Mayor Dennis Estok informed council members last Tuesday, that the councilman for District 4, Tim Manns, has verbally indicated that he intends to resign from the city council.
Mayor Estok said that Manns sited scheduling conflicts with work and family obligations as the reason for his resignation. Estok added that the verbal notification is not official and Manns will still need to submit a resignation in writing. Continue reading
Mayor Dennis Estok shared some information with Knox City Council members about a mural that will be put up on the wall behind Serenity Gardens located at the corner of Main and Lake Streets in downtown Knox.
At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Mayor Estok said that he met with some local talent recently and brainstormed some ideas about how to tackle the project.
“We do have three local artists, Joe Eskridge, Zac Hunter and Ryan Ehresman, they’re all three working together,” Estok explained, “What they’re going to do is basically, they’re going do three different themes and what I want them to do is bring the themes in and invite the public to view them and everything.” Continue reading
Mayor Dennis Estok alerted Knox City Council members of some changes that will be made to procedures for Spring Clean-Up Days this year.
During Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Mayor Estok said there were some issues with last year’s event.
“Basically we are changing the format on that,” Estok explained, “last year, we went through a record-high 8 dumpsters at a cost of four thousand some dollars. Probably fifty or sixty percent of the stuff coming in was from out of town residents.” Continue reading
Four plots on West Pacific Avenue in Knox were rezoned from residential to commercial at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
The owner of Royal Star Builders Timothy Miller came before the Planning Commission in February with a request to rezone a property he purchased at 409 West Pacific Avenue. Miller plans to build a structure there that would serve a dual purpose. Continue reading
An ordinance that remained unchanged for nearly 30 years was amended during last night’s Knox City Council meeting.
The Ordinance Establishing a Curfew for the City of Knox was initially adopted in 1989. Mayor Dennis Estok said he felt an update was necessary as the wording in the original ordinance wasn’t particularly clear. Continue reading
Amendments to the existing curfew ordinance for the City of Knox will be considered during tonight’s city council meeting at 7 p.m.
According to the council packet provided by administrative assistant Peggy Travis, the curfew ordinance currently in place was originally adopted in October of 1989.
City council members are also anticipated to receive a presentation from Starke County Economic Development Foundation Special Projects Coordinator Ron Gifford. As usual, a monthly progress report will be provided. Continue reading
Knox Planning Commission members held a public hearing over a rezoning request when they met Tuesday night.
In February, Timothy Miller came before the commission requesting permission to rezone a piece of property on Pacific Avenue from residential to commercial. At Tuesday’s meeting, he reminded the members of the specifics related to his request. Continue reading
Knox City Council members voted to move forward with establishing an ordinance that would define the official duties of city council members when they met last week.
Up until now, the duties of a council member have been implied but unspecified. This proposed ordinance would establish expectations and responsibilities for council members, including things such as attendance and constituent representation. Continue reading
Knox Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston alerted city council members of a number of outstanding checks that had to be addressed prior to March 1st.
During Tuesday night’s Knox City Council meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Houston explained that state statute requires him to make a list of any checks written by the city that have not been cashed for over 2-years. Continue reading
Knox City Council members appointed Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston to the position of ADA Coordinator when they met Tuesday night. Members also approved an ordinance pertaining to ADA procedures.
Houston informed the council of the seven suggested steps that public entities must take, related to the American’s with Disabilities Act.
The first step is implementation. Houston explained they initially took this step a few years ago when they renovated city sidewalks to be ADA compliant. Continue reading
Knox City Council members are scheduled to discuss an ordinance pertaining to an ADA coordinator and procedures when they meet tonight.
Reports will be delivered from Mayor Dennis Estok and Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston and council members can comment on any additional business they deem necessary. Continue reading
The first Knox Event Planning Committee meeting of the year will be held this week.
At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Mayor Dennis Estok announced that the committee will meet to discuss some of the different events scheduled for later this year including movies in the park, community concerts and the fireworks show.
The Mayor encouraged all past volunteers to attend, as well as any other residents interested in providing a helping hand. Continue reading
Absenteeism was a matter of concern discussed at Tuesday night’s Knox City Council meeting. During council items, Councilman Jeff Berg addressed the extended absence of the council member elected to represent District 4. Continue reading
The Knox City Council received a financial update from Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston this week.
On Tuesday night, Houston informed the council that the City of Knox is in pretty good financial shape since they had more money at the end of 2017 than they started with at the beginning of the year.
Later, Houston explained that at the start of 2017, the city had around $3,994,645 and it ended the year with $4,146,321. That’s a net gain of $151,676 or a 3.8 percent increase. Continue reading
A member of the public voiced her concern about large trucks traveling on Henry Drive during the citizen’s comments portion of Tuesday night’s Knox City Council Meeting.
The resident said she understands that there are certain larger city vehicles that must come down that way, but she feels heavier semis that frequent the street are contributing to a road issue.
The resident of Henry Drive stated, “I noticed there is a huge crack that’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger from the big trucks going down. And I know that the garbage truck has to go down the street but there are big semis and delivery trucks, so why can’t they go on 8?” Continue reading
The Knox City Council members voted unanimously to move forward with the purchase of a pumper truck for the Knox-Center Township Fire Department.
With the motion, members also permitted city officials to communicate with Umbaugh about obtaining a bond for the purchase of the fire truck. Mayor Dennis Estok said that Shawn Cain from KIRPC informed him that no grants are available at this time, so financing for this purchase will come the bond. Continue reading
Knox Mayor Dennis Estok provided a brief update about the Blight Elimination Program when Knox City Council members met Tuesday night.
He stated that bids for work on the structure at 202 N Pearl Street will be opened during a special Board of Works meeting on February 5th at 9 a.m. Mayor Estok commented on the process of arranging to have the house taken down and stated that it went much quicker than past projects. Continue reading
At Tuesday night’s Knox City Council meeting, members heard a presentation about obtaining a bond to purchase a new fire truck. Fire Chief Kenny Pfost told council members that the vehicle they’re looking to replace is a pumper truck that is nearly 30 years old.
John Julien from Umbaugh provided the presentation and stated that the projected cost of the truck is approximately $600,000 and Umbaugh’s service charge would come in at about $50,000. Continue reading
The Knox Board of Public Works members reviewed revisions to the employee handbook when they met Wednesday morning.
In order to discuss the employee handbook, Knox City Council members held a joint work session with a member of the Board of Public Works last night.
Steve Dodge served as the representative for the BOW. Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston explained that the firm HR Unlimited was hired to help revise the current employee handbook.
Houston said a new handbook was needed not only due to changes to state requirements but also because multiple versions of the handbook were floating around. He said over the years, people have amended it for various departmental needs but city officials felt it was time to have a standard for everyone to go by. Continue reading
