December 13, 2004

The Ellettsville, Indiana, Town Council met in regular session on Monday, December 13^th, 2004 at the Town Hall. Patrick Stoffers called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. Sandra Hash led in prayer and Dennis Williamson led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call: Patrick Stoffers asked for roll call of the Council Members. Patrick Stoffers, President; William Evans, Vice-President; Phillip Rogers and Dennis Williamson were present. Also present were Sandra Hash, Clerk-Treasurer; Mike Spencer, Attorney; Rick Coppock, Town Engineer and Frank Nierzwicki, Planning and Zoning Administrator. Lisa Creech was absent.

Supervisors Present: Jim Davis, Jim Ragle, Ron McGlocklin, Mike Farmer and Jeff Farmer were present.

Approval of the regular meeting minutes for November 22^nd, 2004

William Evans made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting from November 22^nd, 2004. Phillip Rogers seconded. Motion carried.

Action to pay Accounts Payable Vouchers

William Evans made a motion to pay the accounts payable vouchers. Phillip Rogers seconded. Motion carried.

Resolutions

Resolution 31-04 Transfer of Funds

William Evans read the resolution in its entirety.

From: G-365 Computer Services $ 760.00

To: G-211 Postage $ 150.00

To: G-313 Subscriptions & Dues $ 110.00

To: G-315 Miscellaneous Professional $ 500.00

From: P-323 Telephone - Police $1,300.00

To: P-221 Gasoline & Oil $1,300.00

From: P-421 Building Improvements $ 100.00

To: P-244 Miscellaneous $ 100.00

From: P-373 K-9 Maintenance $ 826.60

To: P-213 Office Supplies $ 58.46

To: P-244 Miscellaneous $ 768.14

From: P-443 Arms, Radar & Equipment $ 1,664.68

To: P-243 Uniforms & Gear $ 1,664.68

Sandra Hash explained this is due to the depletion of certain lines and need to move appropriations around to make items come out of the correct lines.

William Evans made a motion to adopt Resolution 31-04. Phillip Rogers seconded. Motion carried.

Ordinances on First Reading

Ordinance 04-25 Fixing of the Salaries for Budget Year 2005

Patrick Stoffers asked Sandra Hash for a brief synopsis since this salary ordinance is practically the same as last year. The Council decided to omit raises for 2005 to accommodate their decision to pick up the employee’s 3% mandatory PERF contributions.

Sandra Hash explained she removed the annual salaries on the Ordinance as suggested by the State Board of Accounts to avoid problems on years with 27 instead of 26 pay periods. The part-time salaries ranges were raised.

Patrick Stoffers added we removed the Building Department lines in anticipation of adopting Ordinance 04-27 the agreement with Monroe County to take over the Town’s Building Department functions.

Ordinance 04-26 Inter-local Cooperation Agreement between the Town of Ellettsville and Monroe County, Indiana regarding Animal Management Services

William Evans read the Ordinance in its entirety.

Patrick Stoffers explained this ordinance originated in 1996 or 1997 when the County requested Ellettsville help offset the cost of animal management services. This ordinance will give additional financial assistance to the County for administering and enforcing the County animal management laws within the Town limits. After negotiations it has been agreed the Town will pay to Monroe County $6,000 for the term beginning on January 1, 2005 and ending on December 31, 2005. The County prepared their ordinance (2004-49) and the Inter-local Agreement (Exhibit A) and signed off on them in October 2004.

Ordinance 04-27 Inter-local Cooperation Agreement between the Town of Ellettsville and Monroe County, Indiana regarding Building Code Authority

Jim Gerstbauer, Monroe County Building Commissioner stated this inter-local agreement is similar to the agreements the Town of Stinesville and the City of Bloomington has signed with the County. If adopted Monroe County would accept applications for building permits within the Town limits. Upon approval from the Ellettsville Plan Commission and the issuance of Zoning Compliance Certificate the Monroe County Building Department would issue a permit and do all of the inspections and issue Certificates of Occupancy for all of the projects that were constructed. This would not be a problem for the County to add Ellettsville with inspections since the inspectors have to drive through here all the time anyway for other inspections. He added Monroe County has nine certified and highly qualified building inspectors to take care of all the inspections. The Town would need to set a planning fee for the permits and Monroe County would charge a permit fee. This would give each entity a financial benefit for their services. The City of Bloomington charges six cents a square foot on top of Monroe County’s fee. Monroe County charges one cent a square foot and an additional fee of $20 for each application on top of Monroe County’s fee. The Town will control the fees and all of the planning and zoning elements associated with the construction projects. The County and Ellettsville building codes are State adopted codes and are all same. Historically this has been a great benefit to contractors. When the City of Bloomington signed an agreement with the County it gave uniformity and simplification to the process, he termed it as a “one stop shop” for contractors. Contractors found it simplified the permit and building inspection process since they could go to the same location to obtain permits, know the codes were interpreted the same for each location, know where to call and schedule inspections whether they were building in the County or in the City. This agreement was well received from the beginning and thinks it would benefit Ellettsville in the same way.

