May 30, 2025 • 12 mins
Join Mayor Kegan Schmicker as he sits down with Dylan Dietrick, Superintendent of Municipal Services, to discuss the city's ongoing infrastructure projects and seasonal preparations.
In this episode, we cover:
Pool Season Prep - Behind-the-scenes work getting Tipton's community pool ready for summer, including pressure washing, pump maintenance, and facility preparations
Yard Waste Management - How the city handles weekly yard waste collection and efforts to improve efficiency with proper containerization
Large Item Pickup - Details on the city's $35 flat-rate service for furniture, appliances, and bulk items
West Street Reconstruction - Progress update on this major infrastructure project, including new water mains, service lines, and upcoming roadway reconstruction with improved drainage
East Street Project - Preview of the next phase of sewer separation and road improvements planned for late summer/early fall
Dylan brings nearly a decade of experience from INDOT to his new role, having worked on projects including the Highway 31 railroad overpass. As a Tipton native, he's committed to improving the city's infrastructure while managing the department's diverse responsibilities.
Whether you're a longtime resident or new to Tipton, this episode provides valuable insights into the city's infrastructure investments and how municipal services keep our community running smoothly.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 01 (00:00):
Hello, I'm Mayor Kegan Schmicker here with
our next episode of the TiptonThrives podcast.
And today I'm joined by DylanDietrich, superintendent of our
municipal services department.
Dylan, you joined us inNovember of 2024, new to this
role.
So I think first, let's talk alittle bit about you.
What is your background mostrecently before joining the city
(00:20):
of Tipton?
Speaker 00 (00:21):
Yeah, so before coming here, I worked for eight
and a half, nine years with theIndiana Department of
Transportation, GreenfieldDistrict.
Yeah.
I was a project supervisor,just managing multiple projects.
Most recent was the railroadbridge on 31 over the railroad
tracks.
Speaker 01 (00:39):
Ah, yeah, so the actual overpass over the
railroad, that was a projectthat you were leading or part of
that
Speaker 00 (00:45):
project?
I was assistant manager on thatproject.
Very good.
Speaker 01 (00:50):
So then you have a connection to Tipton, though.
So I think that was one of thepositives of your application
before joining us was that youalready lived here, right?
Speaker 00 (01:00):
Yep.
No, I was actually born inFlorida, moved to Indiana when I
was around five, and then Ispent most of my life here in
Tipton.
Very good.
Moved to Georgia for a fewyears while I was in high school
and decided to come back.
Speaker 01 (01:19):
Very good.
Well, certainly we've beenexcited with you joining the
team and I've been impressedwith some of the work already
from the department.
I think that's what we're goingto transition to next is the
municipal services, previouslyknown as the street department.
They really like the catch-allof departments for the city of
Tipton and just want to explorea little bit of that with you
(01:40):
because here we're getting readyto head into pool season and
you guys have been I think doingsome heavy lifting at the pool,
trying to get it ready foropening day.
And usually by now we wouldhave an opening day, but because
of the cooler weather, it'skind of delayed us a little bit.
But tell us maybe just brieflysome of the responsibilities you
guys help with on an annualbasis with the pool.
Speaker 00 (02:02):
Yeah, so we've had a pretty busy spring.
First off, we spend hours anddays pressure washing the pool,
getting it cleaned up from thewinter weather, the dirt.
getting a vac truck out here,vaccing out all the leaves.
And then once it's cleaned,then we still have to get the
(02:24):
pumps running, hang thesunshades.
We do a lot of work to get thepool going.
Speaker 01 (02:31):
Yeah, well, I appreciate that effort, and I'm
sure the kids of the townappreciate that too.
So moving on to our nextproject, Responsibility, I think
this is sort of a weeklyactivity for you guys, but yard
waste is a big responsibility,especially during what seems to
be the spring and the fall wherewe get a lot more of that
debris.
