By Angel Perkins News-Mirror Editor
The Bourbon Town Council heard a presentation from resident Mary Wood and Dennis Beville of the community resource center board during last Tuesdays night’s regular meeting. Wood explained the initiative: to build a central location to house 11 different county social service agencies in Plymouth.

The reasoning behind the combined resources building was to address several problems found by the organizations being held in separate towns and buildings. Wood said, “There was a need for this. People seeking these resources were having difficulty finding them and there was limited communication between the agencies.”
Beville, an advisor to the resource center, said the proposed building was a vision for more than 20 years, and added that Anderson University did a study that focused on the incorporation of several of the service entities to provide county residents a “one-stop shop.” He quoted numbers given by the individual agencies showing that Bourbon and Bourbon Township residents were indeed taking the opportunities for assistance that are offered, showing that eight had received Section 8 housing assistance in the past six months and that 92 families had been served by one organization or another.
“We are asking each town to contribute toward this,” Beville said. “The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ through Ancilla College donated $20,000. An anonymous donor gave $25,000; the county gave $43,000 and the city of Plymouth $50,000. We are asking each town to give from five to 10 thousand.”
The initiative also received a donation for $250,000 from the Marshall County Community Foundation toward the $3.2 million project. “It would be a self-sustaining building,” explained Wood. “It will not affect the tax rates. It will be managed by local people.” She added that even though they had the option not to pay property taxes they opted to do so to “give back to the community.”
The duo said they hoped to have the area of land (two blocks from the Marshall County Court House and county neighborhood council at the site of the former Fulton/Marshall County Co-op ) cleared this fall to begin building in the spring.
    Also during the council meeting the following was addressed:
• The water department is looking into alternative meter and shut off valves to the Parkview Place apartments in town. Bourbon Clerk-treasurer Kim Berger noted that with as many “cutoffs” as they have for the turnover of renters that have left, it might be better to have the easier access to the controls.
Town water department superintendent Mike McFarland explained that as it is, town employees must gain access through a 30-inch underground crawl space. Berger reported that one employee had already hurt his back trying to do the job.
• A  piece to repair the curved slide at the playground area of the Bourbon Community Park was approved for order at $334. Street department supervisor Roger Terry explained that the plastic piece would not match the present slide (color wise) and was not guaranteed to fit and could not be sent back. A new slide would cost $1,500 (just for the plastic sliding piece to attach to the base).
• The Bourbon Town Council approved the repaving of the Bourbon Community Park's parking lot from the ball fields to the end of Sunset Street for a cost of approximately $3,000.
• The Town of Bourbon’s 2009 budget was officially approved by the council and will go on to the Department of Local Government Financing in Indianapolis for approval.