May 29, 2002

The Ellettsville Town Council met in special session at 7:00 PM, Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at the Town Hall. David Sorokoty called the meeting to order.

Members present were David Sorokoty, President, David Drake, Vice President, Geraldine McIntyre, and Jerry Pittsford. Also present were Amber Ragle, Deputy Clerk-Treasurer and Deborah Hudson, Administrative Assistant to the Council. Michael Cornman arrived at 7:03 PM.

David Sorokoty said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the relocation of the Police Department. He explained the situation of the flood on May 12, 2002 and the estimated damages are around $78,000. David said we now have an estimate of $13,000 on the roof damage at the Town Hall building.

David gave a summary of the facts of this situation. He tried to declare it a disaster hoping to recoup some of the money that would need to be spent in relocating the police department. He said that according to FEMA the Town does not qualify for disaster relief, but that the entire County has to qualify and in order for that to happen, the dollar loss that must be reached has to be $1.60 per citizen ($200,000) throughout the County in order to declare a disaster to receive relief funds. John Hooker, Director of Monroe County Emergency Management called David Sorokoty and said FEMA had called him and said they wanted to look at the Police Department at 1:00 pm. After seeing the damage in the County, the county said they had about 15 roads under water, 2 bridges that they do not know the extent of the damage, DNR stated they had damage at Lake Monroe but were doing the work in house, but FEMA said they would count that damage as well, and the Town’s damage has increased by adding the Town Hall roof damage so maybe we might reach the $200,000 in the county. If the county as a whole reaches that amount, then the Federal Government will pay 75% of the damages, the State will pay 12.5% of the damages and the Town would be responsible for paying the remaining 12.5% of the damages.

He said the Police Departments needs a new permanent location for various reasons including safety because of health hazards and for economical reasons due to all of the repairs needed. David said the Town owns two parcels of land that may be considered for their new location. One is on Matthews Drive by the Utilities which already is cleared off and other is the Water Tower site on the west side of town, which would need to be cleared off in order to build on. Dave spoke to Mike Farmer with Utilities and Mike said he believes he will need the land on Matthews Drive to expand in the future for the Utilities and Street Departments. Mike told Dave that if the Police were to relocate on the west side of Town, the Utilities would be able to clear the property in house, saving on cost. A couple options are available, as far as a building is concerned. One is a modular unit with a lease to own option and the other is an aluminum building to be built using a lease to own option. Dave said if we did get the money from FEMA, then the money would go into the General Fund and we would be able to disperse it how the Town sees appropriate.

His personal opinion is that the Police Station should be relocated to the west side of Town. David then opened the topic to the Council for discussion and everyone’s input.

Mike Cornman - Suggested having some preliminary plans drawn up for a building to get an idea of the cost and see where to move forward from there based on their needs and the cost.

David Drake - Said his preference has always been to have a combined public safety operations that includes both the Fire and Police Departments on the same land, but not necessarily in the same building. He suggested building a new Police Station on the Love Property that the Town purchased for the Fire Department now and get the Fire relocated on the same property in the future. He also suggested placing the Police Department on the old sewer treatment property. His concern about the water tower property is it would be a good place for a park, because we don’t have much park land in town. He doesn’t want all the departments spread out all over town in different locations. We need to find out costs about different types of buildings before we decide on which one to buy.

Jerry Pittsford – Stated that the water tower property is not a very good short-term solution because it is not very viable, and long-term, it would be a good place for a park. As far as the old sewer plant location, it would be a good short-term location to place a building there that could be absorbed into the use that the Street & Utility Department’s long-term plans include. It keeps them close to the downtown area. As for a long term location, 20 or more years, wants to see something visible traveling on one or both of the one way pair, because when people come into Ellettsville and see the police cars sitting there, they have a tendency to put their brakes on a little more readily and slow down. They see the 30 mph speed limit is enforced. He stated that he is extremely reluctant to put police back in their old building. He thinks that is not a very good option. The other council members agreed that they don’t even see that as an option at all.

Geraldine McIntyre – Said the old well property would be good, because we could go in there and clear off the frontage for now and put them there. She said it wasn’t the best idea, but is a quick fix for right now. She would not like to see a building put out on Matthews Drive because the Street & Utility Departments have plans for that. She asked if anyone considered the Shook House that the Town is buying.

David Sorokoty said they haven’t looked at that and is not sure if it is secure from flooding.

David Sorokoty recapped the priorities and suggestions that were given: We know we are going to relocate. We need to choose a property. We are going to have to do studies on what type of building would be most effective and the costs associated. He reminded everyone this needs to be done with haste, because of the rent payment on the trailer. It is not good to have police department working out of a trailer for logistic purposes.

Mike Cornman and David Sorokoty agreed a time limit is needed so there is no delay. David Sorokoty wants a council member, Deborah Hudson and Ron McGlocklin checking on types of buildings, costs, how they are financed, lease options and down payment information. With three different groups of people working on it, we should arrive at a solution relatively fast.

Ron McGlocklin said they have the trailer rented for 3 months and have been it for one half a month. David said if we use one half a month to find a building, there would be 2 months of rent remaining.

Ron McGlocklin - Thinks the council should discuss the design and space needed for the police department. He doesn’t think an FHA home type structure is big enough. David Sorokoty said that was not what was being proposed for a 20-year outlook. He would like to work with Rick Coppock to draw something up for comparison purposes to use when talking to different companies to find out accurate costs. This will be a one-time thing, so we need to look 20 years down the road and ask where Ellettsville will be and how many police officers there will be. If you have 15+ officers, you can’t put them in a 1,200 square foot building. David Sorokoty said the town can’t put the police department in a building like they want now, so what about getting an aluminum building and using it for now with the possibility of adding on later when it is needed.

Mike Cornman said he wants the council to do their best to adopt some sort of fiscal plan where we will vote to continue on when funds are available. David Sorokoty agreed.

David Drake wanted to know what was going on currently with the old station. They stated the floors have been mopped and fans were placed to dry the station out. David Sorokoty said they toured it today and there was mold on the walls and it stinks pretty badly.

Public Comments – Karla Frownfelter asked about how the Town Hall roof got damaged and David Sorokoty explained it was wind and rain and noted that it is a structurally flat roof. Rob Hunter thanked the council for making this happen. It is unfortunate how it came about, but it is important that the police department achieve more autonomy than they have had. David Drake said the reason it has never happened in the past is because of the cost, but now it has to be done. David Sorokoty said if it is done smartly, financially we can figure out a way for it to

be done. Jerry Pittsford said the fire department purchased the Love Land and it would be ill advised to put the police department there and tell the fire department to work around them. John Davis encouraged the council to take their time to make an informed decision and not make a mistake that could cost taxpayers a lot of money in the long run. General comments came from other citizens. Jay Humphrey knows the town owns the land where they currently are on Matthews Drive, and wanted to know if there is room for police department and Street and Utility departments because excavation would be minimal. That location would be close to the new one-way pair in town and is a good site. No final decision was made on what property would be the best decision, and a committee was formed to gather ideas and draw plans for a building. There will be discussion at the next meeting based on the findings of the committee.

In the conclusion of the meeting, the council decided to form a committee of David Sorokoty, Geraldine McIntyre, Deborah Hudson, Ron McGlocklin and Rick Coppock to get a plan ready to present to different companies or builders. They will meet tomorrow May 30, 2002 at Town Hall at 3:30 pm.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:40 PM.

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David Sorokoty, President David Drake, Vice-President

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Mike Cornman Jerry Pittsford

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Geraldine McIntyre Amber Ragle, Deputy Clerk-Treasurer