Common Council

CITY COMMON COUNCIL OF HARTFORD CITY, INDIANA OCTOBER 2, 2023 MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER & WELCOME: Mayor Eckstein called to order a meeting of the Common Council of the City of Hartford City at 6:00pm on October 2, 2023. ROLL CALL: Members of the council present were Michael Wolfe, Dustin George, Ron Dudelston, Ron Parrott, and Tony Scaggs. Also present were Mayor Dan Eckstein, Attorney Brandon Murphy, and Attorney Patrick Wright. Clerk-Treasurer Dana Whatley was also present. Mr. Ron Dudelston made a motion to suspend the regular council meeting for the purpose of conducting a public hearing. Mr. Dustin George seconded the motion. The vote to suspend the council meeting was 5-0. PUBLIC HEARING – HARTFORD CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY: Ms. Michele Risinger approached the council asking for additional appropriations in the amount of $15,000 for a roof repair. There was no public comment. Mr. Tony Scaggs made a motion to close the public hearing. Mr. Ron Dudelston seconded the motion. The vote to close the public hearing was 5-0. Mr. Tony Scaggs made a motion to re-open the regular council meeting. Mr. Ron Parrott seconded the motion. The vote to re-open the regular council meeting was 5-0. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Clerk-Treasurer Whatley stated that the agenda needed to be amended to add the Library Resolution as item “A” under New Business and all other items would be moved down one letter following that. Mr. Ron Dudelston made a motion to approve the amended agenda. Mr. Ron Parrott seconded the motion. The vote to approve the amended agenda was 5-0. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES FOR SEPTEMBER 5, 2023: Mr. Dustin George made a motion to approve the minutes of September 5, 2023 as submitted. Mr. Ron Parrott seconded the motion. The vote to approve the minutes was 5-0. OLD BUSINESS: 2ND READING OF ORDINANCE 2023-06 – 2024 BUDGET: Mr. Dustin George made a motion to approve Ordinance 2023-06. Mr. Tony Scaggs seconded the motion. The vote to approve Ordinance 2023-06 was 5-0. 2ND READING OF ORDINANCE 2023-07 – 2024 SALARY ORDINANCE: Mr. Tony Scaggs made a motion to approve Ordinance 2023-07. Mr. Dustin George seconded the motion. The vote to approve Ordinance 2023-07 was 5-0. NEW BUSINESS: LIBRARY RESOLUTION FOR ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS: Mr. Michael Wolfe made a motion to approve the resolution for the additional appropriations requested. Mr. Dustin George seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 5-0. MS. CINDY GROSS – ARTS COUNCIL – HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR OCTOBER 27. 2023: Ms. Gross explained to council about the upcoming event and requested for some streets downtown to be closed during that time. Mr. Ron Dudelston made a motion to approve the street closures. Mr. Tony Scaggs seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 5- 0. MS. ANNE OWEN – ROAD CLOSURE REQUEST FOR UPCOMING EVENTS: Ms. Owen was unable to attend this meeting and asked to have this request tabled until November. Mayor Eckstein did ask on behalf of Ms. Ashley Laurence for permission to close streets for the Chamber of Commerce Halloween Parade and 4th Saturday event on Saturday, October 28, 2023 and for the Christmas Market to be held on November 4, 2023. Mr. Tony Scaggs made a motion to approve this request for street closures. Mr. Dustin George seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 5-0. PARKS DEPARTMENT – PURCHASE JOHN DEERE 1025R – SPEND OVER $10,000: Council was given detailed information regarding this purchase via email and the request was brought to them tonight for a formal vote. Mr. Ron Dudelston made a motion to grant the request to spend over $10,000 for this utility tractor. Mr. Ron Parrott seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 5-0. ATTORNEY PATRICK WRIGHT – SUPPLEMENTAL AMENDMENT TO AGREEMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES RELATING TO OPIOIDS SETTLEMENT: Attorney Wright explained that this amendment would significantly reduce the attorney fees associated with this class action lawsuit from 33 1/3% to 8%. He explained that the Board of Works approved this agreement and referred it to the council for their vote. Mr. Ron Dudelston made a motion to approve this agreement. Mr. Ron Parrott seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 5-0. MR. JEFF THOMAS: A.) EMERGENCY EXPENDITURE TO REPAIR THE 2004 TRASH TRUCK SPENDING OVER $10,000: Mr. Tony Scaggs made a motion to grant permission to spend over $10,000 on this repair. Mr. Dustin George seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 5-0. B.) NEW GARBAGE TRUCK: Mr. Thomas asked the council’s permission to start the process of purchasing a new garbage truck to replace the 2004 truck that was just  repaired. He explained that the newest garbage truck (2020) in his fleet will be paid off in 2025. He stated that if he places the order for a new truck in January of 2024 it has an 18-month lead time so by the time it’s ready for service the 2020 truck will be paid off and then he can start financing for the new one. Mr. Tony Scaggs made a motion to approve the purchase of a new garbage truck. Mr. Ron Dudelston seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 5-0. MAYOR ECKSTEIN – ANIMAL SHELTER ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURE: Mayor Eckstein explained that we have reached our contracted number of animals to be picked up by the animal shelter for 2023. He was asking for additional funding to be allowed to finish out the year. The animal shelter representatives were in attendance and there was much discussion about our current situation and the contract for 2024 and how to proceed going forward. Mr. Tony Scaggs made a motion to pay the animal shelter an additional $5,000 to cover the last 3 months of 2023. Mr. Dustin George seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 5-0. CLERK-TREASURER WHATLEY: A.) RIGHT-OF-WAY APPROVAL FOR AEP PROJECT: Clerk-Treasurer Whatley reminded council of the email she had sent them regarding this project on Water St. and asked for a formal vote. Mr. Tony Scaggs made a motion to approve this ROW project. Mr. Dustin George seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 5-0. B.) ON BEHALF OF MR. BILL SMITH – EMA: Clerk-Treasurer Whatley advised council on behalf of Mr. Smith that EMA will be holding a LEPC Tabletop Exercise on November 8, 2023 from 9am-12noon at the 4-H building. He wanted to make sure the council knew they were invited to participate. MAYOR’S REPORT: A.) Mayor Eckstein stated that he had received a request for a stop sign at Richmond & Ohio / Richmond & Kentucky. Police Chief Crouse stated that the PD had monitored those intersections and saw nothing noteworthy that would be problematic. No action was taken. B.) COVID POLICY: Mayor Eckstein said that COVID is starting up again and we have a couple of employees that currently tested positive. He asked the council if they wanted to make any changes to the city’s COVID policy or leave it the way it currently is. It was decided to take no action on the policy. COUNCIL COMMENT: MR. DUSTIN GEORGE: Mr. George stated that someone has been tampering with the service panel in the breaker box at Weiler Plaza. He requested that a lock be placed on the box to prevent that from happening again. PUBLIC COMMENT: OFFICER SCOTT MEALY: Officer Mealy brought up a good point about the animal shelter. He stated that in his over 19 years on the police force he had never once been called out on a vicious cat call. He recommended for next year’s contract that we be more concerned about dogs than cats in our annual pickup numbers. ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business from the Common Council, Mr. Ron Dudelston made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 6:54pm. FOLDER 2/REC 170722_002