The Ellettsville, Indiana, Town Council met in regular session at 7:30 PM, Monday, February 10, 2003 at the Town Hall. David Sorokoty called the meeting to order and Ray Freetage led in prayer. David Drake 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; Lisa Combs-Creech, Geraldine McIntyre and Ray Freetage. Also present were Sandra Hash, Clerk-Treasurer and Mike Spencer, Attorney.
Supervisors Present Jim Davis, Mike Farmer, Jeff Farmer and Ron McGlocklin.
Appointments: Board of Zoning Appeals still needs 1 member (Democrat)
Approval of Minutes of
the regular meeting on January 27th and special session January 30th,
2003
Geraldine McIntyre moved to approve the minutes. David Drake seconded. Motion carried.
Action to pay Accounts
Payable Vouchers
Ray Freetage moved to approve the accounts payable vouchers. Lisa Combs-Creech seconded. Motion carried.
Resolutions
Rescind Resolution 03-03
Reimbursement of Fire Appropriation
Sandra Hash explained the resolution should be rescinded. The proper procedure would require an
ordinance and additional appropriation to reimburse the Fire Department. She spoke with Chief Jim Davis and he opted
to drop the request to reimburse the fire appropriation. Ray Freetage moved to rescind Resolution
03-03. Geraldine McIntyre
seconded. Motion carried.
Resolution 04-03
Cancellation of Warrants – old outstanding checks
Lisa Combs-Creech read the Resolution in its entirety. Sandra Hash explained most of the checks
were sewer and water refunds for small amounts. They were probably lost in the
mail. There was also one general fund
check for a small amount. State statue
instruct municipalities to void outstanding checks after two years. The following is the list of old checks to
be voided:
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Outstanding
check list |
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Date |
Check # |
Amount |
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Date |
Check # |
Amount |
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Water
Fund |
10/28/99 |
444 |
$ 30.00 |
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Sewer
Fund |
6/13/00 |
649 |
$ 2.24 |
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10/28/99 |
478 |
$ 30.00 |
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10/28/99 |
488 |
$ 4.83 |
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General
Fund |
1/25/00 |
874 |
$ 15.85 |
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6/13/00 |
930 |
$ 2.24 |
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8/15/00 |
1034 |
$ 16.97 |
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11/28/00 |
1195 |
$ 13.53 |
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11/28/00 |
1216 |
$ 3.44 |
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10/27/98 |
6695 |
$ 30.00 |
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1/26/99 |
6890 |
$ 30.00 |
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1/26/99 |
6891 |
$ 2.56 |
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Lisa Combs-Creech motioned to accept Resolution 04-03 cancellation of
warrants of old outstanding checks. Geraldine
McIntyre seconded. Motion carried.
New Business
Presentation by Hannum, Wagle
and Cline for new Police Station
Archie Maxwell with Hannum, Wagle and Cline
Engineering introduced himself and Greg Winkler. They have three offices in Indiana located in Terre Haute,
Scottsburg and Indianapolis. Mr.
Maxwell said approximately eight years ago their company began building
Community Centers, Police and Fire Stations.
He met Marshal Ron McGlocklin to
discuss the specifics the new station, which he said, would cost approximately
$800,000.
Mr. Winkler gave the presentation
hi-lighting the experience the company has in designing and building emergency
service buildings suggesting Hannum, Wagle and Cline would be a good choice to
build the Town a new Police Station.
They could design, build and finance the facility by leasing it back to
the Town. This process is called
“Design, Build, Lease Back” and would have the potential to save the Town money
as well as the ability to increase the Town’s financial flexibility. He explained, however, that it is difficult
for their company to take on any project under 1 million dollars and still be
beneficial for them. According to the
Town’s finances and building needs he suggested it might be more conceivable to
have a local firm work on this project such as Bynum Fanyo.
Mr. Winkler commented on renovating the old
elementary school building. According
to his knowledge of renovating projects, he said, the safer bet would be to
build a new facility because often times unknown expenses occur when
renovating.
Mr. Maxwell thanked the Council for
allowing their presentation. Mr.
Winkler closed by saying they are cautious about the projects they pick to work
on choosing the projects they can complete well because they have a reputation
to maintain for quality work.
Capacity Certification letter for Shadowwood Drive – Doug Graham
Mr. Graham said there are twenty-seven lots on Shadowwood Drive with
failing septic systems due to poor soil and small lots. He is proposing an E1 low-pressure septic
system to service this area. Each house
would have its own grinder pump, which would eliminate building a large lift
station and be more cost effective.
Eastern Richland is proposing to build the mains. They have held meetings to find out how many
residents are interested in hooking on to sewer instead of using their septic
systems. The more residents willing to
hook on to sewer the more cost effective it would be. The old septic systems would be bypassed not torn out.
Jeff Farmer said the E1 pressure systems are very reliable and have
been proven in several communities he’s looked at. There will be no infiltration.
These lines are sealed and if there is a fail in the line when the pump
kicks on then the sewage would come to the surface, the problem could be
located and repaired quickly.
