Town Hall Hours Regular office hours are
8:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m.
Monday-Friday
(317) 535-5531 |
 Hydrant flushing will occur April 28-May 2.
The Whiteland Water Department will be flushing fire hydrants as a continuing maintenance procedure to assure quality drinking water to its customers.
Fire hydrant flushing will begin Monday, April 28, 2014, and depending on weather and workload, could take through Friday, May 2. Flushing will be done during the hours of 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Please use caution when doing laundry during this period, as the water may be discolored during the flushing operation. Any discoloration should clear within one to two hours.
Any questions or problems regarding this maintenance program should be directed to Jason Clayman, Water Superintendent at 535-6359. Or email him using this contact form on the water department page.
Thank you for letting us serve you.
About fire hydrant flushing
Fire hydrant flushing is done to remove rust and sediment from water lines and to perform testing of fire hydrants for public safety. The flushing operation may result in brief periods of reduced water pressure or discolored water. Iron in the water that may have settled into the water mains causes the discolored water. The water is only discolored. It is still safe.
If you experience discoloration and rust particles in your water:
- Locate the farthest and lowest cold water faucet in your home from the water meter.
- Remove the aerator if there is one and turn on the cold water faucet until the water runs clear.
- If the water is still discolored after running the cold water for 10 minutes, please turn off the faucet and check it again one hour later.
- Please refrain from washing white or light colored clothes.
When the flushing operation is complete, normal water pressure and clear water should return.
Limb and Stick pickup is April 21-25.
The Town of Whiteland Street Department will again be picking up limbs and sticks throughout town during the week of April 21, 2014.
The purpose of this program is to provide Whiteland residents the ability to conveniently dispose of limbs and sticks that have fallen from trees through the winter, as well as spring tree prunings. The pick-up program is administered twice a year, in the spring and fall.
The following criteria apply:
- We cannot take limbs larger than 6 inches in diameter, nor longer than 8 feet in length. No exceptions.
- No commercial tree trimming operation will be picked up. In other words, if a homeowner has trees trimmed by a commercial tree trimming company, the Town will not pick these up. Large shrub trimming operation will also not be considered for pickup. It is the responsibility of the company to dispose of those trimmings.
- We cannot take tree stumps nor shrub root balls.
- Please place appropriate-sized limbs and sticks in a neat pile near the curb or near the street, but not in the street, so that our street department can readily dispose of them in our chipper.
- Please do not place wire, trash, brush, or anything other than branches, limbs, and sticks in the pile.
If you have questions regarding this program, please call Norm Gabehart, Whiteland Street Department superintendent, at 535-6359.
Thank you for letting us serve you to keep Whiteland a wonderful place to live.
 In February, the Town Council adopted an updated water rate tracker that will go into effect with the bills due in April. A copy of the adopted resolution is available here. The purpose of the rate tracker increase is to compensate for increased rates by our water supplier Indiana-American Water; the tracker does not fund maintenance or other aspects of the water utility.
Indiana-American is increasing their rate for water sold to the Town by 4.35%. However, this increase is not passed through to customers directly. Instead, the rate tracker increase is figured by dividing the total cost of the increase among all water customers. By this calculation, the tracker increase to customers is only 1.521%.
Here is an example of the effect of the tracker for the typical household using 6,242 gallons/month:
| Total |
$ 47.17 |
$ 47.88 |
| |
Current |
After tracker |
| Base charge |
$ 31.01 |
$ 31.48 |
| Usage charge |
$ 16.16 |
$ 16.40 |
Your bill will vary of course, depending on your household water usage.
If you have any questions concerning the tracker calculation or its implementation, please feel free to contact the Town Manager Dennis Capozzi at 530-0200.
Over the past month, the Town has welcomed two new directors of the Water and Stormwater/Street departments: Jason Clayman and Norm Gabehart.
Take a moment to learn more about them…
Jason Clayman
 New Water Department head Jason Clayman Jason has been promoted as the head of the Whiteland Water Department. Having 17 years of utility experience, including seven years in the water department, Jason was the natural choice to take on the challenge of running the water utility. He has earned two water licenses from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management: DSM, Water Distribution System Operator, and WT2, Water Treatment Plant Operator. His primary duty will be to ensure that safe, pure water continues to flow to all of our customers. He will also be tasked with maintaining the lines in good condition, replacing and repairing water meters and valves, and helping customers with any questions. One of his first duties has been to hire two new laborers to fill recent vacancies in the department. A lifelong resident of the area, Jason is recently married, and lives with his wife, three kids, and an overly rambunctious dog in Greenwood.
Norm Gabehart
 New MS4 Coordinator and Street Department head Norm Gabehart At their February meeting, the Stormwater Management Board recommended the hiring of Norm Gabehart as the new MS4 Coordinator (the technical title for the stormwater department director) after an extensive search. Most recently, he has had several years of experience directing operations and managing infrastructure in Greenwood, and before that numerous years in public service in various positions around Johnson County. In addition to coordinating the Town’s efforts to manage stormwater according to MS4 regulations, he will be overseeing the Whiteland Street Department–paving and plowing streets, keeping the Town’s equipment in good repair, and doing many other tasks to help Whiteland be a great community. Norm enjoys vintage automobiles and spending time with his kids and grandkids. He lives in northern Greenwood.
 Subdivisions are the basic design of a community’s built environment. While lot sizes and dimensions are defined by the zoning code, the subdivision code provides for how those lots can fit together to form a neighborhood. How big should blocks be? How wide must street rights-of-way be? Are cul-de-sacs a positive or negative? Are sidewalks required?
In addition to those qualitative issues, the subdivision code (formally, the Subdivision Control Ordinance, “SCO”) creates a process by which a subdivision is platted (that is, the lots laid out), and sets out the minimum standards to which public improvements (e.g. streets, sanitary sewers, water lines, etc.) must be held.
The Town of Whiteland has had an SCO in place since adopting its first zoning code in 1970. The SCO currently in effect for the town was adopted in 2004, and it replaced the 1970 code. In the ten years since, the planning and building staff, along with the the utility departments and others, have noted some deficiencies in the code, and some opportunities to improve it. These included removing extraneous regulations, reorganizing the code, updating infrastructure standards, and increasing usability. It was also determined that having the standards within the code made it cumbersome to use, both for those seeking platting process information and those needing the actual specifications.
With those goals in mind, the staff initiated a project in the fall of 2013 to separate the standards and specifications from the SCO itself, placing them in their own separate manual, while also updating the SCO text.
After several months of effort, the proposed new Subdivision Control Ordinance and the related Design Standards and Specifications Manual (“DSSM”) are now available for public review and comment. Below are the proposed documents, as well as the current code for comparison.
Current Subdivision Control Ordinance
Updated/revised proposed documents for April 1, 2014 Plan Commission meeting:
Revised proposed Subdivision Control Ordinance
Redlined SCO showing changes since March 4
Redlined SCO showing changes from the current SCO
Revised proposed Design Standards and Specifications Manual
Redlined DSSM showing changes since March 4
Revised DSSM specification sheets
Previously proposed documents, March 4, 2014:
Proposed Subdivision Control Ordinance
Redline comparison of current and proposed SCOs
Proposed Design Standards and Specifications Manual
Proposed DSSM specification sheets
For those interested in more details about the purpose of subdivision codes generally, the American Planning Association-Indiana Chapter has produced this introductory guide.
Please submit comments to Nathan Bilger, Director of Planning and Zoning, on behalf of the Plan Commission at nbilger@nulltownofwhiteland.com. There will also be opportunity for public comment during a public hearing at the April 1, 2014 Plan Commission meeting.
|
|
