NEW WHITELAND TOWN COUNCIL
April 7, 2009
MEETING MINUTES
Town Council President John Perrin opened the
meeting at 7:00 p.m. with the pledge to the American flag. Council members
present were John Perrin, Terry Spencer, Joe Noonan, Don Harris and
MINUTES
Councilman Noonan moves to approve the
minutes of the previous meeting and is seconded by Councilman Alspach. Vote 4
affirmative and 1 abstention. Member Harris abstains.
HARDSHIPS /
ADJUSTMENTS
None.
Clerk-Treasurer Alspach states that she and
CW5 Frank Vaughn of the Indiana National Guard had hoped to present
certificates of appreciation to Steve Beauprez of the VFW #6978 for the
donation and installation of the beautiful granite monument at
OLD
BUSINESS
Appraisal Report
Financial Consultant Jeff Birk distributes
copies of the DRAFT report and cautions the council that this is not the final
report. The report contains three (3)
appraisals:
RPE
Cobb & Associates – As Is Market Value $4,575,000.00
MD
Wessler – Cost Approach $4,535,840.00
Commonwealth
Engineers – Value Approach
$5,000.000.00
Mr. Birk asks that the council review the
report. The next step will be to deliver
the report to Indiana American and begin negotiations. Councilman Perrin asks
if we would take an average of the three appraisals. Birk states probably. Attorney Robbins states that to be consistent
with the agreement we need to forward a copy of the report to Indiana American
and wait for their response. Robbins
recommends adding a cover letter explaining that the report was received on
April 7, 2009 and that it is being reviewed for any errors or questions. PW
Supt. Lasiter adds that this report will require some surveying of the ground
that the 2 water towers sit on. Lasiter
will also be reviewing the assets list.
Transfer of Title Paperwork
Attorney Robbins has met with the mapping
department at the Courthouse and the necessary corrections have been made. Robbins will get a new front page for the
Ordinance to the Clerk-Treasurer for filing.
15 Year Law Agreement
Attorney Robbins states that the document has
been completed. Attorney Robbins will
have the revised document delivered to the town hall for President Perrin and
1975 GMC Big Wheel Bids
PW Supt Lasiter states only one bid was
received (by fax) in the amount of $2,630.00.
Lasiter believes the vehicle has more value than this and encourages the
council to reject the bid and allow him to do some additional advertising and
then list the vehicle on EBay this fall.
Attorney Robbins states this can be done as long as the winning bid is
more than the rejected bid. Lasiter
believes the vehicle is worth at least $4,000.00. Member Harris moves to reject the $2,630.00
bid and is seconded by Member
Noonan. Vote 5 affirmative.
Town Council
Page Two
April 7, 2009
Ball Diamond
PW Supt. Lasiter shows pictures of the newly
painted concession stand. Shawn Higdon,
one of the coaches using our diamond this year, has painted the concession
stand and the bleachers along with raking the leaves out of the fence row. Higdon would like permission to paint the
team sponsor names on the end of the concession stand. He has also offered to put in dug outs. Council approves the dug outs but asks that a
list of sponsors be submitted before granting approval for painting their names
on the building. If approval is given
all sponsor names must be painted over at the end of the season.
Leaf Collection
PW Supt Lasiter presents the cost information
on operating the leaf pick up program in 2008 - $17,743.00. Lasiter notes this program was started in
1994. If we intend to continue this program
/ service we need to refurbish our old machine and purchase a new one. This would allow us to be picking up leaves
in two neighborhoods at once. Total out
of pocket cost would be around $53,000.00.
Lasiter has $20,000 budgeted for New Equipment in his MVH budget and an
additional $56,418 in MVH Improvements Other Than. This money is usually used for street repairs
but if the council wishes to continue the program Jim will need to use some of
these funds to pay for the leaf pick up equipment.
Lasiter would like to continue the service
but is cautious with making any purchases due to the rumor that next year’s
budgets may be cut by up to 10%.
Councilman Harris asks about the cost to refurbish the machine we have
now. Lasiter was given a verbal estimate
of $6,000 - $12,000 sight unseen.
Councilman Spencer says we need to educate the residents to mulch their
leaves and/or provide a place for them to dump their leaves.
Lasiter states he needs 16 weeks lead time to
order or buy a machine which is why he is bringing this to the council now. He
needs a decision to be ready for leaf pick up next fall. Councilman Noonan states he recycles his
leaves. He would prefer refurbishing the
existing machine and would not recommend going into debt for a new one. Councilman Alspach states that as we have to
tighten our budgets this may be a service that could be eliminated. Council asks that Lasiter get an itemized
estimate of refurbishing the old machine.
They also ask for a cost on the disposable leaf bags.
Cell Phones
Supt. Lasiter presents the annual cost
estimate for all three (3) providers.
There is not a lot of difference between the vendors. Public Works employees are concerned about Sprint
/ Nextel service but they like the push to talk option. Council President Perrin states he isn’t sure
we can afford to increase the plan and he isn’t impressed with any of the
rates. Under this plan Supt. Lasiter
would have unlimited minutes – all other phones would have 400 minutes per
month each. Council agrees to review
plans. Supt. Lasiter states he is fine
with leaving things as they are for his department. Fire Chief Hedrick has requested adding three
(3) cell phones for the Fire Department.
