LEESBURG —  Issues with the sewage pumps at Leesburg Elementary school were discussed at the Leesburg town council meeting held Monday, March 13.

Leesburg Town Council Vice-President Tom Moore relayed to council members that he met with Dirk Felger, head of maintenance at Warsaw Community Schools. After some investigation, it was determined that the pump issues are being caused by an excessive amount of foreign material collecting in the pump pit, including pencils, pens, plastic, etc. Moore explained that when the concentration of foreign material gets too high, it ends up in the pumps and when this happens, it lodges the impeller. When the impeller gets stuck, the pump cannot function.

The cure, Moore informed council members, is to remove the foreign material before the buildup gets to a point that it ends up in the impeller cavities. Moore addressed Derek Tenney, Tenney & Sons Inc., and requested that Tenney coordinate with the school regarding this issue. Moore asked that Tenney meet with someone in the maintenance department at the school to discuss this and to set up a schedule for Tenney to remove the debris periodically with his septic tank truck to prevent a buildup of the foreign material. Moore further stated that the school will reimburse Tenney for this. Moore suggested they need to establish a protocol for this and put it in writing. Tenney recommended checking the status of the pumps on Saturdays for a period of time to assess the situation and determine how often they will need to be cleaned out.

Moore stated, “It is imperative that we keep an open line of communication with the school.” Moore reported there are more people in that school building than live in the town of Leesburg so they really cannot afford to be having problems with the pumps. Moore said they do not want the school to suffer any hardships due to this issue and that it is, “Imperative that we keep this system functioning.” Moore also thanked Tenney and his father for the outstanding work they do.

Former Street Commissioner Brandon Queen resigned from that position recently. An executive meeting will be held at 5:30 Thursday, March 16 to interview applicants for the Leesburg street commissioner position. This meeting will be closed to the public.

The property at 113 W. Van Buren Street, Leesburg was discussed.  Moore stated there is a “tremendous” amount of debris at that location as well as a vehicle sitting there and stated that this needs to be addressed. Council members agreed that they need to make contact with the property owner and get this taken care of.

The storm drainage issue on Hickory Street, Leesburg was discussed. Council members agreed that a privately owned catch basin is likely needed to resolve the issue in that area. This will be discussed further at a later date.

In other news:

• George Robertson, Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. executive director, gave a brief speech regarding the shortage of affordable housing in Kosciusko County.
• Robin Waters requested vacation of Church Street, from the Maple Leaf headquarters to the Clunette Elevator Co., Leesburg. Council members unanimously approved this request.
• Doug Jones will check into the purchase of new speed limit signs and will contact INDOT regarding sign placement.
• No parking on any street in Leesburg between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.
• No burning in the town of Leesburg.
• The next regular meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 10.