The Ellettsville, Indiana, Town Council met in special session at 6:30 PM, Monday, March 10, 2003 at the Town Hall prior to the regular Council Meeting. David Sorokoty called the meeting to order.
Topic of Discussion: Presentation by H. J. Umbaugh & Associates about financial planning for the Town.
Mr. John Seever and Kathy Raver represented H. J. Umbaugh. Mr. Seever gave a summary of the services they have performed for the Ellettsville Utilities office and referenced projects they have been involved with for other Towns and Cities stating that I. A. C. T. has chosen to employ their financial services as well. H. J. Umbaugh has been in business for 53 years and has extensive experience is financial matters with a broad scope of clientele. They have three offices, one in Indianapolis, one in Plymouth, Indiana and one in Lansing, Michigan.
Ms. Raver gave examples of capital project plans they have composed for the cities of Princeton and Shelbyville and explained what they are proposing for Ellettsville. She explained that a Capital Comprehensive Plan should be developed first to review what projects the Town needs. Meetings with Council Members and Department Supervisors would be necessary to determine each entities budgets, goals and to make sure there are no conflicting ideas for projects. She discussed funding possibilities such as issuing bonds for capital improvements explaining that outstanding debts and future projects costs would be looked at as well as the cost impact to the taxpayers.
Mr. Seever mentioned several meetings would be needed from draft to final stage to develop a Capital Comprehensive Plan for Ellettsville. He closed by saying it would take approximately 45 to 60 days to design a plan for the Town and it would cost between $7,500 to $10,000 dollars.
David Sorokoty said there would be a special session later this week to discuss the proposals from Financial Solutions Group, Inc. and H. J. Umbaugh & Associates to determine which Financial Planner would best suit Ellettsville’s needs. Ray Freetage stated that the Council has an idea of what needs to be done but they need guidance, pointing out that was the reason for deciding to hire a financial planner. The Council agreed that not doing something could be more harmful to the Town than moving forward and that now is the time to start planning out Ellettsville’s financial future. David Sorokoty closed the meeting at 6:56 p. m.
The Ellettsville, Indiana, Town Council met in regular session at 7:30 PM, Monday, March 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: Deputy Chief Mike Cornman represented Jim Davis, Jim Ragle, Ron McGlocklin and Mike Farmer.
Appointments:
Denise Knell was appointed as the Democrat to
fill the vacancy on the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Rick Coppock was appointed as the designated
MS4 storm water manager.
Approval of Minutes of
the regular meeting on February 24, 2003 and special session on February 27,
2003
Ray Freetage moved to approve the February 24th and February
27th minutes. Lisa
Combs-Creech seconded. Motion carried.
Action to pay Accounts
Payable Vouchers
Geraldine McIntyre moved to approve the accounts payable vouchers. David Drake seconded. Motion carried.
Resolutions
Resolution 05-03 to adopt a
written fiscal plan and to establish a policy for the provision of Town
services to an annexed area (Chester and Betty Martin property at 5323 N. Union
Valley Road)
David Drake read by title. Chester Martin explained that he had met with Rick Coppock, Sandra Hash and the Planning Board. He also has notified the property owners near his property and the driveway has been approved. It is 3.75 acres that will be divided up into 10 parcels. David Drake explained that the property was 45.8% contiguous with the Town’s boundaries, which is more than sufficient and is currently zoned Rural Reserve Agricultural by the County. The Plan Commission recommended it be rezoned R-1 and there will be no additional costs or requirements to the Town to annex this property. The Town’s current services will be sufficient to handle the additional property. David Drake moved to adopt Resolution 05-03. Ray Freetage seconded. Motion carried.
Ordinances on First Reading
Ordinance 03-02 annexation
of adjacent and contiguous territory to the Town of Ellettsville
David Drake read by title introducing Ordinance 03-02. The property, which is 3.75 acres is owned by Chester and Betty Martin. David Drake explained that the Plan Commission Board recommended zoning the area R-1. For voting purposes the property will be in ward 4.
New Business
Request to extend lease agreement for an additional year with Holt
Equipment for the excavator.
