By Angel Perkins Correspondent
The Town of Bourbon received kudos from their workmen’s compensation insurance company.
Representatives of the liability company came to Bourbon and inspected the working areas and equipment of the town’s water utility, police, street and associated departments and found them to be in tip top order. The company also inspects the town’s properties including the local parks to insure that safety is a main consideration.
“Indiana Public Employer’s Insurance gave us a good report on work zone safety,” said Bourbon Clerk-Treasurer Kim Berger. “They had nothing but good things to say.” Though the town and its entities passed their annual inspections with flying colors, some local townspeople did not.

Ordinance and code enforcement officer Bill Keyser sent out 13 ordinance violation letters so far this month, most of them for noncompliance of town ordinance 5.3: Nuisance weeds or rank vegetation. Those letters warned that the homeowners had five days to mow and trim the area in question or the town would — at the homeowner’s cost — and if the bill wasn’t paid for within 30 days of the billing, the town would seek a lien on the property.
And all Bourbon residents and property owners will soon (likely before July) have two additional ordinances to keep in mind as town council members unanimously approved ordinances 2009-01 and -02 regarding outdoor furnaces and unsafe buildings.
Having discussed the issues during several previous meetings the council suspended the rules to pass on all three readings of the outlined ordinances that “freestanding, outdoor heating units” are prohibited within the town limits and “unsafe buildings” in the town’s jurisdiction are now subject to the discrepancy of the town.
The ordinances must be published in full two times in a local newspaper before they can become enforceable.
In other news:
• Berger revisited an issue involving estimated water bills which had some residents irritated last month because of oversized bills they had not expected. During the estimations, (taken that way rather than by reading the actual meter for water usage because of the cold weather) the property owners were unaware there were leaks that were causing them extreme consumption and loss of water, and had they been made aware of such, by the regular readings, would have been able to repair and prevent the major losses.
Because of this council members decided to allow those persons exceptions; they also chose to revisit a local business, which in 2007 had a similar issue but were only allowed to make payments on the large billing from a leak they were unaware of. Berger said “It was quite a bit over their average bill” and added that she thought there should be an ordinance or resolution in writing so different people didn’t get different solutions for the same problem.
Town council president Larry Wattenbarger suggested giving the Clanton’s who own Bourbon Tropics the same credit as the others, and said “If we are going to continue estimating and they don’t know about a leak (because they aren’t getting an accurate reading of water usage) then we should let them have the credit.” Councilman Gary Collins agreed. Councilman Tim Perkins said, “I think the way we’re looking at it is right; we can’t put that kind of financial burden on someone if they don’t even know about it.”
• Jonah Best, new homeowner of the property at 402 S. Main was present at the council meeting to discuss a water bill for more than $600 that previous tenants had left, which at first looked like he was going to have to pay before he could get the service turned on at the address. He had contacted clerk-treasurer Berger prior to the meeting and after consulting the town attorney, Berger said he would not be held liable.
• Doug Warren, homeowner near the town park ,was also present at the meeting to discuss baseballs breaking out windows in his home coming from the little league. After some discussion town officials decided to look into the cost of extending the 12-foot tall fence that backdrops the west side of the northern-most field another eight feet to the south to limit contact with baseballs. Warren noted he had had two windows broken out this year and two last year.
• A favorable recommendation from the Bourbon Planning Commission to allow the F.O.P. building on Ledgend Drive to change from single residential to general business was accepted and unanimously agreed upon by the town council.
• Clerk-treasurer Berger noted the town has still not received the new tornado siren it was supposed to have gotten from Plymouth.
• Councilman Tim Perkins requested a donation on behalf of the KC Mustangs football team for their upcoming football camp. The semi-pro team plays their home games on the Triton field and will host a camp for the first 200 local children who wish to be involved, free of charge. The remaining council members, Perkins abstaining from vote due to his affiliation, agreed to be a sponsor for $100.
• The regular Bourbon Town Council meeting to be held Tuesday June 9 was rescheduled for a week earlier, Tuesday, June 2.