Hedrick’s personal phone is Verizon.
He presents a quote from Sprint / Nextel. Marshal Stephenson states that in an
emergency communication is the first priority.
American Legion Check
Clerk-Treasurer Alspach asks council to
approve a check that was issued in the amount of $352.75 to the American
Legion. The Legion donated a set of
flags to
Health Insurance Interviews
Clerk-Treasurer Alspach states that she &
Jim have been talking to various agents regarding health insurance quotes. We are researching rates for a Health Savings
Plan approach to health insurance.
Anthem will only provide a quote to one agent for our group so we need
to interview agents and select one before requesting the quote. Councilman Harris recommends having the
Department Heads hold the interviews.
Councilman Perrin asks that 2 council members also participate.
Town Council
Page Three
April 7, 2009
Councilmen Harris and Spencer volunteer to
sit on the interview committee.
Clerk-Treasurer Alspach will schedule date and times.
Emergency Disaster Plan
Clerk-Treasurer Alspach reminds the council
that they adopted the policy but need to designate a Chairman and a Public
Information Official. The Chairman will
be the current Council President and the Public Information Official will be
the current Clerk-Treasurer. The
committee will meet twice a year. All Department Heads and Elected Officials
serve on the committee.
Embarq Phone System Status
Councilman Harris asks for a status
report. Clerk- Treasurer Alspach states
Rob Parker is on vacation. The antennas are supposed to be installed on the
water towers tomorrow. Hopefully the
installation will be completed and the billing resolved within 45 days. It will be a year since the contract was
signed in May.
EPN Procedure
Marshal Stephenson and Sgt. Polley review the
Ordinance Violation procedure for the council.
Samples of door hangers for grass and junk vehicle violations are shown. Marshal Stephenson states they can’t enforce
the ordinance if they are unaware of the violation. President Perrin asks all
employees and council members to report any violations to the NWPD. Marshal Stephenson adds that they will follow
up on all reports and residents are not required to give their names or
addresses when reporting violations.
*Councilman Harris leaves at 8:30 p.m.
Fire Department Survey
Fire Chief Hedrick distributes the survey to
all council members. Hedrick asks that
the council complete the surveys and return them to him.
NEW
BUSINESS
Clerk-Treasurer Alspach adds new events to
the schedule – COLTS in Motion will be on site from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. on May 2nd. Alspach distributes copies of the revised
“Grocery List” and asks all councilmen, employees, residents to help to secure
sponsors for the event, donated items for the auction and for the grocery list
for the hog roast.
Policy & Procedure Bulletin #21
President Perrin asks the council to review
the bereavement leave policy. Perrin recommends moving the grandparents and
grandparent-in-laws as well as grandchildren from one (1) day bereavement leave
to three (3) days. This item will be
placed on the agenda for the next meeting.
The employee who asked the Clerk-Treasurer about this policy because
their Department Head was on vacation is granted 1 day of bereavement leave for
attending the funeral of their spouse’s grandparent.
NWPD 2008 Statistics Report
Marshal Stephenson distributes copies of the
2008 Report and reviews it with the council.
There are no questions.
Town Council
Page Four
April 7, 2009
Request for Payment
The gentleman installing the antennas
tomorrow has requested that he be paid when he has finished the job. Clerk-Treasurer Alspach asks the council’s
permission to cut the check and make payment tomorrow. Council approves the payment in the amount of
$500.00 payable to Leo Dearth to be paid upon completion of the antenna installation.
Fire Department
Chief Hedrick asks the council if they would
be interested in looking at an expansion project at the Fire Station or if they
would consider purchasing an adjoining property with a house that could be
converted into office and training space.
Hedrick has some cost information on a 1,200 sf addition to the station
or the cost of a 1,500 sf existing home that would need work done to it. Hedrick is exploring the possibility of
stimulus money that could be used to finance one of these options. Hedrick will also research grant money. Council is willing to look at quotes /
estimates but are concerned about financing in the uncertain economy.
LEGISLATIVE
BUSINESS
Ordinance 2100
Attorney Robbins presents the ordinance
amending the Zoning Ordinance to reduce the distance between protected
districts and billboards from 500 feet to 350 feet. President Perrin asks about Freedom of Speech
rights. Attorney Robbins sates you
cannot prohibit billboards but you can adopt reasonable restrictions. Robbins adds if this ordinance were to be
challenged it could be defended. Robbins
states he is comfortable with the amendment that was approved by the Plan
Commission in 2007 but failed to make it to the council for final approval. Motion to adopt by Member Alspach with second
by Member Noonan. Vote 4 affirmative.
Additional Appropriation Memo
Clerk-Treasurer Alspach presents a Memo for
three (3) Additional Appropriations for the Wastewater Utility. Motion to approve by Member Noonan with
second by Member Spencer. Vote 4 affirmative.
OPEN TO THE
PUBLIC
Being
no other business the meeting was adjourned at 9:12 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
____________________________
Approved: _____________________________
John Perrin, President