Special Session to fill vacancy
The Ellettsville, Indiana, Town Council met in special
session at 6:40 PM, Monday, August 26, 2002 at the Town Hall to fill the
vacancy on the Council. The two
candidates were Darlyne Sowder and Ray Freetage. David asked if there was anyone else. No one else was mentioned.
David asked for discussion on the matter. Geraldine McIntyre nominated Ray Freetage and Mike Cornman
seconded. Motion carried 3-1 with David
Drake voting no. David Sorokoty said they
look forward to working with Ray. David
Drake explained why he voted no. He
said that it was nothing against Mr. Freetage, but he wasn’t aware that there
was another candidate besides Darlyne.
He thinks that Darlyne has been very involved in what the Town
does. David Sorokoty asked if Mr.
Freetage would start at tonight’s meeting and Mike Cornman pointed out that he
would need to be sworn in first.
Meeting adjourned at 6:44 PM.
Budget
pre-adoption hearing
The pre-adoption hearing started at 7:00 PM. David Sorokoty asked if the paperwork was
there for the final budget. Sandra Hash
explained that the paperwork was there, but this was basically just a comment
time for the public if there were any objections, and she could look up the
information if there were any questions.
Karla asked if the final budget was ready and Sandy said that it is
ready. David Sorokoty said the
highlight out of the budget was for the Employees. Every full-time employee got a $1,266.00 raise, which was derived
from 3% of the supervisors pay. Some
employees, such as the patrolmen were as low as $27,000 and the Council brought
them up to $31,600. David said the
raises were good for a couple reasons:
The Town didn’t want to be a “training ground or proving ground” for other
municipalities or the County and the Town needed to make a commitment to their
employees and through this budget, they are doing that. Secondly, this budget allows the Council to
give an increment raise of 3% or 4% from here on and it will affect all employees
the same. He thinks it is very
important to have salaries aligned in the Town. He said that this budget really reflects the Council’s commitment
to the employees, which are the backbone of the Town. There were no comments from the public and the meeting adjourned
at 7:05 PM.
Regular
Session
The Ellettsville, Indiana, Town Council met in regular
session at 7:30 PM, Monday, August 26, 2002 at the Town Hall. David Sorokoty called the meeting to order
and Ray Freetage led in prayer.
Geraldine McIntyre led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll
Call
David Sorokoty asked for roll
call of the Council Members. Members present were David Sorokoty,
President; David Drake, Vice-President; Mike Cornman, Ray Freetage and
Geraldine McIntyre. Also present was
Sandra Hash, Clerk-Treasurer and Mike Spencer, Town Attorney.
Supervisors Present
Jim Davis, Jim Ragle, Ron McGlocklin, Mike Farmer and Jeff
Farmer.
Approval
of Minutes of the meetings on August 12, 2002 and August 14, 2002
Mike Cornman moved to approve the minutes. David Drake seconded. Motion carried 5-0.
Action
to pay Accounts Payable Vouchers
Geraldine McIntyre moved to approve the accounts
payable vouchers. David Drake
seconded. Motion carried 5-0.
Resolutions None
Ordinances on First Reading
Ordinance
02-17 creating a separate fund to retain 5% of the Cassady Electric contracted
expense
David Drake read Ordinance 02-17 by title. Sandra explained they were doing the
underground connections for the hook-ups downtown in conjunction with the
Highway 46 project. Indiana Code
dictates that we retain 5% of the cost until the job is completed. Cassady’s invoice has the 5% earmarked that
we put in a savings account in their name each time we receive an invoice. When the project is completed to everyone’s
satisfaction, the money in the savings account will be given to Cassady
Electric. David Sorokoty added that the
hook-ups are at no cost to the homeowner or business owners.
Ordinances on Second Reading None
Old Business
American
Legal Publishing – updating the Ellettsville Town Code
David Drake made a motion to approve the contract
with American Legal Publishing. Mike
Cornman seconded. Sandra explained that
some of the concerns that were raised before have been addressed through
American Legal Publishing. They agreed
not to exceed $8,950 for the project, regardless of how large the project might
be. That will include the new personnel
ordinance and the planning and zoning ordinance. They waived the provisions pertaining to the copyright of the
Code. The Town will still retain all
copyrights. Future supplements will not
raise for the first two years after delivery of the new Code. The minutes are not included in this
proposal. Ray Freetage asked what the
cost would be after the first two years.
Sandra responded by saying that the cost will be $19.00 per page for
single column, or $23.00 per page for double column. The double column would be the most feasible, because you would
get more text on double column. After
two years, the price could increase based on the price index. Geraldine McIntyre asked if Sandra checked
with any other companies. Sandra said
she had received a proposal from Municipal Code Corporation, but American Legal
Publishing was less expensive. Geraldine
said that Deborah had done a lot of checking and found that Lafayette had
ceased using American Legal Publishing.
Geraldine asked why we stopped using Mr. Palmer. Sandra said he has not communicated with the
town since the last update. Geraldine
questioned why SPEA at IU couldn’t do it.
