Upgrades Needed at Pacific Lift Station Brought to the Attention of Knox Board of Works

Knox Wastewater Superintendent Kelly Clemons informed Board of Works members last Wednesday that an integral lift station that services much of the Industrial Park needs some upgrades.

The superintendent explained, “Our Pacific lift station, we want to rebuild the valve box in that. While we’re doing this we want to add a bypass so if the pumps go down, the power goes down or something happens we can get that water moved down the line.” Continue reading

Knox Mayor Reports Pearl Street Paving Has to Wait Until Aging Pipes Are Replaced

Paving on Pearl Street that was originally listed as one of the Community Crossings Grant projects for the City of Knox will have to wait.

Mayor Dennis Estok told city council members last Tuesday that the brick road on Pearl Street that was originally supposed to be paved cannot be included in this year’s grant application due to some older pipes that are underneath the road. Continue reading

Knox City Council Extends Waste Management Contract

Knox City Council members considered extending the City’s garbage services contract with Waste Management when they met on Tuesday.

Public Sector Solutions Representative Melinda Antell came before the council to go over the proposed contract extension. She noted that initially she presented a five-year contract to Mayor Dennis Estok but he requested the shorter, three-year contract extension. Continue reading

Knox City Council Members Vote to Move Forward with Street Print Project

Preliminary Design for Street Print Project

Knox officials are currently working to implement some of the projects established in their 2015 comprehensive plan.

When the city council met last Tuesday, Mayor Dennis Estok reminded the members about some of the projects that were included in the plan. He mentioned that the mural that will be painted on the wall behind Serenity Gardens was a part of it.

That project is currently in the design phase and city council members will now be tackling another project in the comprehensive plan, the street print project. He said, “We’ve talked about the street print to put on the corner of Lake and Main streets.” Estok reminded them, “You’ll have designed crosswalks and the city emblem in the middle of that intersection.” Continue reading

Knox Mayor Aims to Bring Owner Occupied Rehabilitation Grant Funds Back into the City

Mayor Dennis Estok told City Council members last Tuesday that he’s taking steps to bring the Owner Occupied Rehabilitation Grant back into Knox.

Mayor Estok explained that this specific funding assistance allows residents with lower incomes to apply to receive assistance with various home repairs. Estok said that in the past, recipients of the grant were awarded up to $15,000 in some cases. Continue reading

Selected Furniture’s Tax Abatement Request Denied by Knox City Council

A tax abatement request for Selected Furniture was considered during Tuesday night’s Knox City Council meeting. Mayor Dennis Estok presented the request to the council members and noted a few details about the company.

He shared that as of a few weeks ago, Selected Furniture still needed to pay about $37,458 in real property taxes and $21,062.85 in personal property taxes for a total of approximately $58,521 owed in back taxes. Continue reading

Public Vet’s Neuter Scooter to Return to Knox this Weekend

Due to the incredible success of the event that was held in April, Public Vet’s Neuter Scooter Mobile Clinic will be returning to the City of Knox.

The program provides an integral service that helps keep the feral cat population in check. Mayor Dennis Estok previously reported that more than 130 cats were registered for the last Neuter Scooter Mobile Clinic. Volunteers who are interested can opt to join with the proper requirements. There were already individuals with electric scooters who participated. Interested people are encouraged to get bikes, scooters, or even electric longboards on ScooterAdviser so they can join the cause.

According to the organization’s website, the Neuter Scooter will be in Knox from Friday, June 15th until Monday, June 18th. As a reminder, the exact location of the mobile clinic is not revealed until online registration is completed. Continue reading

Caucus to Replace District 4 Knox City Council Member Scheduled

The caucus to find the replacement for the District 4 Knox City Council member will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26th at Knox City Hall.

During citizen comments at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Dennis Estok mentioned that since the caucus will be held prior to the regularly scheduled meeting, the new member will be sworn in and will attend their first meeting that night. Continue reading

Knox City Council Meets Tonight

Knox City Council members will consider granting a tax abatement for Selected Furniture LLC when they meet tonight at 7 p.m. in Knox City Hall.

Project street print, which has been discussed briefly in past meetings, will be covered again tonight. Officials have been discussing the cost associated with painting the city emblem on sections of road in town as well as considering potential locations. Continue reading

Knox City Council Votes to Purchase Double-Sided Message Board

When Knox City Council members met last month, they decided to move forward with purchasing a new digital message board, after first discussing the matter back in March.

Initially, when the topic was presented by Mayor Dennis Estok, he said that the double-sided message board he found would be 4 foot by 8 foot and would cost around $35,000.

He explained that placing a sign at the city’s entrance could help promote various community events and share other important announcements with citizens as well as motorists passing through. Continue reading

District 4 Knox City Councilman Formally Resigns, Caucus to be Held Within the Next 30 Days

Starke County’s Democrat Chairman Kenny Wallace is in the process of scheduling a caucus to find a replacement for the District 4 Knox City Council seat after Tim Manns submitted a formal resignation this week.

Mayor Dennis Estok noted that as city officials were in the process of preparing the bill of impeachment for Manns, his letter of resignation was delivered to the City Hall drop box. Chairman Wallace said that in order for it to be officially recognized, the document has to be submitted to him so he retrieved a copy from the mayor. Continue reading

Knox Mayor Mentions Success of Spring Dumpster Days Event, Suggests Holding More than One During the Year

Knox Mayor Dennis Estok acknowledged the success of the Dumpster Days Spring Clean-Up event when the City Council met last Thursday.

According to skip hire Glasgow, a total of three dumpsters were utilized when the event was held on Saturday, May 19th and Sunday, May 20th.

Though the event was scheduled to run through 5 p.m. on Sunday, the mayor said they had to shut it down a little early because all of the rented dumpsters were filled up by 2 p.m. Continue reading