Rockville Town Board speaks out about 2025

As the calendar continues to march to a new year, Dave Brown keeps one eye on the future and the other on what was 2025 in the town of Rockville.

The Rockville Town Board president, who was first appointed to the board in 2015, has overseen a board this year that has tried to move the town forward, while also dealing with issues among themselves at times. 

"I got appointed in 2015, and I thought it was time to give back to my hometown and community. I have enjoyed it for the most part. It has been fun at times, and kind of crazy at times, but I've tried to work through it all," Brown told The Parke County Post. 

As board president, Brown said his role is to help make sure the meetings and town business run as "efficiently as possible."

"Obviously, you run the meetings. The way we do ours, we have people who have people on there who know the budget and things like that and I let them take care of that, but we try to run it as efficiently as possible and get our work done," Brown said. 

And, during the last decade, there have been many faces that have changed during his time on the board.

"The last four or five years, I think we have gotten a lot done. Not everyone agrees, but we have tried to keep roads and our electric grid in good shape. We have done some water projects, a few sewer projects, but we are struggling with the sewer, but we are trying to keep it going and get it going," Brown said. 

As for what he is most proud of, Brown said it would have to be what has taken place down town.

"I know Market Street is not everyone's cup of tea, but it is nice for the downtown area. It took a while, and I know people were aggravated over it, but I think it looks nice now. We also did the other side of Jefferson Street. We've built a parking lot and gotten that little area of a road in decent shape. The downtown area is the biggest for me. Downtown Rockville has a lot to offer, and we try to promote it the best we can," Brown said. 

While there have been plenty of successful moments, Brown admits there are issues he and the town board continue to work through.

"Right now, I'd say our biggest challenge is the sewer. We definitely need to maintain it and fix it, and it is a challenge. We will get it figured out, but we have some things we are working on like a regional sewer. It will be a major undertaking and years in the making, but, hopefully, we can get all that together and it will help out our situation and the north part of the county. We will see what happens," Brown said. 

In addition, in recent months, there has been some contention among the board when it comes to stormwater fees. Earlier this year, Brown called out what he said were major issues when it came to who was paying stormwater fees, the amounts some were paying and that a lot needed to be looked at before the town adopted new stormwater fees. In October, the town board voted 4-1 in favor of new fees, which will go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. 

Under the ordinance, those with a water meet and those without a water meter that own at least 500 square feet or more of hard water surface area even if no water, electric or sewage services are connected to the property, will see an increase. Any property outside the town limits with water service will pay a storm fee only if a portion of the property they own drains into the municipal boundary or passes through drainage infrastructure the town maintains. 

For those with a square foot area of 0 to 15,000, the rate will be $10.68. Those with 15,001 to 30,000 will pay $21.36, while those with 30,001 to 45,000 will see an increase to $32.04 and anything over 45,000 will be charged $42.72. 

"We do have some areas in the town that need stormwater taken care of. We have some old pipes that need to be taken care of. To that end, we need money to that. I was not, fundamentally, against raising the stormwater fees, but I was adamantly against how they went about it. Not to throw anyone under the bus, but I did not feel like everything that could be used was being used. I am sure there will be arguments about that, but anyone who has been to our meetings, knows it is a touchy subject. There have been fees that haven't been charged, fees that weren't being charged fully and I, personally, did not feel like they were being taken care of the right way," Brown said. 

Brown said it has been mentioned in public meetings and discussed previously that not all the fees associated with stormwater have been collected through the years. 

"I don't think those fees would have changed the world, but they would have helped. We have left a lot of money on the table over the last 16 years where this was not enforced. We need to do a better job of doing our due diligence to make sure we are doing things correctly. We have to make sure the town board, sewer board or whatever board does the best it can, does its due diligence and make sure we do the best we can to serve the people who voted us in. We owe them that," Brown said. 

The veteran councilman also admitted there are instances of current and or past council members who have not paid stormwater fees.

"Yes. I'll leave it at that. If you are one of the five members that is going to vote to raise rates, you should be paying your fair share right along with everyone else," Brown admitted. 

In addition to the stormwater issue, the town board has also found itself at odds over removing certain duties from Rockville Clerk-Treasurer Brandy Asher. The board voted 3-2 earlier this month to remove town manager duties from Asher. Council members Liddy Dowd-Wright, Parke Swaim and Steve Waltz all voted in favor of removing duties from Asher, while Brown and Chris McCann voted against the measure. 

"It all came down to two or three years ago from us hiring people and things not working out. It just came about that way. The big issue that came up was could she separate her duties as town manager to those of clerk-treasurer. It is our fault that we never gave her a job description. Things progressed from there, and the meeting where she was dismissed was a shock to me. I know what we talked about, and I don't remember that being talked about. The way it was handled was mishandled, unprofessional and there were other ways to go about this. It was embarrassing, and I think it was embarrassing to her and the board. It is unfortunate," Brown said. 

Brown acknowledged in his opinion, Asher did nothing wrong.

"Not that I can see. There was an issue with time that the State Board of Accounts pointed out to her, told her how to make the corrections, and I don't believe it was that big of an issue to them. I could be wrong of that, but I don't feel like she did anything wrong," Brown said. 

And, he admitted the last few months have been "very frustrating," especially when there are so many positives taking place in Rockville. 

"It is frustrating, but I will also say, sometimes it has to happen the way it happens to get people motivated, understand what is going on and involved. I am hoping what has happened the last couple months gets people motivated to come and see what we do. I want people to voice their opinion. I can tell you throughout my life, there were times I didn't care about what happened here, but as I have grown, worked here and began to think differently, I feel like it is my duty to give back. I know it is frustrating as a citizen, as well. When I give up my tenure at boards, I will continue to come to meetings, voice my opinion and be involved. I think we all should. I invite you to a board meeting, and hold us accountable. Come and tell it to us face to face. We will welcome you in with open arms," Brown said.