NEW WHITELAND TOWN COUNCIL
OCTOBER 17, 2006
MEETING MINUTES
Town Council President
MINUTES
Member Harris moves to approve the minutes of
the October 3rd meeting.
Motion seconded by Councilman Noonan.
Vote 5 affirmative.
Member Alspach moves to approve the minutes
of the October 6th Executive Session. Motion seconded by Councilman Harris. Vote 5
affirmative.
OLD
BUSINESS
Food Pantry
Clerk-Treasurer Alspach distributes
information packets for the Weekly Promise Campaign with the Food Pantry and reports
that New Whiteland will be collecting donations the week of November 12th
to the 18th. The Town Hall,
Police and Fire Departments will be designated collection points. Information will be put on the radio station,
November utility bills and on fliers posted around town.
Fire Engine Purchase
Fire Chief Hedrick states that he met with a
salesperson last week who brought a demo engine to the station. The engine was manufactured by Crimson Fire
Apparatus and has already been sold. The
demo engine had a 2 door enclosed cab and we need a 4 door. The engine will fit in the existing station
with about 6 inches to spare. Hedrick
has gotten new numbers from the bank and reports that if the engine cost
$250,000 and we put 20% ($50,000) down we could get a 10 year loan at 7.5%
interest with annual payments of $28,488.
Hedrick notes the down payment would come from the current Cum Fire
Fund. Hedrick adds that these proposed
payments exceed our annual revenue generated from the Cum Fire tax
distributions. Hedrick states he
believes he can re-write the specs and get the cost of the new engine down to $225,000. If the down payment was $75,000 he thinks the
annual payments would be $16,125. This could easily be covered with the Cum
Fire Fund revenues. Hedrick adds that
this leaves some money in the account which will be needed for other
equipment. Hedrick states the Rescue Unit
will need a new chassis in 5 – 6 years.
Hedrick states that since he looked at the demo engine
Chief Hedrick also asks permission to
advertise for firefighters. Council asks
if he has money in his budget to pay for the ad. Hedrick says he does, council approves.
Clerk-Treasurer Alspach reports that she
contacted the insurance company and was told there would be no additional
premium if the skate park were approved.
They caution that signs need to be posted to protect the town from
claims or liability in the event of injury or damage. The Risk Management person sent us some
recommended guidelines which were distributed to all the council along with the
Parks Director and PW Supt.
Park Director Facemire asks where the
maintenance funding will come from. The
packet from the insurance company suggests budgeting $8,000 per year. The Parks Department doesn’t have that kind
of money. She cannot afford to replace
playground equipment now. Clerk-Treasurer
Alspach voices concern about close proximity of proposed skate bark to
Town Council
Page Two
October 17, 2006
Limb Disposal
Councilman Spencer asks how much response
have we had to being open one Saturday per month. Supt. Lasiter states the 1st month
2 residents dropped off limbs – 1 was a town employee. The 2nd month they only had 1
person drop off limbs. The 3rd
month they had 2 users, again 1 was a town employee. Lasiter recommends suspending the program and
reconsider extended hours after future storms.
Council agrees.
Councilman Spencer met with the Proctor
family to discuss renaming the
NEW
BUSINESS
Police Personnel
Marshal Stephenson states that Roy Hendershot
has asked to be relieved of all supervisory duties due to some personal
issues. He will return to patrol officer
status. Effective October 18th
Officer Ken Polley will assume those supervisory duties.
Halloween
Marshal Stephenson states the hours for trick
or treating will be from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 31st. The NWPD will be holding its annual vehicle
inspection at 5:30 p.m. and Stephenson invites the council and any other
interested persons to stop by the police station and observe. Both the Police and Fire Departments pass out
candy at their stations on Halloween.
President Perrin and Supt. Lasiter encourage people to donate bags of
candy to both departments.
Health Insurance Proposal
Supt. Lasiter states that we continue to
explore options to try and bring down the cost of health insurance. He believed we had found a policy that would
do that only to discover that due to network requirements some employees would
have to change doctors or specialists.
It does not appear this plan will work for our group. Lasiter will continue to research our
options.
Cancelled Meeting
President Perrin states that our next meeting
would be November 7th which is Election Day. Pleasant 2 and Pleasant 7 precincts will be
voting here at the Town Hall. Perrin
recommends canceling the meeting.
Council agrees. The next regular
council meeting will be November 21st.
Flood Hazard Area Ordinance
Councilman Spencer states that at the last
Plan Commission meeting a recommendation was sent to the Council to approve the
new Flood Hazard Ordinance. Spencer
states that since Attorney Robbins is not here tonight we don’t have an
ordinance to adopt. Spencer thinks we
are under some time constraints.
Attorney Watson will check with Attorney Robbins and if the ordinance
needs to be approved prior to the next meeting we can schedule a Special
Meeting.
Town Council
Page Three
October 17, 2006
Fire Department Property Damage
Fire Chief Hedrick states that the Fire
Engine was backed into the Explorer this week.
There was minimal damage done and he will not be filing an insurance
claim. The drivers involved will be
written up for not communicating when moving the vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE
None.
OPEN TO THE
PUBLIC
Cheryl Morphew,
Executive Director of the Johnson County Development Corporation states that
she met with Barbara Dunn-Stear and
Being no other
business the meeting was adjourned at 7:47 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
____________________________
Maribeth Alspach, Clerk- Treasurer
Approved: _____________________________