Montezuma Town Council Hires Former Police Chief

By Maggie Sockwell

Sentinel Reporter

The August monthly meeting of the Montezuma Town Council was held Thursday, August 18, at the Montezuma Community Center. The meeting was called to order by Jay Norris, Council president with members Shauna Atkinson, Paul Bartlow and Rex Thomas attending as well as Cathy Morgan, Clerk/Treasurer and Scott Craig, town attorney.

After the approval of the minutes to the previous meetings; approval of the claims of $39,850, $218,845 and $36,936; approval of bank reconciliations of utilities, $2,966,533, town $947,552, payroll $2.920 and deposits $32,855; and one utility adjustment, the Council moved on to public comments.

Christ O’Brien, Emergency Management Services director, asked the Council for the name of someone to serve on the planning team to review the hazard mitigation plan for the county, file a report and develop a new plan. This hazard plan allows the county to be able to file for grants from various sources from the government. The first meeting set for the planning team is set for September 13. After discussion, Rex Thomas volunteered to represent Montezuma on the planning team.

Next, John Koch, Montezuma Town Marshal gave his report. In the past four weeks, the department has had 45 calls. Koch and Craig looked at properties and one property brought up by Bartlow will be filed on for ordinance violations as soon as Craig gets the paperwork completed.

Koch discussed the possibility of hiring someone for a reserve officer. The budget has enough funds available for this officer. Randy Kneeland, previously with the Rockville Police Department, was approved to assist with ordinance violations and take calls if needed. The Council approved for Kneeland to work 20 hours per week (at this time) at a rate of $22 per hour. Bartlow added that he would like to be sure there is follow through with any ordinance violations.

For the full article, see this week’s edition of the Parke County Sentinel.