Common Council

CITY COMMON COUNCIL OF HARTFORD CITY, INDIANA FEBRUARY 3, 2025 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, February 3, 2025 ROLL CALL: Members of the council present were Ron Dudelston, Michael Wolfe, Tracey Witt, Tony Scaggs, and Bill Aspy. Mayor Eckstein, City Attorney Aubrey Crist, and Clerk-Treasurer Dana Whatley were also present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Mr. Dudelston made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Mr. Scaggs seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FOR JANUARY 6, 2025: Mr. Aspy made a motion to approve the minutes for January 6, 2025 as submitted. Mr. Dudelston seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. OLD BUSINESS: A) 2ND READING OF RESOLUTION 2024-25 - A RESOLUTION GRANTING TAX ABATEMENT FOR PERSONAL PROPERTY IMPROVEMENTS (SPECIALTY T, LLC): Mr. Scaggs made a motion to approve the 2nd reading of Resolution 2024-25. Mr. Wolfe seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. B) 2ND READING OF ORDINANCE 2025-01 – SEWER USERS ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS REQUIRED BY IDEM: Mr. Scaggs made a motion to approve the 2nd reading of Ordinance 2025-01. Mr. Dudelston seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. C) DOG-AT-LARGE DISCUSSION: Council discussed re-writing the animal control ordinance. Attorney Crist stated that she can present a rough draft of an amended ordinance for council to entertain. Mr. Dudelston made a motion to table this topic until the April meeting. Mr. Scaggs seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. D) TRAVIS WILLIAMSON – JETTER TRUCK: Mr. Williamson explained to council that his department’s Jetter Truck is at the end of its useful life and is really limping along. He asked for permission to spend over $10,000 to purchase a new Jetter truck. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0.  E) NOISE ORDINANCE DISCUSSION: Attorney Crist stated that she is working on a draft ordinance to present to council for their review. Mr. Dudelston made a motion to table this topic until the March meeting. Mr. Scaggs seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. NEW BUSINESS: A) SMOKER PURCHASE – NEWBERRY BUILDING: The Mayor explained that the restaurant lease is moving along, and we have some changes to make for the Newberry building that the restaurant needs before they can open. One item is a permanent fixture to the Newberry building and that is a smoker. There was discussion about the quote and what this installation means to the building. Mayor Eckstein asked council if they would consider having the city pay for this smoker. Mr. Scaggs made a motion to approve the city’s purchase of the smoker. Mr. Dudelston seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. B) PLEDGE TOWARDS 4-H GROUNDS COMMUNITY CENTER CONTINGENT UPON CONFIRMATION OF PROJECT PLANS: Mayor Eckstein updated everyone on the proposed plans for the Blackford County Community Center. He asked council to consider pledging $100,000 contingent upon the plans being approved. This process would eventually make it back to council for their approval, as well. Mr. Dudelston made a motion to pledge $100,000 to this project if approved. Mr. Scaggs seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. C) BLACKFORD COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 2025 FUNDING: Mayor Eckstein explained that the Board of Works approved the contract submitted by the BCEDC for 2025. He stated that $35,000 was budgeted for this contract. He asked council to decide how much they want to appropriate for 2025. Mr. Scaggs made a motion to approve paying $35,000 for the 2025 contract. Mr. Wolfe seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. D) PARKING ISSUE AT NORTH MICHIGAN AND GREENBRIAR DRIVE: DPW Superintendent, Jeff Thomas explained that there is a parking issue at the intersection of North Michigan and Greenbriar Drive. He is requesting to place a no parking sign there. Attorney Crist will draft an ordinance for council’s consideration. There was no other action taken. MAYOR’S COMMENTS A.) Mayor Eckstein stated that he and Clerk-Treasurer Whatley have been working on live streaming for meetings coming up this spring. He stated that council has approved the expenditures, and they have been looking at companies to help us with this endeavor. He stated that we have chosen Sharp to provide the hardware piece and we are talking to a couple of different companies that will provide the software configuration. B.) Mayor Eckstein explained that Cheri Brown has her first thirty days in as Community Development Director, and she has been helping him with the bike/pedestrian planning grant and working with Montpelier and Mayor Neff. He hopes that the two communities can work together on this respective project. CLERK-TREASURER COMMENTS: NONE COUNCIL COMMENT: NONE PUBLIC COMMENT: MS. CHERI BROWN - Ms. Brown explained that she will be meeting with civic organizations to have a conversation and find out how everyone is doing and find out what their needs and plans are. Cheri stated that she would love to be able to watch for potential opportunities that come her way that could benefit these organizations. MR. BILL SMITH – EMA – Mr. Smith presented council with a copy of the FEMA Debris Management Plan for the city’s records. Clerk-Treasurer Whatley stated that she would send copies to the council and keep a copy of it in the FEMA binder in her office. MR. TRAVIS WILLIAMSON – Mr. Williamson explained to council that the Grinder Macerator needs replaced. He asked for permission to spend over $10,000 for the replacement of this equipment. Mr. Scaggs made a motion to approve the expenditure. Mr. Aspy seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Michael Wolfe – YAY, Tracey Witt – YAY, Bill Aspy – YAY, Ron Dudelston – YAY, Tony Scaggs – YAY. The vote to approve was 5-0. ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF, RON KREISCHER – Mr. Kreischer invited everyone to the open house for the Fire Training Center on Sunday, February 9th at 2:00pm. ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business, Mr. Scaggs made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 6:38pm. FOLDER 2/REC 54