By Dillon Driskill

Pike township farmers, as well as the rest of the surrounding area, are currently dealing with a pervasive weed issue. Whereas it’s not the exciting sort of weed problem that comes to mind, it marks a large problem for the farmers both within and outside of the Pike township. Equisetum Arvense, (a.k.a. “Mare’s Tail”), is a weed which grows in a horse-tailed shape and is growing rapidly throughout the local farm areas. The weed has raised a lot of problems for farmers in the last year, due mainly to the fact that the weed seems to have built up a strong immunity to usual, chemical forms of weed control. The presence and relative inability to control the spread of the plant throughout farm fields has farmers wondering how to best quell the pervasive species.

Round-Up in particular is found to be of very little use against the plan, although some homemade solutions such as using ammonia-based solutions could yield better results. It was recommended by farmers present at the meeting, as well as some of the trustees themselves, that if you happen to see this particular weed growing in regular places, (i.e. your driveway or yard), to try and dig them out if possible. A strong breeze can carry the spores anywhere from 3-5 miles in radius, and farm fields everywhere are at a loss for a means of eliminating this difficult plant.

A request was made by the New Carlisle Public Library to receive additional funding from Pike township, and the library’s request will be taken across all of the county townships in an effort to gather enough funds to cover the expenses of the library. Currently, public libraries receive government funding on a per capita basis; based on their size. The New Carlisle Public Library, as of now, has over 12,000 current card-holders. Many of these members of the library come from outside of the New Carlisle area, and so the reach of the New Carlisle library exceeds its relative size.

The library’s budget, as of 2015, was $488,000, annually. Among the county’s nineteen townships, it was estimated that additional funding from at least ten towns would be enough to cover the deficit expenses of New Carlisle’s library. It was also estimated that pushing for a levy of $10,000 would be too much of a further expense in order to cover the varying costs for running the library. The library is currently only able to afford staffing from Tuesday through Saturday each week, due to their limited financial resources. Additional funding for the library would be necessary if they were to staff the library on a more regular basis, however.

The fire department will soon purchase a new fire truck. The board of trustees will implement a five-year plan to pay off the $400,000 loan needed for the truck. However, the board’s projected five-year plan is estimated to pay off the loan ahead of schedule.

The trustees qualified and accepted the new township budget for 2018, and is currently overlooking options for renegotiating the gas supply for Pike.

The next trustee meeting is scheduled for 8:30 AM on July 18th.