Town Council Meeting

August 20, 2020

Call to order: In person; Chad Blake, Jason Kleinbub, Teresa Retherford, Lindsay Washmuth, Paula Lee, and Kourtney Krabbe. Attending virtually, Jeff Graham, Town Attorney.

Blake opened the meeting to public comment. As no comment was made, public comment was closed, and regular meeting began.

Blake stated Officer Montgomery approached him about a charity bike ride on August 22^nd from 5pm to 10pm with Smokey’s Concession stand being their final stop. There will be a police escort for the entire ride. They are asking to close down 8^th Street between Main & Woodward for the event. Kleinbub made motion to close down 8^th Street, Washmuth 2^nd, all were in favor.

Katie Hutchison from Lapel Girls Softball approached the Council asking for help to get Brookside Park some additional fencing. The current fencing is 20ft high, but some foul balls still tend to get over the fence which cause a risk of injury to spectators. LGS was able to get a grant through Dicks Sporting Goods for $3,000, LGS was able to pitch in $2,400 from softball funds, and $2,000 from a fundraiser, but they are still $2,000 short. Hutchison asked if they could get $1,000 from the park fund, and a $1,000 from the Town to cover the remaining costs.  Kleinbub stated he would prefer to donate the money to the Park Board, and let them decide what to do with the money from there. Motion was made to donate $1,000 from Cascaden Fund to the Park Fund by Blake, 2^nd by Washmuth, all were in favor.

Motion made by Washmuth to suspend the regular Town Council Meeting and open the public hearing for the OCRA Grant, 2^nd by Retherford, all were in favor.

Neil Brook from Kleinpeter Consulting stated the Town is currently seeking a water grant from OCRA in the amount of $700,000. The Town will be contributing a local match of $4,021,200. The local match will consist of $66,000 in the form of water operating funds, and a loan in the amount of $3,955,200 from the State Revolving Fund. The proposal has to be submitted to OCRA on 9/24/2020, followed by a 2^nd public hearing in October. All applications are due 11/20/2020, and awards will be given out December 17, 2020.  Rob from CommonWealth stated that the town is pursuing the max OCRA Grant of $700K, as well as supplement funding through SRF. Proposals of the water project are available at Town Hall, and any questions need to be submitted in writing to Town Hall. Ken De Le Bastide asked if the proposal had a plan to cover growth for the next twenty years. Rob stated that was included in the proposal.

Motion to close public hearing, and reopen regular meeting made by Blake, 2^nd by Kleinbub, all were in favor.

Motion to accept Resolution 7-2020 made by Retherford, 2^nd by Washmuth, all were in favor.

Motion to accept Resolution 8*2020 made by Washmuth, 2^nd by Retherford, all were in favor.

Motion to suspend regular Town Council Meeting and open public hearing for zoning amendment made by Retherford, 2^nd by Blake, all were in favor.        

Neil Stephenson from MCCOG stated that V1.10.5, V2.1.2 & 2.3, V6.1.2, V7.1.2, V8.1.2, V9.1.2, and V10.1.2 adds agriculture, and commercial event centers to the zoning codes. No questions or comments were made about the amendments, so motion to close the public hearing, and resume the regular hearing made by Blake, 2^nd by Kleinbub, all were in favor.

Motion to approve ordinance 8-2020 as presented made by Retherford, 2^nd by Kleinbub; all were in favor.

Motion to waive 2^nd & 3^rd readings of ordinance 8-2020 made by Washmuth, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor.

Motion to approve memorandum of executive session made by Retherford, 2^nd by Blake; all were in favor.

Employee Insurance: Billy Kirkham, the Town’s insurance representative, has been working on a new insurance quote for the Town to raise the premium up 2% over 2020 rates, and lower the deductible by $500. More information will be provided at next Council Meeting.

RQAW bill: The Town received a bill from RQAW last month that included an item that should have been included in the Community Crossings Project for a total of $975.00. The Council voted last month not to pay the bill, but Krabbe now has questions as to what is the next step. Jeff Graham spoke up and stated that his office can contact RQAW, and take care of this bill. Motion to authorize Graham & Blake as members of the town to dispute the RQAW bill made by Blake, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor.

South Madison Community Foundation has $1,075 they have given to the Council to award to an organization of the Lapel Schools. Last year the funds were rolled over, so now the Council needs to decide what to do with it this year. Item was tabled until next Council Meeting so we can reach out and figure out which clubs are in need of additional funding.

PTO roll over: The current handbook states that employees are eligible to roll over up to 80 hours of vacation time to the following year. Due to COVID-19, a few employees have had their vacation plans canceled, and are unable to use their allotted vacation time. Kleinbub proposes to allow employees to roll over 120 hours of vacation this year ONLY due to COVID-19. Motion made by Blake to allow the rollover of 120 hours, 2^nd by Kleinbub; all were in favor.

WC Sign has quoted $1,752.56 for the sidewalk railing that would go in front of Town Hall. Kleinbub makes a motion to accept WC Signs quote, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor.

