04-28-2004WINONA LAKE – Sue Elrod, 411 Wooster Road, approached the town council Tuesday about the state of a neighbor’s property.
“There is stuff all over,” she said of 413 Wooster Road. “Campers are full, used as storage. It is intolerable to have to look at that all the time.”
She said the public alley at the back of her home is blocked with vehicles and the neighbor uses her private drive to access the back of her property.
“We used to have an alley behind our house, now we don’t. People think they’ve been given that property.”
Elrod claimed her home has been assessed at $20,000 less than it used to be because of the mess next door. She related how her daughter had some work done at her house a couple of years ago and the contractor left a small pile of drywall outside during construction.
She said the police came by immediately and asked her to remove it, which she did.
Town marshal Malcolm Gilbert said the property owner was cited two weeks ago.
Council president Jerry Clevenger said there are ordinances to address the problem.
Town coordinator Craig Allebach said the town has a busy weekend coming up with the two-day bicycle festival Saturday and Sunday and Saturday’s graduation ceremonies at Grace College.
Allebach also said he has talked to other communities about right of way issues and heard a meeting with residents often clears up many questions. He will plan such a meeting in May.
The town is seeking many clearances along CR 250E for road improvements.
The board also:
• Congratulated clerk Retha Hicks for her election as treasurer to the Indiana League of Municipal Clerks and Treasurers.
• Heard from councilman Rolly Ortega that he recently attended a Winona Lake Preservation Society meeting and was impressed with the work they conduct around the lake.
Ortega is working with the group as council representative.
• Heard that brush piles and yard waste will be picked up Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Heard county auditor Sue Ann Mitchell is inviting town councils to a meeting May 5 at 7 p.m. to share what she knows about tax distributions from the state.
• Heard events in town are: all day Saturday and Sunday, the Northern Indiana Fat and Skinny Tire Fest events; Saturday, 9 a.m. – Grace College graduation in the Gordon Student Recreation Center; May 15 and 16 – spring sailboat regatta; and May 17, 2 p.m., town radio show on WRSW.
• Heard members of the Warsaw High School Octagon Club participated in the school’s “Blitz” of community service April 20. The students gave the town hall and park grounds a spring cleaning and planted flowers.
Town council members are John Boal, Jerry Clevenger, Jeff Carroll, David Delp and Rolly Ortega. Delp was absent.