David Sorokoty said if you would average it out at $25.00/hour (not even
a professional fee), it would only be 320 hours of work at the price American
Legal Publishing quoted. David feels
that we are getting our dollars worth, and feels like it needs to be done. Geraldine agreed that it needed to be
done. Sandra said her office is not
able to compare the Town’s Code to Indiana Code to make sure references are
correct and there are no contradictions, and that is what we are paying
for. American Legal Publishing will go
through the Town Code and fine tune it.
Some ordinances were done several years ago and American Legal will
direct us on how to update those properly and put Code references in, so we are
in compliance with Indiana Code. Mike
Cornman asked what the original price was and Sandra said it was the same price
($8,950), but there was some clarification made as to what would be done for
that price. Sandra added that the
person that takes care of Monroe County’s Code if a full-time employee and she
said keeping the Code updated and in order takes about 75% of her time. 75% of her wage is $17,160, so an $8,950 one-time fee is a bargain. Sandra said that this would add a level of
professionalism that we currently do not have.
She added that American Legal Publishing has customers all over the
United States. David Drake said he
thought it would be a mistake to have an outside company do the minutes. He thinks that the
Town could do it.
Karla asked if current ordinances are checked to make sure they are in
compliance with Indiana Code. Mike
Spencer responded that everything done recently has been checked for
compliance, but Indiana Code changes frequently and no one goes back to check
the old ordinances. Geraldine asked
what we paid Mr. Palmer. Sandra said
the last time he updated the full Code was in 1997 and it cost $5,600. David Drake asked if the money has already
been encumbered. Sandra replied
yes. David Sorokoty asked for a
vote. Motion carried 4-1 with Geraldine
voting no.
New Business
Street Lighting
Presentation, Matt Lawrence from Cassady Electric
Geraldine McIntyre presented the Council with maps prepared by Cassady
Electric showing the proposed location of all the streetlights on Temperance
Street and Main Street. Matt explained
that the selection was exactly what Downtown Bloomington has on the
square. He also explained the lighting
parameters and symbols on the map.
Pricing was not included. There will be a bidding process at a later
date. Mike Cornman expressed concerns
about light pollution.
Matt also reported the underground connections to
the properties along Main and Temperance Streets were approximately 40%
complete.
Group
Health Insurance Renewal
David Drake made a motion to approve the Group
Health Insurance renewal. Sandra
explained that the Town changed from Starmark to Anthem in 2001 and this
renewal is with Anthem. The cost increase
is 14% and Council approval is needed to renew with Anthem. Employees have not complained about the
insurance. Ray Freetage asked how much
the insurance is now. Mike said Anthem
is much better than Starmark and it is worth renewing. Ron McGlocklin said what we have now is
better than what we had previously.
Sandra answered Ray’s question that the monthly premium is $11,383.47
and it will renew at $12,970.00 per month.
She said our insurance is age-rated and there is a breakdown in the
Council members packets. The Town pays
80% of the monthly premium and the employee pays 20% (10% per pay). Ray Freetage seconded. Motion carried 4-0 with Mike Cornman
abstaining. Sandra said Regina from the
May Agency asked if the Council wanted to pursue flood insurance on the fire
station and if the Council wanted to increase the umbrella amount of $1
Million. Sandra said there is a
breakdown in the binder that Regina passed out. Flood insurance at the fire station would be an additional $4,627
annually with a $1,000 deductible. If
the Council decided to increase the umbrella from $1 Million to $2 Million, it
would be $3,500 annually. If it is
increased to $3 Million, it would be $5,250 annually, and an increase to $4
Million would be $6,100 annually. These
amounts were not budgeted for in the 2003 budget. David Sorokoty said he thinks
it is something that needs to be discussed at another meeting. He would like to get Jim Davis’ input on the
flood insurance before proceeding.
Insurance
settlement for Police Station and Equipment
Sandra explained that the insurance company paid all
the losses at 50%, so the total paid will be $30,219.62 minus the $5,000 that
has already been given to the Town.
This amount will be to cover the loss of the building, the rental of the
trailer, the hook-up of the electricity in the trailer and the office
equipment, computers and radios, basically all of the loss abstained from the
water damage in May. David Sorokoty
asked Ron McGlocklin if they estimated $78,000 in loss. Ron said yes. David doesn’t understand where the $30,219.62 came from. He thought that this
number sounded low. Sandra tried to explain where the numbers came from. Mike Cornman asked if the Council is
supposed to approve this. Sandra said
that Andy wanted the Council to be in agreement, and if they were, he would cut
the check. David Sorokoty would like to
table this discussion and get a meeting set up between Mr. Frye, himself and
Ron McGlocklin. He doesn’t feel their
starting points are the same. Sandra
agreed to call Mr. Frye and set up a meeting.
Ed Bitner asked why the insurance was only paying at 50%. Sandra replied the Town doesn’t have flood
insurance, but half of the damage was from sewer backup.