(02:51):
Certainly an activity thatcontinues to grow and we try to
manage, but we're trying to makesome efforts, I'd say, to help
make this a more efficient taskbecause we do have a small crew
and it's really quite easy forus to get behind and picking up
whether it's leaves or yarddebris limbs especially when
storms come through so what whatitems are we typically
(03:14):
collecting from homes in thealleys or along the sidewalks
where alleys don't exist fromfolks
Speaker 00 (03:21):
yeah so we we actually run yard waste five
days a week We're picking upanything from limbs to grass
clippings to leaves, anythingthat's really sat out by the
alley that we can pick up andtake out to the recycle center.
Speaker 01 (03:39):
Yeah, and I think that's one of the things we're
trying to work on is confining.
And I think even our ordinancestates that the items left yard
waste per tier should be in somekind of container.
And just as a community, we'vegotten away from that a little
bit.
And it's causing somedownstream issues, such as
clogging some of the drainsaround town.
And so we're trying to work onsome solutions, you and I, on
(04:01):
how do we address that.
So with that comes, we justtalked about the alleys, but
like yard waste, or not yardwaste, large item pickups.
So previously, the city ofTipton used to just pick up
trash in the alleys.
And a couple of years ago,there was a change where we now
were going to start chargingindividuals to pick up the large
(04:24):
item pickup.
So can you briefly run methrough what that process looks
like?
If an individual has a sofa ora mattress, How do they go about
making sure that thing getspicked up in the alley?
Speaker 00 (04:37):
Yeah, so for a large item pickup, you would either
come into the street department,500 Green Street, or you can
send a check in the mail to usor drop one off in our mailbox,
and we'll get it either the nextday or a couple days after.
But we pick up anything besidesconstruction material.
(05:00):
Okay.
Also, refrigerators becausethey have Freon.
We don't pick up those kind ofitems.
But anything else, it's $35 fora dump truck load.
It's not per item.
So, you know, anything up to adump truck load, $35, and we'll
come pick it up.
Speaker 01 (05:17):
Really?
So I'm cleaning out my garage,got a couple items or maybe a
lot of items.
So long as they fit in the dumptruck, $35 to haul it away.
That sounds like a pretty gooddeal.
Speaker 00 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (05:28):
Well, like I said, catch all for the city of
Tipton, but I think morespecific to the responsibilities
of your department includesroad maintenance, road projects,
and we've got a few going onright now.
And I think probably the mostobvious one is West Street.
So give us a quick update.
Where are we at with thisproject and maybe some of the
next couple steps as we headtoward completion of that
(05:50):
project?
Speaker 00 (05:51):
Yeah, so on West Street, we just got the water
main in, sanitized.
The water test came back good.
So this week we started puttingin service lines.
We're working our way toMadison on all the service
lines.
The estimate for that work istwo to three weeks and all the
(06:11):
service lines would be put in.
Once the service lines aredone, then we'll start digging
out the roadway and gettingready for paving.
Speaker 01 (06:19):
Very good.
So that last part of theprocess seems like we've been
waiting this entire project forit.
But in truth, we had to do whatwas underground first and then
work our way to the top surface.
Do you expect that building theroadway to last a couple weeks
or another month?
Or what do you think?
I mean, of course, all weatherdependent.
Speaker 00 (06:37):
Yeah, everything's weather dependent.
And that's kind of why thisproject's taken as long as it
has with all the rain that we'vegotten.
But once the service lines arecomplete...
I expect the subgrade treatmentto take roughly a week, no more
than two weeks, and then we'llget to paving and doing the
(07:00):
multi-use path on the east sideof the road.
That shouldn't take more than aweek itself.
Speaker 01 (07:05):
Yeah, so going back to the roadway, this is truly
going to be a reconstructedroad.
Is that right?
Speaker 00 (07:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 01 (07:13):
And I'm not aware...
Certainly there's been a roadthat's been reconstructed in the
city of Tipton previously, butthis has probably got to be one
of the very few that has beenreconstructed.
