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Date: December 7, 2009
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Remington Town Hall, 24 South Indiana Street
Members Present: Pat Berger, Charles Illingworth, Jim Stewart, Brian Melchi, Susie Sigo
Others Present: Mark Jones, John Flinn, Kay Brown, John Casey, Barb Lawson, Paul Westmoreland, John Schuetzenhofer, Jon Borgers, Gerald White, Richard Maxwell.
Brian Melchi opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Minutes from the November 2, 2009 meeting were approved as sent on a motion by Susie Sigo seconded by Pat Berger. Motion carried.
Gerald White with the Office of Community & Rural Affairs was present to award the CDBG Disaster Appropriation Emergency Services Grant of $500,000 to the Town of Remington to help with building the new fire station. Mr. White also stated that there would be an all-day training session for local officials on the CDBG grant program on March 24th.
Citizens: No citizens present
Department Reports
Police: Marshal Westmoreland gave his police report for the month of October. A copy of this report is on file in the Clerk-Treasurer's office.
Wastewater: No report available as Bruce Messersmith was not present.
Water: Mark Jones reported that well #7 pump had burned up. Peerless Midwest would be here some time this week to put a new one in. There had been a water main break on Brown Street that was repaired. Doors are supposed to be installed at the old town hall/fire station this week.
Street Department: John Flinn presented a quote from Brown Equipment Co. on a lease purchase program for a new leaf vac. The price for the vac is $29,000 to be paid over a 5-year program. Kay Brown stated that she would check with the Indiana Bond Bank on their Hoosier Equipment Lease Program. The interest may be less with the Bond Bank. Flinn stated that a hitch would have to be put on the truck Pat Berger asked what would be done with the leaves. Flinn stated they could be pushed to the back corner of the dump and composted. This will be tabled until the council meets for their final meeting on the 28th of December.
Flinn asked permission to get stone to place along the streets where new blacktopping had been done and some cold asphalt for patching some holes. The council had no problem with these items being purchased.
Flinn asked the council if it would be okay for he and Mark Jones to build the new office rather than contracting it out. Flinn stated that it would not take them long to do and could save the town some money. The council agreed this would be a good idea.
Flinn reported that the trees in town had been cut and the stumps ground out. He will get dirt in the spring to fill the stump holes.
Jon Borgers was present to request final Pay Application #2 for the Town & Country Construction retainage in the amount of $18,202.29 for the U.S. 24 Road Improvement Project. Susie Sigo moved to allow payment of the pay request. Charlie Illingworth seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Discussion was held on the next round of water/sewer project grants that require no match amount. KIRPC would be the one to work on this also. Jon Borgers stated he would need to get with Edwin Buswell on this. The grant would need to be in by April. Discussion about a water treatment plant for one of the projects was held. Mark Jones stated this would definitely improve the quality of water in town. Any land for a project would needs to be purchased before the application was done.
Old Business
1) Old water tower/building renovations- -discussion on replacing the old ductwork in the building was held. It was agreed that this needed to be replaced. Susie Sigo moved to accept the proposal from O'Neil Heating Cooling & Refrigeration in the amount of $1,831.00. Jim Stewart seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Mark Jones stated that he had found a place that sold replacement panels like those in the building. The cost is $7.35 each. The council agreed to the purchase on a motion by Susie Sigo, seconded by Pat Berger. Motion carried.
2) Ordinance No. 09-12-07-1 pertaining to the minimum housing standards was reviewed. Charlie Illingworth moved to adopt the ordinance. Jim Stewart seconded the motion. Motion carried. Jim Stewart moved to make Ordinance No. 09-12-07 effective upon publication. Susie Sigo seconded the motion. Brown will get with John Casey for advice on publishing.
New Business: Pat Berger was appointed as K-IRPC representative for the Town on a motion by Susie Sigo, seconded by Charlie Illingworth. Motion carried.