There would be 3,820 gallons per day for these lots. Mr. Graham is requesting a capacity
certification letter.
David Drake made a motion to approve the capacity certification letter
for Meadow Estates as requested.
Geraldine McIntyre seconded.
Motion carried.
Employee request for unpaid family leave
Police Officer Alva Bohall requested an unpaid family medical leave to
care for his father. The leave is for
up to 12 work weeks starting on March 19th, 2003. Geraldine McIntyre made a motion to approve
the medical leave for Alva Bohall. Lisa
Combs-Creech seconded. Motion carried.
Privilege of the Floor
Ed Bitner – 430 Main
Street
He asked if the Council Board was going to
zone Main Street as commercial when it opens up for through traffic? David Sorokoty said this issue was given to
Planning and Zoning and he thought it would be a good idea to pursue zoning it
commercial. He also suggested that Ed
should speak to that Board for further information.
Ed’s other issue was personal saying that
in the early 1990’s he protested the acceptance of building permits for housing
additions built in Ellettsville because he felt it could cause major flooding
in the downtown area because the area is below sea level. The additions were approved and built, and
then it flooded in 1993 and 1995.
During these meetings when he protested he was interrupted and his
comments were ignored but in fact he was correct in assuming it would worsen
the flooding. Ed pointed out the same
thing had recently occurred again during the meeting on January 30th
about the old elementary school. He was
representing The House of Prayer church when he was questioning the Board about
the issue when he was rudely interrupted and he in turn acted rudely. He does not retract his words because they
were based on facts but said he had stated things poorly and not very Christian
like. Therefore, he wanted to publicly
ask the Board, specifically David Sorokoty for their forgiveness.
David Sorokoty said since the old
school topic was brought up that the Board would take any comments. Since Rick Coppock had to compile a
short notice feasibility study on the school because of the time frame schedule
that it was likely that several things might have been missed. There is no way the Town can support the
purchase of the old school. He’s concerned that it will become an eyesore
unless someone takes the initiative soon to purchase and renovate the
property.
Lisa Combs-Creech agreed
with David that it was not feasible for the Town to buy the school but
commented that she started out with a positive view and wanted to look at the
glass as half full. After looking into
the situation more closely this last week she feels there are holes in the
glass and now it’s empty in her view.
She invited Robinson Construction Company to tonight’s meeting because
they are also interested in the school and have ideas for it.
David Drake said
early on he was questioned why the Town didn’t purchase the old school building
and he wondered the same but now he realizes after looking at the figures and
details that the Town can’t afford it or take on that big of a
responsibility. Hopefully someone will
buy it, make good use of it and it will be put on the tax rolls which will in
turn benefit the Town.
Beth Robinson who
represents Robinson Construction stated they were interested in purchasing the
old school building and encouraged input from the Town.
Ray Freetage stated
he still thinks it’s a great idea for the Town to own the school property but
can’t in good conscience vote for spending so much money on this project. It would be more than the Town could handle
financially. He hopes that someone will
improve the property with a good idea and not just demolish the building.
Supervisor’s comments
Jim Davis presented
the annual Fire and Building Report for 2002 to the Council. The Fire Department responded to 1127 calls
for the year. He pointed out a big
event that took 389 man-hours was for the tornado disaster in September. The Building Department issued 81 permits
for the year, which is significantly more than have been issued in the last few
years.
Geraldine McIntyre said
she’s been concerned about the Senior Citizens Housing needing an alternative
route to make it easier on the senior’s to get to their homes instead of using
the new highway on Main Street, which will be extremely busy with traffic. She has spoken with Rick Coppock about
designing a new road off of Matthews Drive that would face McNeely Street. Rick, she and the Senior Citizens’ Housing
Board met with John and Elizabeth Davis who own the property next to the Senior
Housing addition. Carson Hayes, Marian
Jacobs and Dennis Fisher were all at the meeting. The Davis’ have donated twenty feet of their land to the Town for
a new road. John said he might donate
another five feet if the Town constructs a sidewalk. Thank you is extended to the Davis’ for their generosity. The road will cost approximately $29,400 and
the Town will perform in kind services for the road. She spoke with Vi Simpson and there might be some money available
to fund this project, she will know after tomorrow. Rick has to complete the road design and get John’s approval before
we can proceed. John will voluntarily
annex that area into the Town as well.
It will be a two-lane road allowing travel in both directions and it
would dead end.
David Sorokoty asked
for dates that everyone is available for the next work session, Monday or
Thursday is preferable. It was
suggested to be on Thursday, February 27th, 2003.
Adjournment
David Sorokoty asked
for a motion to adjourn. Lisa
Combs-Creech made a motion to adjourn.
Geraldine McIntyre seconded.
Meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:38 p. m.
_____________________________ __________________________
David Sorokoty, President David Drake, Vice President
_____________________________ __________________________
Lisa Combs-Creech Ray Freetage
_____________________________ __________________________
Geraldine McIntyre Sandra C. Hash, Clerk-Treasurer