So this shouldn't, in theory,become the nicest street in the
city of Tipton because we aregoing to replace all that
subgrade material and recompactit and then add a new layer on
(07:34):
top.
Is that your estimation too?
Speaker 00 (07:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
With separating the...
The sanitary and storm sewer,it'll be one of the best
draining roads in the city ofTipton, along with it'll be one
of the strongest roads that wehave.
Speaker 01 (07:48):
Very good.
So we're doing a similarproject, not exactly, but
similar in some of the theoriesor strategies behind separating
the sewer and stormwater on EastStreet, right?
So we're trying to work ontimelines and getting that
pre-construction meetingscheduled.
So tell us maybe briefly aboutthat project.
Of course, it's not...
known yet, timelines and such,because we're still working on
(08:10):
that.
But again, the strategies arethe same, correct?
Speaker 00 (08:13):
Yeah, yeah, correct.
The next project, whichhopefully will break ground late
summer, early fall, it would beE Street, along with half a
block on Independence, and thenthe connecting...
Jackson Street from east toIndependence.
(08:34):
It looks kind of like abackwards H, but we'll be doing
the same thing.
We'll be putting new stormsewer in, new roadway.
The only difference is therewill not be a multi-use path on
that project.
It'll just be concretesidewalks like it is now.
Speaker 01 (08:50):
And again, with that, in that side of town,
maybe more specifically, atleast I've got pictures and
maybe you do too from residentswhere the water, the drainage is
so bad that the water actuallygets over the curbs in a heavy
rain event.
So I'm really looking forwardto seeing how that project
drains after it's completedbecause it does seem like these
(09:11):
two southern quadrants of thecity do have the worst drainage
in the city of Tipton becausethe other areas have been
somewhat addressed already inthe past.
But, again, the areas nearestthe creek seem to struggle.
And we're hopeful.
I think that's the strategyhere is that this separation
helps to improve that drainagein those areas.
Speaker 00 (09:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
And it will alleviate some ofthe water going to the water
treatment plant itself.
Correct.
With a lot of the city being ona combined system, all that
water goes out to the treatmentplant, and then they have to
treat it and do what they do.
Right.
Separating it, we can get ridof the rain runoff compared to
(09:53):
the sanitary.
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (09:54):
So East Street, maybe different than West
Street, where this was one shotwe got from Madison down to
South Street.
East Street's a littledifferent, right?
We think this is probably goingto be at least two phases,
could end up being three phases,because we're trying to get to
Madison and Independence.
Is that correct?
Speaker 00 (10:14):
Yeah, yeah.
It's going to be a multi-phaseproject just with– how expensive
everything is.
But we're also doing more thanjust one road.
We're doing, you know,Independence also, which is a
pretty poorly draining road onthe south end.
With all this rain we've had,we've been out there multiple
(10:38):
times cleaning those drains,keeping them clear, trying to
get that area to drain and notflood.
Speaker 01 (10:45):
Yeah, correct.
Unknown (10:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (10:47):
Correct.
So then there's another projectthat's happening in town,
though it's not a city project,but NDOT on East 28.
So we're going to have the roadshut down for a brief period of
time.
But as I understand, they'rewaiting for school to let out.
And in truth, maybe by the timethis podcast airs, the work
could actually be done.
But that's another projectwhere we're cooperating with
(11:08):
NDOT, trying to be good partnersand helpful in whatever way we
can.
But again, another projecttaking place.
Do you suspect that that wouldhave been a project you may have
worked on?
I
Speaker 00 (11:19):
think so.
If I would have stayed withNDOT, that would have probably
been one I would have been on.
Speaker 01 (11:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 00 (11:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (11:26):
Well, I think that's all the questions I had for
you.
I think it's great the workthat the street department is
doing for the city as it relatesto yard waste and large item
pickup.
