The Washington City Council met for the first time in 2025 Monday evening. Most of the business was beginning-of-the-year organization. The Council re-elected Councilman Alan Brown as President Pro Temp, and Mayor Rhoads re-appointed Councilman David Dahl and Anita Ash as members of the Board of Public Works and Safety. City Clerk-Treasurer presented a list of encumbered funds held over from 2024. The largest encumbrance was $473,000 for eight fully equipped police cars that were ordered last year and will be received next week. Other encumbered funds were for insurance, Central Dispatch, and Community Crossing grants for road repair from the state. The Council also passed a resolution transferring funds in the swimming pool budget.
In regular business the Council heard the introduction of an ordinance amending the list of positions in the Utility Department. The Council also passed an ordinance that deals with where city employees can live. Previously, city employees had to live either in Daviess County or an adjoining county. The new amendment gives the mayor the authority to hire employees living outside that area on a case-by-case basis. The only stipulation is that employees of the City of Washington must be residents of Indiana.
The Council also discussed a request to vacate a platted but undeveloped eastern section of Jefferson Street. The city attorney will draw up the necessary ordinance. In other business, Councilman Doug Campton asked for the building commissioner’s office to inspect two potentially derelict garages on Washington Street and a burned-out structure on Jackson Street.
At the end of the meeting, the Council and the Mayor praised the Street Department and Fire Department for the way they dealt with the two snows and two fires in the city in the past week. Mayor Rhoads had this to say:
<<Mayor Rhoads on Street and Fire Department Departments>>.
After the council meeting, the Board of Public Works and Safety met. The Board approved an agreement for services from the Daviess County Soil and Water Conservation District and an agreement with the firm of Butler, Fairman, and Seifert for assistance with Washington’s Storm Water General Permit Compliance. The Board also approved a supplement to the farm lease agreement for the city’s unused ground in the well fields. Currently the city leases 20 acres of ground for farming. However, with the drilling of new wells, this area will be reduced to 16 acres next year and to 8 acres in subsequent years.
