The
Ellettsville, Indiana, Town Council met on Tuesday, January 6th,
2004 at the Town Hall in an Organizational
Meeting for 2004 with the new Council Members. David Sorokoty called the meeting to order at
Council Present: David
Sorokoty, 2003 current President; David Drake, 2003 current Vice-President;
Lisa Combs-Creech, Patrick Stoffers and Phillip Rogers. Also present was Sandra Hash,
Clerk-Treasurer.
Supervisors
Present: Jim Ragle
Purpose: To Elect Town Council Officers
and make appoints as needed to the various Boards.
Elections were held for the office of President and
Vice-President.
David Sorokoty opened the floor for nominations for
Vice-President. Patrick Stoffers
nominated David Drake for Vice-President.
Phil Rogers seconded the nomination.
Phil Rogers made a motion to close the nominations for Vice-President. Motion carried and a vote was taken to
appoint David Drake as Vice-President.
David Sorokoty opened the floor
for nominations for President. Phil
Rogers nominated Patrick Stoffers for President. David Drake seconded. Phil Rogers made a motion to close the
nominations, David Drake seconded.
Motion carried. A vote was taken
to appoint Patrick Stoffers as Council President. The motion carried with a 3-2 vote in favor
of appointing Pat as President. Lisa
Creech voted no. David Sorokoty
officially abstained saying “it’s not because of Pat; it’s because I was kind
of caught in the middle on two different angles and I refuse to play politics
with the Town that I love”. He turned
the chair of President over to Pat.
2004 Town Council President:
Patrick Stoffers made his first request as the official Council
President requesting Sandra Hash to inform them of what appointments the Town
Council should make for 2004.
Plan Commission Board Appointments
Sandra Hash stated the Plan Commission consists of seven members and
the terms are for four years each. Three
of the members are elected officials appointed by Council vote and the
remaining four are citizens appointed by the Council President. Frank Buczolich and Don Calvert are citizen
appointments. Their terms expire
2004 Plan Commission Board:
Elected Officials on Board Citizens
Appointed to Board
Lisa Creech – term expires
Sandra Hash – term expires
David Drake – term expires
Patrick Stoffers said he was not prepared thoroughly to appoint two
citizens to the vacant seats, he stated he wants to do a little “homework”
before appointing anyone.
Board of Zoning Appeals Appointments
This BZA is made up of five members with staggered four year
appointments. Each year one member should
be appointed for a term of four years. The
Board should
consist of three Republicans and two Democrats. The Council President appoints three. Patrick Stoffers stated Jack Neal (R), Terry
Baker (D) and Denise Knell (D) are the current members. The Council has one appointment and Plan
Commission has one appointment. Indiana
Code states elected and appointed town officials cannot serve on the BZA. Patrick Stoffers asked what the expirations
were for these individuals.
Sandra Hash explained they have been appointing all of them annually
which is incorrect; actually only one person is supposed to be appointed each
year. She explained there has been a bit
of confusion on who has been appointed when so this needs to be researched
further to determine the needed appointments.
Patrick Stoffers agreed appointment dates needed to be researched.
2004 BZA Board–
Research
By researching the minutes the following term dates were established:
Jack Neal (R) term expires
Terry Baker (D) term expires
Denise Knell (D) term expires
Bill Evans (R) term expires
David Sorokoty (R) term expires
This information indicates one Democrat position to be appointed and two Republican positions. The second opening is created by David Sorokoty who is ineligible since he is an elected official.
Patrick Stoffers said if the seats on each Board are not replaced or
filled at tonight’s meeting then those individuals who are currently on the
Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals will continue to serve on each
perspective Board until new appointments are made and can legally do so in
accordance with Indiana Code.
Parks and Recreation Board Appointments
There are five members on this Board and each appointee is to serve a
term of four years. Four are appointed
by the Town Council President and one is appointed by the School Board. Three should be three Republicans and two Democrats. Jeff Frownfelter’s
(D) term expired on December 31, 2003.
Patrick Stoffers spoke to Jeff and he said he would like to stay on the
Board. Pat asked for a motion to appoint
Jeff. David Sorokoty made a motion to appoint
Jeff Frownfelter to the Parks and Recreation Board. Lisa Creech seconded. Motion carried.
2004 Parks and Recreation Board:
Darlyne Sowder (R) – term expires
Jeff Frownfelter (D) – new term expires 12-31-07
Denise Knell (D) – term expires
L. D. Axsom (R) – term expires
Edwin Mactangay (R) (School Board Appointee)
Annual Appointments by the Town Council:
Patrick Stoffers asked what the past practice was for appointing these
positions. David Sorokoty explained Jim
Davis has been on the Ambulance Advisory Board for a while and was a key factor
in getting an ambulance housed in Ellettsville. The Solid Waste District Board position is
vacant. Jim Davis was just recently
appointed to the Monroe County Emergency Management Advisory Board. David Drake added that he was previously on
the Monroe County Emergency Management Advisory Board but resigned commenting
that Jim would be more knowledgeable for this Board. David Sorokoty stated that Iris Kiesling
requested that Patrick Stoffers serve on the Solid Waste District Board. Patrick Stoffers asked for comments from the
Council. Phil Rogers stated Jim Davis
was a good choice for those two boards because it goes along with his position
if Jim is still willing to be our representative. David Sorokoty stated Jim is willing to
continue serving on those Boards. David Drake stated the person who is appointed
for this position needs to be knowledgeable on the topics and
prepared to keep Ellettsville’s best interest in mind as well as have an
assertive personality. He reiterated Jim
is a good choice for those two Boards for several reasons including it is in
Jim’s field of knowledge and since it is like an extension of his normal work duties
he would not have to take off work to attend the meetings. Lisa Creech commented that Kevin Pauley who
works at
Public Comment:
Ed Bitner stated he
was instrumental in getting the BHAS ambulance in Ellettsville and if Jim
didn’t want to serve on either of those two Boards any longer he would like to
be considered for the positions as well.