Mike Farmer explained that the original lease agreement on the
excavator with Holt Equipment was for 2 years for Utilities projects in
conjunction with INDOT’s State Highway
46 construction but it is taking longer than anticipated to finish the projects
and they still need the equipment. Holt
has agreed to extend the lease for an additional 12 months. Mike requested the Council approve extending
the lease. Geraldine McIntyre made a motion
to extend the lease agreement with Holt Equipment for 12 months. David Drake seconded. Motion carried.
Capacity Certification / Allocation letter from Prominence Homes, Inc.
Rick Coppock explained that this is a request to update a previous
acceptance. In 1998 the Town gave
Melvin and Verbia Sutherlin a capacity certification letter giving them
permission to build Deerfield subdivision on Thomas Road. The property has been sold and the new
owner’s engineers are requesting a new capacity certification letter for the
property; which is already on Ellettsville’s sewer. It is 30 acres with 96 homes, which would be approximately 310
gallons per home a day. David Drake reiterated
that when capacity letters are requested that it is not the
hooking on of new houses that is the problem but, the hooking on of new
houses on lines that have serious problems with in-flow and infiltration
problems that matters.
In this case there is not a problem.
David Drake made a motion to approve the capacity certification /
allocation letter for Prominence Homes.
Geraldine McIntyre seconded.
Motion carried.
Animal Management report from Karla Frownfelter
Karla represented Ellettsville at the last Animal Control meeting,
which was March 3rd, 2003.
She received statistics on how many calls they have received and of
those calls how many were from Ellettsville.
In January they received 212 calls in the County, 30 were from
Ellettsville. In February they received
122 calls and 12 were from Ellettsville.
They also discussed creating a new animal control ordinance for Monroe
County. The Board is currently
reviewing other counties animal control ordinances. The Council questioned whether the 42 calls from Ellettsville
were confirmed as in the Town limits.
Karla said she would research this and get back with more
information. The Council thanked and
commended her for the report.
Announcement
Hoosier Environment Council Action Fund will be canvassing door-to-door
in Ellettsville during the month of March – Canvassers will be allowed to go
door-to-door until 9:00 p. m.
Privilege of the Floor
Darlyne Sowder, Co-chair
of the Citizens for State Highway 46 Improvement Committee, a group dedicated
to improving Highway 46, announced that either March 13th or 15th
Temperance Street will be closed for two-way traffic. It will be open for local traffic only for approximately one
year. Main Street will be open to
two-way traffic. Ellettsville
businesses will be open during this time and eager to serve their customers. Signs will be posted to show people how to
access the businesses using Vine and Association Streets. Hoosier Outdoor Advertising is donating a
billboard to help get the word out that Ellettsville is not closing down.
Ed Bitner asked Jim Ragle
if the Street Department would still be able to pickup brush on Main
Street. Jim said the Street Department
would start at the end of March or beginning of April picking up brush. Jim requested the brush be piled in the
residence’s yard and not on the sidewalk or protruding into the street. Ed also suggested the Town of Ellettsville
impose an ordinance prohibiting the use of jake brakes in the town limits.
Supervisor’s comments
Mike Farmer reported the Utilities crews are currently
working on Temperance Street. They are starting to replace sewers. They will also be working in Monroe County
Library parking lot. He emphasized the
library will still be open and accessible.
He also said the Utilities would like to replace a nine year old pick up
truck. He has quotes from both Royal Chevrolet and Curry GMC. They will be trading in or selling the
pickup they now have. Ray Freetage
questioned which truck would be sold.
The new truck will be for the foreman Brian Miller. It will be a ½ ton king cab to allow storage
inside the truck. He currently has a ¾
ton truck, which will be outfitted with a dump bed and placed in the
construction fleet. The truck they are
replacing has 85,000 miles, 6 cylinders, and two-wheel drive. It is not suited for utility work. It can’t be used off road. The Utilities would like to use a 5-7 year
replacement plan for trucks. The purchases are spread out to no more than 2 per
year. It will be white with an
Ellettsville insignia and appropriate flashers.
The price for a truck at Royal is
$27,167. The price at Curry GMC is
$23,166.59. David Drake pointed out
that Curry is within the Ellettsville Town limits.