Privilege of the Floor
Betty Pierson would like to talk to the Council
about a summer sewage rate. She said
she has requested a Special Meter in the past and the office has been very
helpful, but she is not allowed to get a Special Meter, but her neighbor has
one. She said the reason she was asking
about a summer sewage rate or the possibility of one was because she had
managed a utility office 25 years ago, and they could put in a calculation for
three months for a summer sewage rate.
She did major yard work this summer and her bill last month was around
$90.00 and this month it was $133.45.
Her normal bill is around $50.00 a month, and she knows the water is not
going through the sewer. She was told
that she could get a water-only meter installed, and the cost would be between
$250.00 and $400.00. She thinks that it
would be more cost-effective to have a program change, instead of someone
coming out to install a water meter, someone coming out to read it and then
uninstall it during the winter. It
seems like a lot of labor cost. She
thinks it is a lot to pay for water running on the ground, not into the sewer.
Mike Farmer said that they could look into a
summer rate, but they would have to run it by their advisors for any kind of
rate increase or change in the rates.
For every action, there is a reaction.
Because of their customer base, which is mainly residential, he is
afraid that it would affect revenues and would probably have to raise winter
rates. For the benefit of some, it
would affect all. There is the option to get a sprinkler system for their yard
or garden with the water-only meters.
Special Meters were a good idea for a year or two, but it is not a good
idea any longer. It will not integrate
with our touch-read system and can’t be made to integrate. There are about 500 special meters out there
now and they are not giving any more out.
It adds 20-25% workload to the billing staff making manual deductions
for the Special Meters. We bill for
Eastern Richland Sewer Corporation and Northern Richland Sewer Corporation, add
to that Ellettsville Water and Sewer billings and manual deductions being
entered into the system for Special Meters it is a tremendous workload on our
staff. David Sorokoty asked if it was
possible that they make a Special Meter that could be touch-read. Mike said if you have a water-only meter
installed next to your residential meter, it would be touch-read. We do have customers that have water-only
meters, so there is an avenue. David
Sorokoty asked if the office could stay in contact with Mrs. Pierson to let her
know if there will be a change for next summer. Mike said there is something available now. David asked what the cost was. Mike said around $240.00 for a 5/8” meter.
He would get the Council a packet that has some numbers in it for them to look
at to get something in ordinance form.
Ray Freetage asked how the water-only meter compared to the Special
Meter. Mike explained how a Special
Meter worked, but said there are ways to abuse it. Sandra asked if there would be a minimum bill on the water-only
meter. Mike said it would have to be
considered and he can’t answer that right now.
Mike said he would advise anybody that thought they needed a water-only
meter to really look at their usage to see if it would be advantageous.
Betty Pierson doesn’t think anyone should have to
pay $240.00 for a water-only meter. She
doesn’t understand why we have all of this, when you could just do a three or
four month calculation for summer sewage.
She doesn’t think anyone has even discussed the possibility of summer
sewage. David Sorokoty said to give
them a chance to look into it further.
Supervisor’s Comments
Jim Davis explained the Mutual Aid agreement and
said Mike Spencer has already looked over it, and the Council all have a copy
of it. This agreement is for mutual aid
between the fire departments in Monroe County and it allows for a termination
of the agreement, what to do if one department requests personnel and the
liability issues, command structure, yearly reports of equipment that each
department has so everyone knows what the others have if they need something
specific they can call that department.
It is mainly so everyone is on the same page. It has been several years since this agreement has been updated. It is countywide. With the events of September 11th, we are better
prepared in case anything was to happen.
Geraldine McIntyre moved to accept the County Mutual Aid Agreement and
Jim Davis would be allowed to sign for the Council. Ray Freetage seconded.
Motion carried 4-0 with Mike Cornman abstaining.
Sandra
Hash requested permission to attend the IACT Conference on September 17, 2002
for Municipal Day. She also asked if
Amber would be able to go. Geraldine
said that Deborah would be in the office that day. Mike Cornman made a motion to approve the Clerk-Treasurer and
Deputy Clerk-Treasurer going to school September 17, 2002. Geraldine McIntyre seconded. Motion carried 5-0.
Geraldine
McIntyre said that she gave each Council member a letter and would like a
response back to it. David asked for
clarification on who needed to respond and what kind of response she
wanted. Geraldine said she wanted a
response from the Council and what the letter pertained to. Geraldine said she
didn’t need it tonight, but did want a response from the Council members to the
letter they received from her.
Ray Freetage
wanted to thank the Council for allowing him to participate with them on the
duties of the Council. David Sorokoty
said he came highly recommended and looked forward to working with him.
David
Sorokoty said he would be attending the INDOT meeting in Seymour on August 29,
2002.
Adjournment
David Sorokoty asked for a
motion to adjourn. Geraldine McIntyre
moved for adjournment. David Drake
seconded. Meeting was adjourned at 8:29
PM
_____________________________ __________________________
David Sorokoty, President David Drake, Vice President
_____________________________ __________________________
Mike Cornman Ray
Freetage
_____________________________ __________________________
Geraldine McIntyre Sandra
C. Hash, Clerk-Treasurer