Sidewalk Project: The Utility Crew has measured the sidewalks of the residents that have opted into the Sidewalk Project. Paula Lee is asking for Council permission to send out bids as soon as they are ready. Motion made for Lee to send out bids made by Blake, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor.

Office Update: The Governor of Indiana would like to see offices offer payment plans for those who are 30days+ behind on their utility bills. The Town of Lapel has approximately 10 residents in the $600 range. Lee states we could offer a payment plan that would divide the past due amount up over a period of 6 months, and that monthly amount would be added to residents’ regularly scheduled utility bill. Kleinbub would like to waive all penalties on the payment agreement. Kleinbub also stated that residents wishing to be on the payment plan must come in to Town Hall to sign their agreement by 9/17/2020, and they must stick to their agreement. Failure to stick to the agreement will result in a disconnection of utility services. Motion made by Washmuth to put a payment plan into place, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor.

Utility Update: The Utility Crew would like to get a GIS system to help keep track of town utility lines. They received quotes from USDI, iamGIS, and Ziptility. Blake asked if the crew has reached out to any of our neighboring communities to see what kind of systems they are using. Mary Armacost, Utility Superintendent stated that they have not called local communities, but she is familiar with iamGIS. Brandon Hutchison stated iamGIS is a small community/municipality based system. Motion made to purchase iamGIS system for $15,000 made by Retherford, 2^nd by Washmuth; all were in favor.

Brandon Hutchison, Lapel Gas Superintendent, would like the Council to approve a gas main extension that would involving USDI boring under 300S. Currently the closest shut off valve is at 10^th&Vine, which would cause a lot of gas outages if it had to be shut off for repairs. This extension would put the system on a loop, and reduce the amount of outages. USDI estimates the cost to be $7,000. Motion to approve USDI to complete project made by Kleinbub, 2^nd by Washmuth; all were in favor.

On August 14^th Hutchison received a call & work order from Town Hall stating that the owner at 1219 Erie Street was smelling gas since his meter had been removed in May 2020. When Hutchison arrived he found the homeowner had cut his gas meter riser in half, which was causing the leak. Hutchison has already reported the incident to the IURC, but would like to know if we need to do anything on the Town side. A motion was made by Blake to authorize litigation against the homeowner, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor. Blake stated a riser needs to be put back in place, or the line completely abandoned so this incident doesn’t happen again. Jeff Graham recommends the Town get a police report filed, and making a call to the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office.

Motion made to accept August docket claims by Blake, 2^nd by Kleinbub; all were in favor.

300 S Crosswalk: A complaint from a resident was made about the 300S Crosswalk. The crew will repaint this crosswalk once their paint order comes in. The school has also been contacted about the flashing lights for the crosswalk.

After hour’s calls: Currently town employees get paid a minimum of 2 hours overtime for each call out they receive. This past weekend a single resident called 4 times in one day for the same issue. Council would like to see the Town cover the first call for a turn on/turn off meter, but each call after that in the same day for the same property would be charged to the homeowner. Town Attorney will work on typing up an ordinance for the council meeting in September.

Stop signs at Main Street: Kleinbub stated that two of the four stop signs are black with a new design, and the other two are silver with the old design. He would like to see all four signs match. Blake stated he would reach out to the supplier.

Planning Update: John Lavine from MCCOG responded to the newspaper ad for a new comprehensive plan, and attend the Planning Commission Meeting last Thursday. The PC voted to send MCCOG proposal to the Council. Retherford asked if the Council needs to seek other bids, or accept MCCOG. Blake recommends seeking other bids that will be due before September 17, 2020.

Park Update: Due to a delay in notice posting the additional appropriations could not be voted on this meeting. However, Kleinbub would like for Park to be able to continue to make purchases, as their bills would not be due until the following Council Meeting when they are able to vote on additional funding for the park department. Blake made a motion for Park Board to make purchases up to $11,000, 2^nd by Washmuth; all were in favor.

Central Park needs a cleanup due to it being the center of the downtown area. Kleinbub would like to see trees trimmed, and mulch put down before Pax Verum has their Octoberfest the first weekend in October. The walkway of the park also needs to be ADA complaint as it is currently a gravel path. Council will look into the cost of paving the path through the park.

Police Update: Chief Naselroad informed the Council that their new vests officially came in. He also submitted a wish list to the Council for items needed in 2020 but not covered in their current budget. 1)13 Motorola Batteries for  $1,534 2) 50 Taser Cartridges for $1,412.50 3) Police One LMS for $500 and 4) Hand-held radar price TBA. Chief Naselroad met with Tom Marvel and Chad Blake who approved the purchase of item number 3. Due to COVID, our officers have not had the chance to go to trainings. This system will allow them to get the training they need via online services, and can be done over a period of time. Chief Naselroad stated that the police department is aware of the current school traffic issue, and is going to give them a couple weeks to try and find a routine. If the problem is not fixed in a couple weeks the police will step in to take action. The school is open to meeting & discussing a plan with anyone that has any ideas.

Due to no further items to be discussed, meeting was adjourned.

 

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