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Mayor Rick Chambers and Relay for Life Event Coordinator Samantha Sims
The Starke County Relay for Life is this Friday and Saturday at the Starke County Fairgrounds in Hamlet. Opening ceremonies are at 6 p.m., the luminaria ceremony is around 9:30 p.m. Friday night and several fundraisers are planned throughout the event. Several teams have signed up to help in the fight against cancer.
This wet, warm spring has allowed the mosquito population to get busy early and the Knox Street Department will be spraying for mosquitoes at 6 a.m. today.
Ed Hasnerl
The Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox was filled with eager community members to help pray for our nation during today’s National Day of Prayer.
This year’s theme is “Pray for America”. It’s about coming together as a nation to better ourselves and make America the best place to be. Eagle Creek Community Church Pastor Ed Hasnerl gave a message of hope and urged neighbors to lift each other up in prayer.
“Of course we need to pray for America, but before our prayers can be effective as they can be we need to examine ourselves, our lives, repent, and then God will hear our prayers and He will heal our nation,” stated Hasnerl.
Knox Board of Public Works
The Knox Board of Public Works is attempting to reduce the number of required drug tests that need to be conducted on city employees.
Mayor Rick Chambers asked the department heads to provide job descriptions for their employees to determine those who are required to be drug tested. The only employees that need to be tested are CDL license holders and there are only handful that work for the city.
Knox Board of Public Works
The Knox Board of Public Works held discussion with a resident concerning her water and sewer bill.
Janet Black explained to the board members that there was a water leak detected underneath her house and she didn’t know about it. Her son had fixed the leak but she was shocked when she got her water bill and it was $410.47 – a far cry from her regular bill of $61.00.
Knox Board of Public Works
The Knox Board of Public Works approved a pay application for Chester Construction at their meeting this week in the amount of $49,563.74. The board members also approved a claim for Mark Milo Enterprises for $29,307.50.
Van Janovic from Territorial Engineering explained to the board that these claims are for the Phoenix House construction project. He said Chester’s work is about 91 percent complete and the parking lot work being done by Mark Milo is about 63 percent complete. He said he walked through the project area and was impressed with the work that has been done and it’s been on schedule.
A sobriety checkpoint held at Talmer and Schricker avenues in North Judson Friday night didn’t lead to any arrests, but it did end badly for one Knox police officer when he struck a deer and totaled his squad car. Knox Mayor Rick Chambers told the city council at their meeting this week that the accident totaled the 1997 Crown Victoria squad car, which he said had around 100,000 miles on it at the time of the accident.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers
Anyone who wishes to dispose of their natural Christmas tree may do so by placing the tree near the curb where they would normally put any brush during the summer months. Officials emphasized that all ornaments and tinsel must be removed before the tree will be taken for disposal.
In addition, residents can also dispose of their tree in the city’s compost drop-off pile located behind City Hall. The garbage contractors will not pick up disposed natural Christmas trees – these must be picked up by the brush pickup crews or dropped off at the compost drop-off pile.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers explained a number of points to the city council this week, including an update from Park Superintendent George Byer on the status of winterization and fence repairs in Wythogan Park.
Byer explained that the winterization process will soon begin for the park, in which the park equipment will be prepared for the upcoming winter season to prevent any damage caused by the weather. Byer said they’ll also begin working on the repairs for the fence this weekend if weather permits, but if not, the repairs will have to wait until Monday morning. Byer said both fences will soon be repaired.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers
A no-burn ordinance remains in effect in the city of Knox.
Mayor Rick Chambers is urging residents to follow this ordinance and not burn leaves or other brush and debris within the city limits.
If you need to be rid of leaves in your yard, the street department will be picking up leaves each day beginning tomorrow. You can rake the leaves to the street along the side for pick up. Do not pile the leaves in the alley. Do not bag the leaves, and remove all trash and other debris from the pile.
You are also welcome to take grass clippings or leaves to the compost drop-off behind City Hall.
Knox City Council
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers told the city council this week that he has heard of a number of problems that have developed with the brush drop-off service available at the compost pile behind city hall. He said the pile has received an unexpectedly large amount of brush, requiring the city to take nearly one truck load per day from the site. More than 100 loads of brush have been removed from the compost pile so far this year.
Chambers said this might be due to a large number of people from out of town using the compost pile to drop off their brush, despite the fact that the service is only provided to residents of Knox. He said he has seen a number of out-of-town dump trucks deliver loads of brush to the site, and he is not sure what to do about the situation.
He said that the city does not want to fence in the area and it would be too costly to dedicate a patrolman to monitor the pile. The council decided to monitor the site’s activity for another year before deciding what action to take to cut down on out-of-town drop-offs.
Knox City Council
The Knox City Council this week approved a resolution to establish a Special Event Fund for the city. Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston told the council that he had spoken with the auditor for the State Board of Accounts who will be conducting the audit for Knox, and Houston had asked what to do with donations received for specific events, such as the Fourth of July fireworks.
According to Houston, the State Board of Accounts recommended creating a Special Event Fund to hold donations earmarked for a specific purpose. This fund will be separate from the city’s Donation Fund, which Houston says is used for donations to organizations or departments, such as police.
This new fund will be used to keep track of donations received for special events, but Houston emphasized that all donations going into this fund must be labeled for a specific purpose.
The council approved the resolution creating the Special Event Fund.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers would like to remind all residents that Wythogan Park is still closed while cleanup crews continue efforts to remove branches, limbs, debris, and other items strewn about and destroyed from the July storms.
Chambers says the park is closed until further notice, but he’s hopeful that it will open toward the end of September. He says the council is hoping to let a contract this week for the cleanup work, but the contractors have indicated that it would take roughly four to six weeks after the bid is awarded before the cleanup can be completed.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers
The City of Knox continues to clean up from the ferocious storm on July 24.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers says the city is trying to keep up with brush pick-up, but with the street department’s regular duties and the brush overload, an outside contractor has been hired to aid the street department in brush pick-up.
Brush in the alleys will be picked up last as the street department sifts through the debris. Mayor Chambers says the brush in the alleys may be left until next month. He asks that residents be patient while clean-up continues in the city.
