Jul. 1—The public may reserve 4 of July parade spots at Lebanon’s Memorial Park beginning at 4 p.m. Monday.
Don’t use blankets and tarps. Don’t stake out a spot before 4 p.m. Monday, Lebanon Parks and Recreation Director John Messenger warns.
Park workers will remove blankets, tarps, and markers left out before that time, Messenger told the Lebanon City Council.
Laying a rope on the ground is the preferred method for reserving an area, Messenger said, adding, “Try to be neighborly and not take up miles. Just be courteous and friendly to your neighbors.”
“Remember, this is the friendly city,” Councilman Brent Wheat said.
The parks department will move picnic benches to park property that fronts the parade route and leave out trash cans with liners.
“Just be neighborly and respectful,” Wheat urged. “Please clean up your trash. That’s all we ask.”
Fire truck
Also this week, the council approved the expenditure of $964,000 for a new pumper truck for the Lebanon Fire Department. It will replace Engine 212, which will be 10 years old and moved into reserve status, LFD Chief Chuck Batts said.
The new truck is the department’s first truck purchase in five years. The department replaces trucks about every 10 years. The new one will not be delivered until July 2025 but must be ordered now to make that date.
No money will be spent on it before that. The current reserve truck will then be used for training.
Speed reduction
The council unanimously approved a speed limit reduction from 30 to 20 miles per hour on Maple Drive from Ind. 39 westward to Garfield Street.
That is the area of Reese Park, where the Lebanon Youth Soccer Association plays and hosts other teams. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic are often dense, and parking is difficult to find there.
Parents drop children off in the middle of the street, and safety is of great concern.
PUD
Council members listened to the first reading of a proposal to allow a planned unit development for a townhouse community to be built by Lennar Homes on about 14 acres at 2802 N. Ind. 39.
Lennar will situate 17 buildings for a total of 96 homes that will be individually sold to private homeowners. Each will be 1,700 to 1,800 square feet and include smart technology, some wood floors, kitchen appliances, a yard in the back, a two-car garage, and room for two more cars in the driveway.
The developer sought a PUD for the land currently zoned for multi-family dwellings because the city has no zoning designation specific to a townhouse community.
A neighbor from the next property north told the Planning Commission the community would cause troubling traffic congestion, but she did not speak at the city council meeting.
Annexation
The council also listened to the first reading of a request for the voluntary annexation of 40 acres east of Ind. 39 and accessed via County Road 375 North with Single-Family (SF) zoning.
The undeveloped agricultural land east of Ind. 39 along County Road 375 is not part of the LEAP Lebanon high-tech development district but is near it. The parcel is not accessed by Ind. 39, but via C.R. 375, Wheat said.
The owner has no proposed use for the property but realized having it annexed would help with marketing it for commercial development, City Planner Ben Bontrager said earlier this month.
The council is expected to take action on the annexation and townhomes ordinances during its meeting at 7:15 p.m. July 10 in the municipal building, 401 S. St., Lebanon.
