Town Council Minutes August 6, 2013

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

AUGUST 6, 2013          7:30 PM

 

PRESENT:  Council Members:  Scott Deyoe, Dan Adams, Todd Everling, J. Scott Flick, and Joyce Higginbottom; Terri  Sommers, Clerk-Treasurer;  Jeremy Peele, Town Attorney.

 

The meeting was brought to order by President Scott Deyoe.  Adams made the motion to accept minutes of the previous meeting, Flick seconded. Motion passed.

 

JEREMY PEELE: (1) Working with County Attorney Larry Murrell to clean up the street situation. There are still a number of streets in Greentown that are owned by Howard County. They are still trying to track down the memorandum of understanding regarding the 2 mile buffer zone. They have approved the proposed wellhead protection language, so he is drafting an ordinance for the county council to approve. He expects no issues with that.  Mr. Peele drafted Ordinance 2013-2 regarding special use exceptions for the zoning ordinance to give council more leeway for special use. (2) Mr. Deyoe addressed Ordinance 2010-5, the purpose of which was to stagger elections for Wards 4 and 5 to allow for continuity so the entire council could not be replaced at one time. As they were looking to get appropriate election dates in place for this year, Mr. Simmons at the Indiana Election Commission pointed out that per the same code used to pass the ordinance, sub-paragraph (c)(1) (which was overlooked), indicated that no municipality should conduct an election in the year immediately following a presidential election. It was recommended that we pass a new ordinance superseding the previous ordinance. He also suggested moving our elections to general election years which would result in a higher turnout and reduced cost to the town. Mr. Peele will work on an amended ordinance to correct this.

 

RYAN BRAUEN, WESSLER ENGINEERING:  (1) Progress meeting at WWTP earlier today. Project is progressing and we are starting to see some changes. They have started to backfill around clarifiers with more to come over the next few weeks.  (2)  Pay request #5 was submitted to Scott Deyoe today for approval.  (3) Change Order #2 will be issued this week or next. Wessler will then give us a budget update. Everything is progressing as planned. (4) Ryan spent some time on North Meridian Street today. He will talk with Kevin Moss from our Water and Street Department about their findings and what direction the town should take regarding the flooding in that area. (5) Kevin has provided an updated zoning map. Ryan brought up the possibility of digitizing the updated map. (6) TCI has indicated that they might complete the work at the WWTP by January 2014. (7) Deyoe brought up that some dye testing was done at Blondie’s and was found that the floor drains are connected to the storm sewer. They will continue working on this matter.

 

FIRE DEPARTMENT:  No report initially.

POLICE:  Deyoe read report. Everling made motion to accept; seconded by Adams. Motion passed.

WATER & STREET:  Report was read by Deyoe.  Highlights: 3 fire hydrants have been replaced; waiting on mason contractor at WWTP to see if they would be interested in looking at the fountain as a side project. Flick made motion to accept report, Everling seconded. Motion passed.

FIRE DEPARTMENT:  Chief Tom Hendricks came into meeting, read report. He reported that the fair went very smooth this year with no emergencies. The Fish Fry will be Sep. 21 from 4-7 pm.

WASTEWATER:  Report read by Deyoe. One bypass and two in-plant bypasses were reported by Steve Rule. Deyoe reported that Thieneman Construction had installed a clean-out on Surge Tank drain line which the town is responsible for. An invoice for $3802 has been presented to the Clerk Treasurer’s office for payment.  Higginbottom made motion to accept the report, seconded by Everling. Motion passed.

PARK ADVISORY:  No report. Was mentioned that the transplanted trees look good, but Mr. Rule stated they had cut a lot of roots off the trees.

 

NEW BUSINESS:  (1) Mrs. Higginbottom told us that there were over 700 people in attendance at last week’s Music at the Fountain. (2) Deyoe spoke about the old records from the utility office to be destroyed. Rachel Jenkins, Joyce Lantz and Connie Voorhis are working on this with the utility office. (3) Utility office is looking for direction on what to do about minimal response regarding the landowner agreement. (4) Deyoe addressed the executive session on healthcare, and told us that he had gotten a letter from the state offering a state health insurance plan. Adams reminded all that we had looked into this before and was not beneficial to us. (5) Clerk Terri Sommers announced that our next meeting on August 20 will be the public hearing on the proposed budget. (6) Scott Deyoe read Ordinance 2013-2 regarding the new zoning/special variance as requested by the Plan Commission, specifically for the property located at 404 E. Main Street. This was the first of three required readings.

 

Motion to adjourn by Flick, seconded by Adams.  Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:12 pm.