A swearing in
ceremony for the newly elected Burns Harbor Town Council members was held at
noon on January 1, 2016. The ceremony began with the newly formed Honor
Guard made up of members Robert Wesley, Matthew Wesley, Shelby Sharpless,
and Mike Vershay who also serve on the Burns Harbor Volunteer Fire
Department, posting the colors, followed by the singing of the National
Anthem by students Jennifer Haggerty, Wyatt Lee, Tyler Randazzo, and Delaney
Wright from Chesterton High School.
Senator Karen
Tallian led the oath for all five Council members and the Clerk-Treasurer.
The meeting room was standing room only as many family, friends, and
residents attended in support of the new council.
After a brief
reception with cake and coffee, the Council met to organize and approve
contracts.
In its first order
of business, Ray Poparad was elected President and Eric Hull was named
Vice-President. Liaisons are Toni Biancardi to the Building and Sanitation
Departments, Andy Bozak to the Police Department, Marcus Rogala to the Park
Department, Eric Hull to the Fire Department, and Ray Poparad to General
Maintenance and Street Department.
A variety of Board
appointments were made including Biancardi, Bozak, and Hull to the Plan
Commission. Biancardi will serve as the town’s representative to the
Duneland Economic Development Corporation (DEDC) and Northwestern Indiana
Planning Commission (NIRPC). Council President Poparad was appointed to the
Shared Ethics Advisory Commission’s Joint Board of Delegates.
All five council
people will begin the year sitting on the Redevelopment Commission. “It
makes sense for all of us to serve on the RDC to start so we can get up to
speed on what’s been happening in the last year and keep moving forward,”
said Councilman Bozak.
In a written
statement Poparad said, “The Council is committed to continuing economic and
community development activities to improve Burns Harbor that both the
previous council and redevelopment commission initiated in March 2015. We
aim to put processes in place and take actions in a manner in which the town
can successfully implement projects to begin creating a sense of place as
well as attract businesses that will benefit the long term quality of life
for this town’s residents.”
In other business,
the Town Council unanimously agreed legal services will be provided by Osan
& Patton, LLC, and engineering services by Global Land Surveying LLC.