Dennis Williamson said he looked at Monroe County’s fees on the website and they have other fund generating permits and would Ellettsville like to add some of those permits to our code and if so should we change our code to include those permits.

Patrick Stoffers said yes if we adopt this agreement then the Town’s code will have to be amended.

Dennis Williamson asked for clarification on what fees were collected and how they were distributed.

Jim Gertsbauer explained, using the City of Bloomington as an example that a contractor would have to pay eighteen cents a square foot for a building permit. Twelve cents a square foot out of the eighteen collected goes to the County and the remaining six cents a square foot is collected for the City of Bloomington. The money collected for the City of Bloomington is then given to them quarterly from the County.

Mike Spencer pointed out a few minor changes. The Town currently doesn’t have a Certificate of Zoning Compliance so that would need to be created in our ordinance. He’s unsure about the unsafe houses.

Jim Gerstbaurer said they handle unsafe houses for Stinesville and the County but not for Bloomington.

Mike Spencer said unsafe buildings would need to be addressed. Part 2 paragraph F needs to be looked at also concerning rental residential review.

Public Comments:

Ed Bitner asked how much it would cost a person for a permit. He added he was under the impression it wouldn’t cost the public any more money if the County took over permits.

Jim Gerstbauer said it will not cost the Town itself any more or Ellettsville residents not building but to those who are building within the Town it will cost more.

Pat Stoffers said this will essentially be eliminating some cost because by the Town signing this agreement it will free up the Fire Department specifically Jim Davis and Bill Headley to concentrate more on fire matters. He commended the Fire Department on the wonderful job they have done on handling the Building Department. He feels now is the proper time to move in this direction concerning building permits.

Jim Gertsbauer encouraged the Town to make a decision to either sign a contract with Monroe County to do all of the inspections through an inter-local agreement at no cost to the Town or establish an actual Building Department because the Town is growing rapidly and has a potential for lots of growth in the future. He added Jim Davis has been performing basically two full time jobs for several years and with all of the growth he needs to focus on Fire Department issues.

Patrick Stoffers thanked Jim Gerstbauer for his time.

Ordinances on Second Reading

Ordinance 04-24 adding streets, speed limits, through and stop streets and no parking areas

William Evans read the different sections of the Ordinance by title only.

Sandra Hash explained this encompasses the new roads in the Union Valley Farms subdivision, the roads from the Hoosier Tire and Briargate annexations and a few older roads that were inadvertently omitted.

Dennis Williamson pointed out all of the streets listed have a speed limit of 20 mph.

William Evans made a motion to adopt Ordinance 04-24. Phillip Rogers seconded. Motion carried.

New Business

Update of the Ellettsville Greenway Projects – Gateways, Decorative Street Lighting and Heritage Trail

Frank Nierzwicki said he wanted to update everyone on the three projects in progress; the Gateways project, the decorative street lighting project and the Heritage Trail project. The Gateways signage project with the greeting and welcome signs for the downtown area around Main and Temperance streets are proposed to begin the process in February or March of 2005 with a possible completion by the end of 2005. The total grant money awarded from INDOT was $44,000.00; the local match total was $11,000.00 for a project grand total of $55,000.00. The downtown decorative street lights project equipment and post lamps have been purchased, the wiring is finished and we’re just waiting on installation. The lights will line the downtown area around the one-way pairs and are proposed to be in place by the spring of 2005. The total grant money awarded from INDOT was $57, 250.00; the local match total was $20,500.00 for a project grand total of $77,750.00.

The Heritage Trail proposed is for a walking and bicycling trial within the Town for means of an alternative transportation system in the downtown area and recreational purposes. The total grant money awarded from INDOT was $169,610.00; the local match total was $76,154.00 for a grand total of $245,764.00.

The Town was awarded a grant for $169,610 for the first phase in January 2004 from INDOT for the trail project. He will be checking on the project with Rick Coppock. If all goes as planned construction will begin in the spring of 2006.

He added the INDOT deadline for funding for the next enhancement cycle is coming up. The Bloomington MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) where we have to submit our proposal is due at the end of December or as soon as possible. INDOT must receive the grant proposal by January 31^st, 2005. He’s met with the Ellettsville Main Street organization and they have requested the Town submit an INDOT enhancement proposal on their behalf for the next phase of the trail. He wants to bring the proposal to the Council on the December 28^th meeting. The total amount of money INDOT has awarded the Town in the 2002-2004 time frame is $265,860.00. The local contribution is grand total of $106,000.00; for a grand total investment in the downtown area by the State and the local community of $378,514.00. He commended the Town on the amount of grant money the Town has received.

He added he has reviewed the plan project by Barry Fisher, a Ball State student studying landscape architecture who designed the project in 2000 for a class project. His proposal is very ambitious with trails including four pedestrian bridges.

Police Department Change Order #11

Ron Sanders and Larry Neidigh showed the floor plans and explained the change order needed. The cost for the conversion of a storage room into an office space for the Town’s PZA total is $4,282.00 (Neidigh Construction change estimate #27); and the changing of the glazing to be ¼” clear laminated glass in door number 2 to make it more secure and safer is a total cost of $286.00 (Neidigh Construction change estimate #24) for a grand total for Change Order #11 of $4,568.00.