David Drake moved to approve the Utility
Departments purchase of a ½ ton, 4 wheel drive pick up truck from Curry
GMC. Geraldine McIntyre seconded the
motion, motion passed.
Geraldine McIntyre moved to declare the 94
GMC surplus properties. Lisa Creech
seconded, motion carried.
Ron McGlocklin made the request
to fill the vacancy created by AJ Bohall’s family leave, which starts on March
19, 2003. There is a capable Reserve
Deputy Marshal who has completed the 40-hour pre basic, domestic violence
training, blood borne pathogens, hazmat training and completed all the programs
given by the department. The candidate is
Russell Harris. He would be considered
temporary fulltime with no benefits for the twelve weeks of Officer Bohall’s
leave. He would work Bohall’s shift.
Ray Freetage made the motion to hire
Russell and put him to work when necessary.
David Drake seconded, motion passed.
David Drake asked about employee benefits
during a leave. Sandra explained the
leave was an unpaid family leave, and therefore his benefits would also be
suspended during the leave. He could
pay the full amount of the insurance himself and retain coverage during the
leave. Ron confirmed Officer Bohall was
advised on the insurance.
Rick Coppock as Designated
Storm Water Manager requested permission form the Council to forward a letter
to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management stating “It is our
understanding that Indiana’s Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System
(MS4) permit by rule will not be effective until June or July of this
year. After the IDEM final Rule 13,
general permit requirements, and the notice of intent application are
available, we intend to comply with the Phase II rule. It is our understanding that IDEM and the
EPA will accept this letter as notification of the intent to comply with the
Phase II rule. Our community believes
in cleaning up our waterways, but we need to responsibly select the options
that are best for our community.
Therefore, it is not prudent to submit our application until the rule is
effective. Our community will complete
the NOI permit application and Part A of the Storm Water Quality Management
Plan within 90 days of the effective date of the rule, general permit, and
application by the State.” Ray
Freetage replied to sign away.
Darlyne Sowder, Park Board
President, reported the Park Board approved the Eagle Scout project of Jason
Schunn for Memorial Park. They are
seeking funds from the Township Trustee and the local VFW post to pay for the
materials. Jason and other scouts will
provide the labor. Jim Ragle and the Street Department will help with removal of stone from the
site.
The VFW also reviewed the plans.
5 Year Park Master Plan The Graduate
Students from Ball State University will be conducting a information gathering
session at Town Hall on March 22nd and 23rd at 10:00 am to receive public input on
beautification efforts in Ellettsville and the 5 Year Master Plan for the
Parks.
Geraldine McIntyre met with Rick
Coppock, Marian Jacobs, Dennis Fisher, and John Davis earlier today. John Davis gave the Town a 20 foot easement
for a road to the Senior Citizens Housing.
Geraldine will have Mike Spencer prepare an agreement. Rick explained the road would be 18 feet
wide from the Senior Citizens Housing connecting at the intersection of McNeely
and Matthews Road. This
would provide an entrance to the Senior
Citizens Housing to alleviate some of the concerns in exiting onto the highway,
especially during time of using Main Street for two way traffic. Geraldine has been working with the Senior
Citizen Board Members to secure funding for the road. The Town will provide labor and equipment. Geraldine is also working with the Indiana
Department of Commerce Community Focus Fund through Vi Simpson for
funding. The cost is estimated to be
$29,829.
Geraldine also announced the Scouts will be
collecting food for the needy on March 15th. If you want to donate leave your food in a
bag at your front door.
On March 24th Judy Sharp will
speak on reassessment at the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Luncheon held at
Putters Park.
David Sorokoty thanked Jeff Ellington
and Franklin Andrew for the rally Saturday in Bloomington supporting the
troops. He also requested a work
session for the Council and Supervisors on Thursday March 13th.
Adjournment
David Sorokoty asked
for a motion to adjourn. Geraldine McIntyre
moved to adjourn. David Drake seconded,
motion carried. The meeting was
adjourned at approximately 8:25 p. m.
_____________________________ __________________________
David Sorokoty, President David Drake, Vice President
_____________________________ __________________________
Lisa Combs-Creech Ray Freetage
_____________________________ __________________________
Geraldine McIntyre Sandra C. Hash, Clerk-Treasurer