Washington’s City Council met for the first time in 2023 and did some basic housekeeping. Councilman Alan Brown was re-elected as the Council President, Mayor David Rhoads appointed David Dahl and Anita Ash to the Board of Public Works and Safety, and the Council appointed Rhoads as the City’s representative to the Southern Indiana Economic Development Commission. Clerk-Treasurer Beth McGookey presented a list of encumbered funds remaining from 2022. In regular business, the Council approved a resolution transferring ARPA funds to the necessary budget categories to provide each city employee with a $1,000 bonus. The Council also approved two resolutions that moved the downtown Commons project along. The first resolution established a revolving fund to provide the mechanism for the Daviess County Economic Development Commission to receive funding for the project, while the second resolution designated the city as the party with oversight during the project’s construction. Economic Development Executive Director Bryant Niehoff told the Council that with commitments from the City, County, and private contributors, approximately $3.5 million had been raised for the Commons project.
The Council also heard the introduction of an ordinance that would amend Washington’s economic development ordinance to allow the City Council to grant tax abatements for those reasons allowed by state law.
In other business, the Council discussed an error the Mayor discovered in an ordinance related to charges for businesses transporting sewage to the Washington sewer plant. The ordinance that was passed years ago has two fee schedules, which has resulted in undercharging for bringing effluents to the Washington plant.
Following the council meeting, the Board of Public Works and Safety also took up the effluent fees. The board members suggested 20 cents per unit fees for suspended solids and BODs and a 94 cent per unit fee for ammonia. The Board also received bids for the demolition of derelict structures and the clearing of lots at 1011 W. VanTrees and 913 E. Main. The bids were given to Building Commissioner Jonathan Casper for consideration. The jobs will be awarded at the next meeting.
