Carroll County officials have been saying for some time that the communities that make up their county are all on the way up.
That was definitely the theme of the State of the City, County and Towns Luncheon at the Wabash and Erie Canal Center Friday in Delphi. The event was sponsored by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce.
“I’m here to talk about the good things that are going on and the healthy position that we are in as a county,” said Carroll County Council President Tim Radcliff. “It’s not that often we get a chance to speak in such a positive light.
“We’re really focused about being good stewards of taxpayer money and watching these fund balances,” he continued. “But also to utilize the funds we have available to meet the needs of the county and to progress as a county for the benefit of our residents.”
About 50 to 55 people gathered at the Center to hear officials from Flora, Camden, Burlington and Yeoman. Besides Radcliff, attendees listened to Delphia Mayor Anita Werling about all the good things happening there.
Werling talked all the economic growth in her city.
“We have not lost a single business to the pandemic which really speaks wonders,” said Werling. “Also, we’ve gained a lot of new businesses. I listened to the new from Flora about all of the new businesses they’ve brought in. We can say the same about Delphi and the surrounding area.”
Another positive for Delphi is the growth and success of Delphi Main Street. which is in third year of operation. It is now in the Aspiring Main Street category which means in one more year it will become a full fledged Main Street program. Werling added Main Street can really help downtown businesses flourish and grow.
Delphi also is in the process of a housing boom and hopes to get that underway this year through an project in the downtown area and another project out on East 218 by The Andersons.
Werling has announced she will not run for another term as Mayor. Three individuals filed to run the Primary on May 2. They are Gayle Conner, Dale Seward and Kamron Yates.
Flora just received $964,200.00 from the State of Indiana from its Community Crossings Grant, which Radcliff said is needed.
“We’re excited about that,” said Radcliff. “There’s plan to fully pave about 14 miles of road.”
Roads aren’t the only major project in Flora.
“We do have a multi-million dollar wastewater project that he hoped to get started last year,” said Carroll County Council Vice President Rob Kauffman. “We’d hoped to start it last year, but the money just wasn’t quite there. We didn’t get the funding that we were hoping to get. We’re actually applying to get more money this year to try and get that wastewater project going.”
Kauffman added this project would be a tremendous boost for the community.
Carroll County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Julia Leahy did the report from Burlington because they were unable to attend.
“Very soon, the town hall will be moving to a new location next to the post office,” Leahy said. “That land was been vacant for many, many years and the county has been renting office space in the business complex next to Dollar General. It’s going to really nice that we’ve got this amazing building that is going to be open to the public.”