And then certainly the roadmaintenance that we've been
trying to be a little morestrategic and not just doing the
top surface of these roads, butthinking about what exists
underneath and how we would justbe more strategic in addressing
(11:47):
those issues.
So certainly, Dylan, Iappreciate your leadership at
the department and look forwardto continued success with you.
Speaker 00 (11:53):
Yep.
Speaker 01 (11:53):
Thank you.
Well, thanks for tuning in foranother podcast of the Tipton
Thrives podcast.
My name is Keegan Schmicker,Mayor of the City of Tipton, and
joined today by Dylan Dietrich,Superintendent of Municipal
Services Department.
Unknown (12:06):
Music
Hello, I'm Mayor Kegan Schmicker here with
our next episode of the TiptonThrives podcast.
And today I'm joined by DylanDietrich, superintendent of our
municipal services department.
Dylan, you joined us inNovember of 2024, new to this
role.
So I think first, let's talk alittle bit about you.
What is your background mostrecently before joining the city
(00:20):
of Tipton?
Speaker 00 (00:21):
Yeah, so before coming here, I worked for eight
and a half, nine years with theIndiana Department of
Transportation, GreenfieldDistrict.
Yeah.
I was a project supervisor,just managing multiple projects.
Most recent was the railroadbridge on 31 over the railroad
tracks.
Speaker 01 (00:39):
Ah, yeah, so the actual overpass over the
railroad, that was a projectthat you were leading or part of
that
Speaker 00 (00:45):
project?
I was assistant manager on thatproject.
Very good.
Speaker 01 (00:50):
So then you have a connection to Tipton, though.
So I think that was one of thepositives of your application
before joining us was that youalready lived here, right?
Speaker 00 (01:00):
Yep.
No, I was actually born inFlorida, moved to Indiana when I
was around five, and then Ispent most of my life here in
Tipton.
Very good.
Moved to Georgia for a fewyears while I was in high school
and decided to come back.
Speaker 01 (01:19):
Very good.
Well, certainly we've beenexcited with you joining the
team and I've been impressedwith some of the work already
from the department.
I think that's what we're goingto transition to next is the
municipal services, previouslyknown as the street department.
They really like the catch-allof departments for the city of
Tipton and just want to explorea little bit of that with you
(01:40):
because here we're getting readyto head into pool season and
you guys have been I think doingsome heavy lifting at the pool,
trying to get it ready foropening day.
And usually by now we wouldhave an opening day, but because
of the cooler weather, it'skind of delayed us a little bit.
But tell us maybe just brieflysome of the responsibilities you
guys help with on an annualbasis with the pool.
Speaker 00 (02:02):
Yeah, so we've had a pretty busy spring.
First off, we spend hours anddays pressure washing the pool,
getting it cleaned up from thewinter weather, the dirt.
getting a vac truck out here,vaccing out all the leaves.
And then once it's cleaned,then we still have to get the
(02:24):
pumps running, hang thesunshades.
We do a lot of work to get thepool going.
Speaker 01 (02:31):
Yeah, well, I appreciate that effort, and I'm
sure the kids of the townappreciate that too.
So moving on to our nextproject, Responsibility, I think
this is sort of a weeklyactivity for you guys, but yard
waste is a big responsibility,especially during what seems to
be the spring and the fall wherewe get a lot more of that
debris.
(02:51):
Certainly an activity thatcontinues to grow and we try to
manage, but we're trying to makesome efforts, I'd say, to help
make this a more efficient taskbecause we do have a small crew
and it's really quite easy forus to get behind and picking up
whether it's leaves or yarddebris limbs especially when
storms come through so what whatitems are we typically
(03:14):
collecting from homes in thealleys or along the sidewalks
where alleys don't exist fromfolks
Speaker 00 (03:21):
yeah so we we actually run yard waste five
days a week We're picking upanything from limbs to grass
clippings to leaves, anythingthat's really sat out by the
alley that we can pick up andtake out to the recycle center.