He added that Jim has done a good job over the years and he doesn’t know
why he wouldn’t want to continue on those Boards.
Patrick Stoffers recommended to delay filling these two appointments
until after he speaks to Jim Davis. He
added he is willing to serve on the Solid Waste District Board. David Sorokoty made a motion that Pat
Stoffers serves on the Solid Waste Board.
Lisa Creech seconded. Motion
carried.
2004 Ambulance Advisory Board and
2004 Solid Waste District Board – Patrick Stoffers (1year term)
David Sorokoty stated Chuck Radke was appointed to serve on the Animal
Control Board last year and his term doesn’t expire until
2004 Animal Control Commission – Chuck Radke (1 year term)
Liaisons for each Department, Grievance Officer and Health and Safety
Officer Appointments
Patrick Stoffers asked for recommendations or preferences. David Drake requested to not serve as the
Police liaison due to a professional conflict of interest since he is on the
Bloomington Police Department and Lisa Creech stated Jim Ragle requested her to
stay on as their liaison. David
Sorokoty volunteered to be the liaison for the Police Department. David Drake said Fire was fine for him.
Patrick Stoffers requested a motion to appoint the 2004 liaisons. Lisa Creech made a motion that David Drake be
the liaison for Fire, David Sorokoty be the liaison for Police, that she be the
liaison for Street and that Phil Rogers be the liaison for Utilities. David Drake seconded. Motion carried.
2004 Liaisons
Police Department – David Sorokoty
Fire Department – David Drake
Utilities Department – Phil Rogers
Street Department – Lisa Creech
Lisa Creech volunteered to continue to serve as the Health and Safety
Officer. Phil Rogers volunteered to
serve as the Grievance Officer.
Patrick Stoffers asked for a motion.
David Drake made a motion that Lisa Creech be appointed as Health and
Safety Officer and Phil Rogers be appointed as Grievance Officer. David Sorokoty seconded. Motion carried.
2004 Health and Safety Officer – Lisa Creech
2004 Grievance Officer – Phil Rogers
Lisa Creech commented that once the Zoning Administrator is in place the
responsibilities of the Health and Safety Officer should be meshed into that
position.
Sandra Hash agreed. Many of the complaint calls were health and safety
issues connected to planning and zoning problems. Lisa added if she, as the Health and Safety
Officer, finds or is informed about a complaint and the citizen disagrees with
the reprimand and wants a hearing then she gets to sit on the Board and review
the same complaint, then it is not fair to the citizen
to have the same person review the complaint twice.
Patrick Stoffers asked where the Council was at in the job development
stage for the Zoning Administrator position.
Lisa Creech stated that Ray Freetage was working on the description last
year. She added they have a basic job
description now and $16,000 from Bill Land’s contract, $11,000 from the former
Administrative Assistant position and $11,000 for a Zoning Administrator
budgeted for a total of $38,000 to hire a Zoning Administrator.
Lisa reminded the Council of her previous recommendation to allow the
Police Reserve Officers handle the parking complaints and write the violation
tickets.
Sandra Hash urged the Council to start a ticketing process for weed and
grass complaints as well.
Sandra Hash also mentioned a complaint that was called into the office
by an elderly gentleman. She stated when
Lisa Creech brought up the fact that there aren’t any handicapped spaces
available for these areas.
Patrick Stoffers requested the complaint and concerns just mentioned be
written down for further consideration.
David Drake congratulated and welcomed Pat Stoffers and Phil Rogers to
the Board.
David Sorokoty thanked the Street and Utilities Departments for their
work during the heavy rains and flooding on Sunday and during the holidays. He added the Town survived the flooding well
this time. He suggested the Council
should request another study by the DNR to remove some of the residents from
the flood plain diagrams to help lower the homeowners’ insurance rates.
Jim Ragle questioned the ownership of the CSX railroad lot where the
old depot was located near the Main Street Bridge. Currently we maintain it but we need to
find out about obtaining official ownership of the property.
Lisa Creech stated there will be a meeting at the Library on January 29th,
2004 at 6:00 p. m. about the closing of
David Sorokoty stated that Diane Critchlow had written him requesting
someone be appointed to the Ellettsville Area Economic Development Board from
the Council. He commented he would like
to be on this Board. Pat Stoffers asked
for a motion. David
Drake made a motion to appoint David Sorokoty to the Ellettsville Area Economic
Development Corporation. Lisa Creech
seconded. Motion carried.
Sandra Hash commented Jeana Kapczynski inquired about the house on Main
Street that the Town owns. Stating it would
be a good location for the Chamber of Commerce.
She also mentioned that the Robinson’s, the owners of the Eagles Nest
offered their library meeting room (in Old Elementary School) at no charge for
a Council Meeting if the Council opts to have a traveling agenda again this
year. She informed the Council she and
Phil Rogers would be attending an IACT Conference for newly elected officials
training on January 15th and 16th, 2004 in Indianapolis.
Adjournment
Patrick Stoffers asked for a motion to adjourn. David Sorokoty made a motion to adjourn. Phil Rogers seconded. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at
____________________________ __________________________
Patrick Stoffers,
President David
Drake, Vice President
_____________________________ __________________________
Lisa Combs-Creech Phillip
D. Rogers
____________________________ __________________________
David Sorokoty Sandra
C. Hash, Clerk-Treasurer