Clerk-Treasurer: Kay Brown asked permission to transfer money within the General Clerk-Treasurer/Town Hall budget in the amount of $1,000 from 3-310 Legal Fees to 3-311 Professional Fees to cover services provided by Tom Brock for the new fire station design. Brown also asked to transfer within the General Fund Police budget $1,600 from 1-113 Special Function Duty to 1-111 Marshal Salary; $1200 from 1-113 to 1-112 Deputy Salary; $100 from 3-391 to 3-390; $70 from 2-210 to 1-130; $200 from 3-322 to 2-230 and $150 from 3-322 to 3-321. Pat Berger moved to allow all of the transfers. Susie Sigo seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Brown presented a leak credit request from Joan Hancock for a leaking outside water faucet. Jim Steward moved to allow the leak credit. Susie Sigo seconded the motion. Motion carried.
A leak credit request was also presented for Dana Luzadder & Brandon Calvert. The leak was in the ground and the water went into the basement where the sump pump is hooked to the drain that runs to the town's sewer system. Brown stated the November billing was over $400 and the new bill coming out for December was going to be close to that. The landlord has paid what a leak credit would have been on the first billing and is waiting to see if the council will approve it. The broken line has been repaired but the sump pump is still hooked to the drain. Charlie Illingworth stated that maybe a credit of 50% could be given with the stipulation that the sump pump be detached from the basement drain. Jim Stewart moved to allow the credit. Charlie Illingworth seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Susie Sigo mentioned that the town should look into something that would mandate rental homes be inspected to keep things like the sump pump issue from being allowed.
Brown stated there was an IACT Roundtable and the IACT Legislative Conference coming up on January 18th and 19th of any of the Council members are interested in attending.
Fire Department Report: Brad Idlewine presented the fire department report for the month of November. Idlewine reported that the annual pump testing had been completed. Also, the annual pork burger and chili dinner went very well.
Clerk-Treasurer-Continued: Kay Brown presented the 2010 Fire Department Contract for the council's approval. Jim Stewart moved to approve the contract. Pat Berger seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Brown presented Declaratory Resolution No. 09-12-07 setting times for council meeting for 2010, allowing the Clerk-Treasurer to do investing of town monies and allowing the Clerk-Treasurer to pay ongoing invoices for utilities or contracts or invoices ahead of time to avoid interest or penalties. Susie Sigo moved to approve the resolution. Jim Stewart seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Brown presented Salary Ordinance No. 09-12-07-2 setting salaries for 2010 stating that it reflected no raises for anyone other than the new building commissioner. Jim Stewart moved to approve the salary ordinance. Charlie Illingworth seconded the motion. Motion carried.
At this time, Jim Stewart asked if the council could go back and visit the leak credit that had been given to Dana Luzzader and Brandon Calvert. Stewart stated that he was having a hard time allowing a credit to the landlord if the landlord knew of the leak and took quite a while to have it fixed. He also stated he did not feel it was fair for the renters to have to pay for something the landlord knew about. He stated he would like to make a motion to rescind his previous motion allowing the credit. Pat Berger seconded this motion. Motion carried. After much discussion it was decided on a motion by Jim Stewart that the council would not give a leak credit at this time; the amount of the original billing will stay until the landlord removes the sump pump from the basement drain and provides proof that this has been done. The billing and any penalties added will be reconsidered for a leak credit once everything has been corrected to the satisfaction of the wastewater superintendent, Bruce Messersmith. Charlie Illingworth seconded the motion. Motion carried. Town Attorney, John Casey, is to send a letter with this information to the landlord.
Claims were approved for payment on a motion by Susie Sigo, seconded by Charlie Illingworth. Motion carried.
Additional Business: Brian Melchi read a letter from Ryan Byrd requesting to be allowed to come in at 6:30, take a half hour lunch and leave at 3:30 for coaching weightlifting training for football players. The rest of the council had no problem with this. Byrd also asked to be allowed a new cell phone stating that the battery will not stay charged on his current one. Brown will check on the contract to see if his phone can be updated yet. The issue was tabled until the meeting on the 28th.
Discussion was held on the town manager position. Brian Melchi stated that he would see what he could come up with for advertising. This needs to be done this week.
John Flinn asked the council if they would consider giving the employees another paid personal day in lieu of not getting a pay raise for 2010. Brian Melchi stated the council more than likely would not do this because a merit raise at the council's discretion had been added to the salary ordinance.
Charlie Illingworth asked if anything had been done yet on getting the plan commission started on their meetings. There is not president so no meeting can be called. John Casey is to do the training so we will need to check with him.
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.
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