Speaker 01 (03:39):
Yeah, and I think that's one of the things we're
trying to work on is confining.
And I think even our ordinancestates that the items left yard
waste per tier should be in somekind of container.
And just as a community, we'vegotten away from that a little
bit.
And it's causing somedownstream issues, such as
clogging some of the drainsaround town.
And so we're trying to work onsome solutions, you and I, on
(04:01):
how do we address that.
So with that comes, we justtalked about the alleys, but
like yard waste, or not yardwaste, large item pickups.
So previously, the city ofTipton used to just pick up
trash in the alleys.
And a couple of years ago,there was a change where we now
were going to start chargingindividuals to pick up the large
(04:24):
item pickup.
So can you briefly run methrough what that process looks
like?
If an individual has a sofa ora mattress, How do they go about
making sure that thing getspicked up in the alley?
Speaker 00 (04:37):
Yeah, so for a large item pickup, you would either
come into the street department,500 Green Street, or you can
send a check in the mail to usor drop one off in our mailbox,
and we'll get it either the nextday or a couple days after.
But we pick up anything besidesconstruction material.
(05:00):
Okay.
Also, refrigerators becausethey have Freon.
We don't pick up those kind ofitems.
But anything else, it's $35 fora dump truck load.
It's not per item.
So, you know, anything up to adump truck load, $35, and we'll
come pick it up.
Speaker 01 (05:17):
Really?
So I'm cleaning out my garage,got a couple items or maybe a
lot of items.
So long as they fit in the dumptruck, $35 to haul it away.
That sounds like a pretty gooddeal.
Speaker 00 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (05:28):
Well, like I said, catch all for the city of
Tipton, but I think morespecific to the responsibilities
of your department includesroad maintenance, road projects,
and we've got a few going onright now.
And I think probably the mostobvious one is West Street.
So give us a quick update.
Where are we at with thisproject and maybe some of the
next couple steps as we headtoward completion of that
(05:50):
project?
Speaker 00 (05:51):
Yeah, so on West Street, we just got the water
main in, sanitized.
The water test came back good.
So this week we started puttingin service lines.
We're working our way toMadison on all the service
lines.
The estimate for that work istwo to three weeks and all the
(06:11):
service lines would be put in.
Once the service lines aredone, then we'll start digging
out the roadway and gettingready for paving.
Speaker 01 (06:19):
Very good.
So that last part of theprocess seems like we've been
waiting this entire project forit.
But in truth, we had to do whatwas underground first and then
work our way to the top surface.
Do you expect that building theroadway to last a couple weeks
or another month?
Or what do you think?
I mean, of course, all weatherdependent.
Speaker 00 (06:37):
Yeah, everything's weather dependent.
And that's kind of why thisproject's taken as long as it
has with all the rain that we'vegotten.
But once the service lines arecomplete...
I expect the subgrade treatmentto take roughly a week, no more
than two weeks, and then we'llget to paving and doing the
(07:00):
multi-use path on the east sideof the road.
That shouldn't take more than aweek itself.
Speaker 01 (07:05):
Yeah, so going back to the roadway, this is truly
going to be a reconstructedroad.
Is that right?
Speaker 00 (07:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 01 (07:13):
And I'm not aware...
Certainly there's been a roadthat's been reconstructed in the
city of Tipton previously, butthis has probably got to be one
of the very few that has beenreconstructed.
So this shouldn't, in theory,become the nicest street in the
city of Tipton because we aregoing to replace all that
subgrade material and recompactit and then add a new layer on
(07:34):
top.
Is that your estimation too?
Speaker 00 (07:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
With separating the...
The sanitary and storm sewer,it'll be one of the best
draining roads in the city ofTipton, along with it'll be one
of the strongest roads that wehave.
Speaker 01 (07:48):
Very good.
So we're doing a similarproject, not exactly, but
similar in some of the theoriesor strategies behind separating
the sewer and stormwater on EastStreet, right?