William Evans made a motion to accept Change Order #11 for $4,568.00. Phillip Rogers seconded. Motion carried.

William Evans asked the estimated date for completion of the project. The last date he heard was December 13^th.

Ron Sanders and Larry Neidigh said the building is 90%-95% complete inside. They don’t have a date yet due to this last Change Order still in progress. They will have a better idea next week. The furniture came in but it is not put into the proper areas yet.

Dennis Williamson asked about the generator and the panels on the garage doors that were repainted.

Ron McGlocklin said the generator is supposed to be in on December 30^th. The panels are installed now.

Request to convert unused vacation days to unused sick days

Patrick Stoffers read off the list of employees wishing to transfer days.

Jim Davis – 7 days Steve Bartlett – 9 days

Mike Cornman – 3 days Kip Headdy – 1 day

Kevin Patton – 5 days

William Evans moved (to allow this conversion of unused vacation days to sick days). Phillip Rogers seconded. Motion carried.

Request to carry over vacation due to December anniversary date

Patrick Stoffers explained a letter by Street Department employee Steve Hicks requesting to carry over his vacation to 2005 since he was hired in December.

Sandra Hash explained it would be difficult for an employee who was hired in December to use their vacation by the end of the year, particularly a Street Department employee since bad weather is possible anytime and the Department needs all of their employees during that time.

Phillip Rogers made a motion to allow Stephen J. Hicks to roll his 5 days vacation over until 2005. William Evans seconded. Motion carried.

Supplemental Fire Service Agreement between the Town of Ellettsville and Richland Township

Jim Davis explained the agreement is the same as last year with a 5% increase except the language to purchase a new fire truck was removed from the contract because the truck was paid off this year. Also Don Lewis has allowed a substantial increase of $60,000 in his budget for more part-time employees for a total increase in the agreement for this year of approximately $71,000. The total agreement is for $418,063.00.

Dennis Williamson asked how many part-time employees Jim plans to hire.

Jim Davis said he wants to have basically the same as one, new full-time employee but in a part-time mode at the new station for an additional 24-7 coverage. A new full-time employee costs approximately $105,000 and we would be getting the same coverage with part-timers for approximately $71,000.

Dennis Williamson made a motion to accept Supplemental Fire Service Agreement between the Town of Ellettsville and Richland Township as presented in the paper here. William Evans seconded. Motion carried.

Annual Maintenance Agreement for Komputrol Software Systems

Sandra Hash explained this is for our software assistance and updates. The cost of the agreement is split between the General Fund, the Water Utility and the Sewer Utility. The total is $3,750 and begins February 1^st, 2005 for a period of twelve consecutive months. The only difference is a slight increase in the fee over last year’s agreement.

William Evans made a motion to pay the annual Maintenance Agreement for Komputrol Software Systems. Phillip Rogers seconded. Motion carried.

Request for Preliminary and Final Plat Approval of 2 lot subdivision for Staggs 17.98 acres on Union Valley Road property

Rick Coppock explained this is a request for Preliminary and Final Plat Approval. The total acreage is 17.98 and the developer wants to split it into 2 lots, one will be 15 acres and the other will be 2.98 acres. The 2.98 acre track will remain the same with the existing house on it. The other 15 acres will be developed in the future similar to the Union Valley Farms subdivision.

Frank Nierzwicki recommended approving their request. He added he will be paying close attention to all new road access issues.

William Evans made a motion to approve the Request for Preliminary and Final Plat Approval of a 2 lot subdivision for Staggs 17.98 acres on Union Valley Road property. Phillip Rogers seconded. Motion carried.

Supervisor’s Comments

Frank Nierzwicki said he has a copy of the fax from the Sowders which explains they will be moving their trailers off of their property on to the old Robinson Block property which is still owned by Robinson’s and is zoned for that use.

Jim Davis said the Fire Department has officially moved into the new Fire Station and he plans to have the official open house in February possibly. It’s a nice building; we’ve had lots of visitors and are glad to show them around. We’re glad to be there.

Sandra Hash announced the State Board of Accounts Auditor Becky Suhrhenrich will be in her office for the next couple of months auditing the books if anyone has any questions for her. She also reminded everyone the Town’s Christmas Luncheon is Friday, December 17^th at the new Fire Station from 11 a. m. to 2 p. m. and due to the Holidays the next Town Council meeting will be on Tuesday, December 28^th.

Dennis Williamson thanked Rick Coppock for the update on Rule 13. He welcomed Jim Ragle back to the Council Meetings even though he hasn’t officially come back to work. He wished everyone Happy Holidays.

William Evans commented he was glad the Fire Department have moved into their new station. He added it probably won’t be too long before the Police Department move into their station. He was also glad to see Jim Ragle at the meeting and wished all a Happy Holidays.

Patrick Stoffers wished everyone a safe Holiday as well.

Adjournment

Phillip Rogers made a motion to adjourn this meeting. William Evans seconded. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:40 p. m.