Seymour mayor delivers State of the City

After praising the city’s 200-plus employees to start his annual State of the City address Monday night, Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson dove into the highlights of 2022 and what’s to come this year.

He covered some financials and touched on promised investment before sharing news from each city department.

In 2022, based on information provided by Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., Nicholson said there was $174.86 million worth of promised investment, which was the second-best year since that has been tracked and sixth time that has topped $100 million.

“Three times in the last five years we’ve cleared that number, five times in the last 10, so we’re doing really well when it comes to the industrial side of things with that promised investment,” Nicholson said before noting the unemployment rate was 2% in December and touching on his first trip to Japan to discuss economic development and build relationships with officials from local Japanese companies.

For the city’s transit department, Nicholson said total rides was up 13%, bus drivers spent more hours on the road and cameras were added to the buses to protect the drivers. This was all done shorthanded.

“They are short drivers. They need drivers,” the mayor said. “If you’re retired and you need something to do four hours a day two, three days a week, give them a shout. They need you. They would love to have the help, and it would help us get those numbers up and overall make it a little better system still yet.”

With planning and zoning, the number of building inspections remained about the same as 2021, but there were nearly 70 more ordinance violations and more than $30,000 worth of violations written, and the city took in a little more than $21,000 worth of liens. Many of those are related to high grass.

Nicholson also highlighted the Curb Appeal Program, which gives a homeowner a chance to receive a $500 grant to make improvements. Now, neighbors can apply together to receive $750, and he said the first one of those recently was submitted.

In 2022, the city invested around $9,000 to generate about $80,000 worth of projects. Since the program started, the city has invested less than $15,000 to generate $122,000 worth of projects.

“Those numbers turn out really good because we know when the guy down the street improves his house, the neighbor is going to, two doors down is going to and it just keeps growing, keeps making the city look better one little project at at time,” Nicholson said.

Last year, the program received the Aim Program Innovation Award, and Nicholson said officials from smaller and larger communities, including Fort Wayne, have called to ask how it works in hopes of starting it there.

“I’ll take that as a compliment because we created something that somebody much larger than us wanted to duplicate,” he said.

Nicholson

While a new senior living apartment complex opened in 2022, Nicholson said it’s 96% occupied and has a wait list, so senior living is something the city still needs.

New home construction was down in the city and the 2-mile fringe last year, and the mayor attributed that to the average cost of a new home going from $206,000 in 2021 to $277,000 in 2022. People applying for permits for pools and signs, however, almost doubled, and decks and sheds both were up a little.

New for this year, building permit applications are now available on the city’s website, and Nicholson hopes to start a reimbursement program to improve sidewalks and curbs.

Switching to the fire department, Nicholson highlighted the opening of the new Station 2 and headquarters on West Second Street and said it was built without raising taxes.

Nicholson also noted the department’s red wreath initiative that resulted in conversations around the community about fire safety through the holiday season. In the end, there were only four structure fires in the city.

For the first time since 2014, the city went 12 months without hiring a firefighter. An assistant chief position was added in 2022, and Fire Chief Brad Lucas plans to retire this year after 40 years of service with the department.

Also this year, an engineering firm recently was chosen to remodel Station 1 on East Street, and the hope is to break ground and possibly have construction completed by the end of the year. Plus, Ladder 3 needs replaced, and Nicholson hopes to gain approval from the city council to issue a bond to get that ordered.

With the parks and recreation department, Nicholson said the number of reservations nearly doubled in 2022, and the number of league participants increased by more than 200. That included 776 doing spring and fall soccer, and he said already this year, there are more than 550 signed up for spring soccer alone.

In 2022, the city’s new butterfly gardens received the Aim Green Project of the Year award, and Parks Director Stacy Findley was named Turning Point Domestic Violence Services’ Mission Partner of the Year for those efforts.

Findley also was praised for landing a $10,000 grant for a wind screen at the Freeman Field Recreational Complex, $20,000 to make repairs at Kasting Park after a storm caused damage and $900,000 to install new playground equipment in the city’s parks.

