policy is that after a bill is 30 days overdue the property owner gets a notice. If the bill is still unpaid, a second notice gives 5 days until disconnection. However, Winger said that he sometimes works with people to get bills collected.
“I’ll guarantee that a policy with no leeway is not going to work. There are certain times when you have to work with people and it can depend on their prior history. I think we do a decent job of collection.”
In this instance, the property owner has been distinctly uncooperative.
In other business, an amendment to the skateboard ordinance to restrict skateboarding and wheeled skates in residential areas was introduced. Eberhart reported possible progress with the ongoing Green Parrot repair issue: a deal granting the Green Parrot owners twelve inches of property needed for wall repair is in the works. Due to settling over the winter, cold patches are being made in pavement installed after last fall’s sewer project and some reseeding of grass will also take place.
Another ongoing issue involves flooding due to the new sanitary/storm sewer at the Ed Ruckman property on the far south end of Line Street.
David Harvey, from Fleis and Vandenbrink Engineering, said that plans to reroute water along a ditch to a pond have hit a snag. Ruckman was concerned that the ditch was routed through the tile field for his septic system. However, Harvey said that it is against Indiana code to have a septic system in a floodplain. This alerted town attorney Greg Hockmeyer.
“Why isn’t this (residence) attached to the sewer? It is an illegal septic system. I have concerns about engineering a storm water around a septic that shouldn’t exist.”
Harvey and Utilities Manager Dennis Eberhart shared this concern. Harvey said that the project is on hold until he gets an answer from county government. Consensus was that the county should declare it an illegal system, although they have been reluctant to do so, so that the property could be connected to the sewer line.
The next meeting of the South Whitley Town Council is slated for Tuesday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m.