So we're trying to work ontimelines and getting that
pre-construction meetingscheduled.
So tell us maybe briefly aboutthat project.
Of course, it's not...
known yet, timelines and such,because we're still working on
(08:10):
that.
But again, the strategies arethe same, correct?
Speaker 00 (08:13):
Yeah, yeah, correct.
The next project, whichhopefully will break ground late
summer, early fall, it would beE Street, along with half a
block on Independence, and thenthe connecting...
Jackson Street from east toIndependence.
(08:34):
It looks kind of like abackwards H, but we'll be doing
the same thing.
We'll be putting new stormsewer in, new roadway.
The only difference is therewill not be a multi-use path on
that project.
It'll just be concretesidewalks like it is now.
Speaker 01 (08:50):
And again, with that, in that side of town,
maybe more specifically, atleast I've got pictures and
maybe you do too from residentswhere the water, the drainage is
so bad that the water actuallygets over the curbs in a heavy
rain event.
So I'm really looking forwardto seeing how that project
drains after it's completedbecause it does seem like these
(09:11):
two southern quadrants of thecity do have the worst drainage
in the city of Tipton becausethe other areas have been
somewhat addressed already inthe past.
But, again, the areas nearestthe creek seem to struggle.
And we're hopeful.
I think that's the strategyhere is that this separation
helps to improve that drainagein those areas.
Speaker 00 (09:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
And it will alleviate some ofthe water going to the water
treatment plant itself.
Correct.
With a lot of the city being ona combined system, all that
water goes out to the treatmentplant, and then they have to
treat it and do what they do.
Right.
Separating it, we can get ridof the rain runoff compared to
(09:53):
the sanitary.
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (09:54):
So East Street, maybe different than West
Street, where this was one shotwe got from Madison down to
South Street.
East Street's a littledifferent, right?
We think this is probably goingto be at least two phases,
could end up being three phases,because we're trying to get to
Madison and Independence.
Is that correct?
Speaker 00 (10:14):
Yeah, yeah.
It's going to be a multi-phaseproject just with– how expensive
everything is.
But we're also doing more thanjust one road.
We're doing, you know,Independence also, which is a
pretty poorly draining road onthe south end.
With all this rain we've had,we've been out there multiple
(10:38):
times cleaning those drains,keeping them clear, trying to
get that area to drain and notflood.
Speaker 01 (10:45):
Yeah, correct.
Unknown (10:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (10:47):
Correct.
So then there's another projectthat's happening in town,
though it's not a city project,but NDOT on East 28.
So we're going to have the roadshut down for a brief period of
time.
But as I understand, they'rewaiting for school to let out.
And in truth, maybe by the timethis podcast airs, the work
could actually be done.
But that's another projectwhere we're cooperating with
(11:08):
NDOT, trying to be good partnersand helpful in whatever way we
can.
But again, another projecttaking place.
Do you suspect that that wouldhave been a project you may have
worked on?
I
Speaker 00 (11:19):
think so.
If I would have stayed withNDOT, that would have probably
been one I would have been on.
Speaker 01 (11:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 00 (11:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 01 (11:26):
Well, I think that's all the questions I had for
you.
I think it's great the workthat the street department is
doing for the city as it relatesto yard waste and large item
pickup.
And then certainly the roadmaintenance that we've been
trying to be a little morestrategic and not just doing the
top surface of these roads, butthinking about what exists
underneath and how we would justbe more strategic in addressing
(11:47):
those issues.
So certainly, Dylan, Iappreciate your leadership at
the department and look forwardto continued success with you.
Speaker 00 (11:53):
Yep.
Speaker 01 (11:53):
Thank you.
Well, thanks for tuning in foranother podcast of the Tipton
Thrives podcast.
My name is Keegan Schmicker,Mayor of the City of Tipton, and
joined today by Dylan Dietrich,Superintendent of Municipal
Services Department.
Unknown (12:06):
Music
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