By Becky Killian, Staff Writer

The waterline replacement project along South Main will continue with most of the cost being covered by a grant.

The announcement was made during the Monday, Feb. 10, meeting of the Salem Board of Public Works and Safety and Common Council.

The hardship grant from the Indiana Department of Transportation will cover most of the cost to replace waterlines from the south gate of the square to the bridge over the West Fork Blue River.

The Board of Works approved the low bid of $943,454 from Temple and Temple for the project.

The city will pay 10 percent of the cost with existing funds from its operating budget.

“I think we all agree that investment in our infrastructure is key,” Mayor Justin Green said.

The first phase of the project saw the replacement of waterlines from the traffic light at State Road 56 to the south gate of the square. That project was paid with federal funds.

In other business:

• E&K Lawncare was approved as the low bidder for mowing as well as debris and vegetation removal for both city-owned properties as well as properties in violation of city code. The contractor will be paid $1,095 weekly to mow city owned properties such as around the water plants at Lake Salinda and Lake John Hay. The maintenance of properties in violation of city code will be $80 for mowing a lot and hourly fees for larger lots or those containing debris that must be removed.

• Mosier Family Chiropractic requested the closure of the portion of Market Street between the addresses of 301 and 304 beginning at 4 p.m. for their annual Brick Street Festival, which will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 7. About 20 vendors are expected, including food trucks.

• Blevins Sanitation requested a two-year contract extension for the city’s waste removal. The contract, which was set to expire in September 2026, will now continue to September 2028. The contract extension was approved by the Board of Works.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a lawsuit alleging that the nonprofit Dillsboro Emergency Ambulance Unit Inc. has shown itself unable to provide services to the community — thereby endangering the lives of Hoosiers through lengthy wait times in emergency situations. 

“Dillsboro and surrounding Dearborn County residents deserve an ambulance service provider that responds to calls in a timely manner,” Attorney General Rokita said. “The nonprofit assets held by this corporation should be put to use for their intended purpose. Their response time is unacceptable when lives are truly at stake.” 

Dillsboro Emergency Ambulance Unit was incorporated in 1965 for the purpose of providing emergency services in and around Dillsboro. It operated in that capacity from 1965 until 2024 when it failed to obtain a contract for services in Dearborn County. 

The lawsuit alleges that Dillsboro Emergency Ambulance Unit’s response rate has been falling since at least 2021 and has bottomed out at responding to a mere 12% of calls — forcing the local community to engage additional service providers and expend resources to cover the services that the defendant failed to provide.     

Attorney General Rokita is bringing this lawsuit under the Indiana Nonprofit Corporation Act in order to request that a receiver be appointed over Dillsboro Emergency Ambulance Unit to wind down the corporation’s affairs and ensure the corporate assets are being used for the benefit of the citizens of Dillsboro and surrounding communities in Dearborn County. 

The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship recently passed the Complete COVID Collections Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to ensure that billions of stolen taxpayer dollars are recovered.

Young and Ernst introduced the bill after the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) warned its authority was expiring and fraudsters would get away with stealing more than $200 billion.

“Programs designed to provide relief to our small businesses were repeatedly taken advantage of, leaving small businesses hurting and taxpayers on the hook,”said Senator Young. “I’m glad to see this effort to recover taxpayer dollars and protect Americans from fraud and abuse pass out of committee. I look forward to voting for this bill on the Senate floor.”

“I will not allow fraudsters to get away with stealing hundreds of billions of dollars from taxpayers,” said Senator Ernst. “We are going to recoup every cent and end the cycle in Washington of shrugging off a few billion here and a few hundred million there. That irresponsible mindset is why the federal government is more than $36 trillion in debt. I’m proud to lead this step forward to treat tax dollars like a family treats its budget instead of like a bottomless slush fund.”

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and John Curtis (R-Utah) also co-sponsored the legislation.

• Government
• State of Indiana

Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales reports that the Indiana Securities Division has joined a $17 million settlement with Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. (Edward Jones) resulting from an investigation into the broker-dealer’s supervision of customers paying front-load commissions on investments which were later moved into fee-based advisory accounts, resulting in over charging. 

The Indiana Securities Division, a member of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), was part of a working group of 14 state securities regulators that investigated Edward Jones’s supervision of customers prompted to move assets from brokerage to advisory accounts. Under U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary Rules, investment advice of retirement accounts is subject to a fiduciary standard of care, which Edward Jones was alleged to have violated.

The investigation found that Edward Jones charged front-load commissions for investments in Class A mutual fund shares in situations where the customer sold or moved the mutual fund shares sooner than originally anticipated. The states found gaps in Edward Jones’s supervisory procedures in this respect.

As part of the settlement, Edward Jones will pay an administrative fine of approximately $320,000 to each of the 50 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. As a lead state on the case, Indiana was awarded an additional amount for investigative costs. In evaluating the supervisory failures and determining the appropriate resolution, investigators considered certain facts such as the positive performance of the investment advisory accounts as compared to the brokerage accounts.

“In partnership with NASAA and other state securities regulators, we will continue to protect Main Street investors and ensure that companies operating in Indiana follow our securities laws.  The Indiana Securities Division appreciates the ongoing cooperation of Edward Jones throughout this investigation and settlement process. Firms that offer both brokerage and investment advisory services should be mindful of fiduciary responsibility owed to customers and their investment assets.” said Diego Morales, Indiana Secretary of State.