The Town of Taft began the regular monthly meeting on October 17th at 7pm with a small group. 

“We have more money than we can spend,” Chairman Darryl Thompson commented regarding the budget.

“Well, that’s a good problem to have,” Clerk Lori Czubakowski said. “Yeah, we aren’t used to that.”

“I wouldn’t be counting on the future,” Thompson remarked.

As the bills were reviewed, the Committee commented on how nice the new town road signs looked that had recently been replaced. “They look wonderful,” Treasurer Lana Knox said.

The Taft Board agreed to send a letter to Superior Choice Credit Union, who holds the town’s banking accounts, to request that the online transfer limits on the Town of Taft’s accounts to be increased to $100,000 daily for internal online transfers between accounts. This request was made to make it easier for Knox to complete the Town’s banking online.

Thompson mentioned that the Board wants to spend all of the remaining ARPA money, so he wanted to know how many loads of gravel the Board wanted to get for the town roads.

“If you want to spend every penny of it, then we need to utilize it,” he said to Lori Czubakowski and asked for a budget summary so he can get down to the “nitty gritty” and know what they need to spend before the end of the year.

He mentioned that some of the roads were devoid of materials and needed the gravel.

Supervisor Del Kroeplin motioned to spend the rest of the ARPA money on gravel for wherever the town needs it.

The Board then motioned to put a ½ mile blacktop overlay on County Line Road on Hwy 73 west. All members unanimously agreed.

Kroeplin asked Thompson if he had heard anymore regarding Skyline.

“Not until after January, that’s the last thing I heard. We won’t know anything until after January,” Thompson answered. He added, “I’m sure nothing will be happening. It will take a half a year before they figure out what is going to be the process.”

The board discussed applications for upcoming grants, Thompson mentioned that some townships have received many grants and while many townships are applying, they need to go into the process with a positive attitude. Thompson commented that he thought they could apply for both discretionary and supplemental grants for the Town of Taft.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t try it, apply for both of them,” Supervisor Jerry Czubakowski answered.

“Somebody’s going to be successful on those applications,” Thompson said. “I say, why not us? We live here. We know and we see the real need there but nobody else does. So, we need to really, when we get into that, really do our every best to make that happen.”

“We gotta give it our best shot,” Jerry added.

Jerry motioned to submit an application for Tri D and Tri S to resurface County Line Road going east of Meridian to 500 feet past Birch Lane. The Board unanimously agreed.

The Town of Taft’s three-year Highway Plan was amended to include an overlay on County Line Road starting from Hwy 73 west toward Meridian with unanimous approval from the Board members. They also approved to chip seal one mile of Pinewood Road in 2024.

The Budget Hearing meeting is set to be held on November 7th at 7pm at the Taft Town Hall.

The next regular monthly meeting will be held at the Taft Town Hall on November 14th at 7pm.