Town Council Regular Meeting

TOWN COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 7:00 PM Council Chamber Bristol Municipal Complex MINUTES CALL MEETING TO ORDER - Council President Jeff Beachy called the regular council meeting to order Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 7:00pm PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Dustin Lundgren ROLL CALL Members present: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy Others in attendance: Chief Deputy Chief Dustin Lundgren, Legal Counsel Alex Bowman, Clerk- Treasurer Cathy Antonelli, Town Manager Mike Yoder, Fire Chief Nik Kantz APPROVAL OF AGENDA will stand as published APPROVAL OF INVOICES  Motion to approve the 2025 and 2026 invoices made by Cathy Burke, Seconded by Doug DeSmith. Voting Yea: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy.  Motion carries. APPROVAL OF MINUTES  Motion to approve the minutes from December 16, 2025 work session and a Council Executive meeting and meeting minutes from December 18, 2025 Council meeting made by Dean Rentfrow, Seconded by Cathy Burke. Voting Yea: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy. Motion carries. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ITEMS Consideration of tabled Bristol Commons rezoning  Motion to remove Bristol Commons from the table made by Doug DeSmith, Seconded by Jeff Beachy. Voting Yea: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy. Item put back on the table. Discussion and breakdown of the rezoning consideration and commitment terms by Legal Counsel Alex Bowman and Council President Jeff Beachy.  Motion to approve the rezoning request was made by Jeff Beachy, Seconded by Doug. Voting Yea: Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy. Voting Nay: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke. Zoning does not pass. Timbren 5-year phase-in request Confirmatory Resolution 1-15-2026-2, David Damerow of the Economic Development Corporation of Elkhart County attended, along with David Jones, VP of Finance and Neil Hodgson (CEO/Owner) of Timbren. Mr. Neil Hodgson addressed the Council, sharing information about the product and the family-owned company created back in 1968, including that the company was named after his brother-in-law, Tim and his wife Brenda, Tim’s sister). The company has a unique rubber spring technology used in vehicle and trailer suspension upgrades for hauling, towing and off-roading. They are building a 50K square foot building on the corner of Stonemont and State Road 120. The requested abatement is on real estate only, not personal property. Good scoresheet numbers and diversification in the town.  Motion to accept Declaratory Resolution No. 1-15-2026-02 made by Cathy Burke, Seconded by Dean Rentfrow. Voting Yea: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy. Motion carries. REPORTS TOWN MANAGER Mike Yoder 2026 Baker Tilly scope, hourly rate, and 2026 agreement  Motion to approve the 2026 Baker Tilly scope, hourly rate and agreement made by Gregg Tuholski, Seconded by Cathy Burke. Voting Yea: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy. Motion carries. Project SRF Disbursement requests: WWTP: SRF pay app #43 Commonwealth Engineers $29,082 SRF disbursement #44 to Crosby Construction $898,030 and $47,265 to retainage Water Tower: SRF disbursement #47 Phoenix Fabricators $33,667 and $1,772 retainage SRF disbursement 48 Phoenix Fabricators $60,438 and $3,181 retainage SRF disbursement 49 JPR engineering $19,975 SRF disbursement # 50 to Niblock $77,297 and $4,068 to retainage.  Motion to approve the six aforementioned SRF disbursements made by Dean Rentfrow, Seconded by Gregg Tuholski. Voting Yea: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy. Motion carries.  Motion to accept RR pay app #1 $289,212.30 made by Doug DeSmith, Seconded by Dean Rentfrow. Voting Yea: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy. Motion carries. Project updates | WWTP | Water Tower | Street Lights WWTP - a couple of weeks behind but soon to be ready to fill the tanks water tower – moving forward street lights - INDOT project to kick off March 1 and the street lights will have the power cut and lights taken down, leaving main street a lot darker. Council President Beachy asked if we could put lights on the telephone poles, as a temporary fix. Town Manager Mike Yoder to ask NIPSCO. HR Director Jill Swartz created a benefits chart that she created for each employee and reviewed it with the Council, showing wages, and other paid benefits, as a good tool to use going forward. CLERK-TREASURER Cathy Antonelli  Motion to publish and advance to second reading Additional Appropriation request $356,164.65 Ordinance No.2-19-2026-1 for CCMG 2025-1 project other sections of Elkhart & St. Joseph Streets made by Cathy Burke, Seconded by Jeff Beachy. Voting Yea: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy. Motion carries. TOWN MARSHAL Steve Priem was out sick. Chief Deputy Dustin Lundgren was present to review the monthly operations reporting numbers. Bristol is an extremely busy little town. While we have just under 1,800 residents, during the day our traffic flows to around 12,000. Higher population results in a higher call volume and much more monitoring for our officers. The flock safety technology was discussed and how it has a license plate reader that can assist law enforcement across counties. (examples shared were silver alerts, amber alerts, stolen vehicles, robberies, suspended driver’s license) Council President Beachy thanked the department for all that they do to help keep us safe. FIRE CHIEF Nik Kantz Fire Chief Nik Kantz reviewed his operations report for the month. They are still down one full time fire fighter/EMT. Many of their staff are continuing their education by going to Fire Instructor II school, Advanced EMT or EMT school. Public Safety Awareness: Chief Kantz made note of the cold weather and cautioned those that use space heaters to plug them directly into an outlet and not use extension cords or power strips. Also noting to leave plenty of room around the heater. He also suggested if you are going to be out in the cold to dress in layers, making sure to have a hat and gloves and keeping a blanket in the car, in case you would be stranded for a time without heat. Chief was also pleased to announce the new fire truck is on the line being built! And he shared a few photos. Looking forward to having it in the fleet soon! Council President Beachy thanked the department for helping out on a recent event on the toll road and for all the fire department does to help our residents. Wishes for the departments safety as well. PARK BOARD – no report this evening TOWN ATTORNEY Alex Bowman Resolution 1-15-2026-1 A Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Bristol, Indiana Approving an Amending Declaratory Resolution of the Bristol Redevelopment Commission and Order of the Elkhart County Plan Commission (Raber Allocation Area).  Motion to adopt Resolution No. 1-15-2026-1 made by Dean Rentfrow, Seconded by Doug DeSmith. Voting Yea: Doug DeSmith, Dean Rentfrow, Cathy Burke, Gregg Tuholski, Jeff Beachy. Motion carries. Will plan for the Confirmatory Resolution in February. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR (Public Comments to Council) Maxine Foster, 105 County Road 104 - truck route bypass questioned INDOT commitment to put a stoplight on SR 15. Mike Yoder spoke to the process (volume of traffic) and Jeff Beachy noted that INDOT has a field office at that light and can see the activity firsthand to help justify the light. NO TOWN COUNCIL DISCUSSION ITEMS this evening NEXT MEETINGS: February 5 6:45 pm RDC meeting February 5 7:00 pm Town Council meeting MOTION TO ADJOURN made by Cathy Burke, Seconded by Doug DeSmith. All in favor.  Meeting adjourned at 7:59pm These minutes are a summary of actions taken at the Bristol Town Council meetings. The full video archive of the meeting is available for viewing at https://bristol-in.municodemeetings.com/ for as long as this media is supported. _________________________ __________________________ Jeff Beachy, Council President Cathy Antonelli, Clerk-Treasurer