“That will give us four new pieces of playground equipment on top of the one that they had already budgeted in to get installed before that, which is at Shields (Park),” Nicholson said.

Parks programming also was big in 2022. Findley’s goal was to have 50 programs for the community by the end of the year, and the department currently has 93 with more coming.

In 2023, Westside Park is getting new playground equipment, a new shelter house was just completed, a restroom facility is under construction and plans are underway for a splash pad.

Also, a new park is going to be established on 12 acres by the new Burkart Boulevard South bypass overpass. It will be a nature park with a trail and trees, which fits into Seymour applying to become a Tree City.

“This should be a great addition to the city of Seymour, and one of the five-year parts of the master plan was to add new park ground, so we’re covering that one as we go on, as well,” Nicholson said.

The police department had several staffing changes in 2022. With the chief leaving for another job, Greg O’Brien was promoted to that role, and John Watson became assistant chief. Along with a retirement, that left three positions to fill, and that was accomplished.

Nicholson said officers received ballistic shields and halligan tools for their vehicles and combined for more than 5,000 hours of training. He congratulated O’Brien for completing the prestigious FBI National Academy and sergeants and corporals for doing leadership training.

The mayor also praised the school resource officers for conducting the inaugural youth summer camp, and he noted the award-winning Operation Small Town joint operation effort that started in Seymour and included the Columbus, Indianapolis and Terre Haute police departments, agencies from other states and the Drug Enforcement Administration, resulting in two dozen arrests for methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine.

For the department of public works in 2022, tonnage of trash and recycling both increased, staff doubled concrete work around the city, Seymour received $1.85 million for roadwork, bypass construction continued and the design process started for three federal aid projects.

“Federal aid projects are five-year projects. We don’t get to turn them around as quick as CCMG (paving projects), which is 18 months or less,” Nicholson said. “Small town America having 10 federal aid projects going on at the same time is unheard of. We’re doing well, but it takes time.”

While a training room was added to the DPW facility in 2022, a big project for 2023 will be using American Rescue Plan Act funds to build a transfer station for processing trash and recycling. Nicholson said that will save time and money because DPW workers won’t have to drive back and forth to the Medora Landfill.

At Freeman Municipal Airport, fuel sales and farm income both were up in 2022, and after two decades, Airport Manager Don Furlow retired and Colin Smith was hired to take his place.

Nicholson said one of Smith’s big goals is to make Freeman a regional airport.

“He knows the steps that it’s going to take to get there,” Nicholson said. “He knows what he needs to do, he knows what needs to happen and he also knows he needs to work with the police department so they’ve got a place to train in cars and WPC and DPW with semis.”

Speaking of water pollution control, Nicholson said it invested in new equipment in 2022, including a rolloff truck and a piece of equipment to get water out of the city. The department also did a lot of work cleaning ditches, catch basins and streets last year.

In 2023, Nicholson said the most troubled force main in the city at Mutton Creek is going to be replaced, and the way it lays will change a little bit, opening up some new ground for future development.

WPC also is going to install new belt presses and change an ultraviolet system from 320 lamps to 72 that will save in energy consumption, and nearly a dozen homes in Snyde Acres will be connected to the city sewer system.

At the end of the address, Nicholson covered some miscellaneous topics.

He said adult and teen surveys were done in 2022 to get their opinion on things to do in Seymour on the weekends, and the low rating has city departments thinking of ways to provide activities for all ages.

Nicholson also said his goal is to sit down and talk to 52 builders and developers this year. So far, he’s at 19 and said they have been “spectacular conversations,” providing a positive outlook on what the local market looks like.

The city is looking at offerings for those in recovery, too, and will wrap up a $100,000 grant to determine what’s available and what’s needed.

Finally, Nicholson said 93% of the city’s employees have received Dementia Friendly training, and he’s looking at adding a trainer for new hires as they come in to keep that rate high. He also hopes to see the training spread to businesses around the city.