City Council

New Carlisle Town Council 124 E. Michigan Street, New Carlisle, Indiana General Meeting, June 4, 2024, 6:40PM President Kauffman called the meeting to order with Council Member Colanese, Council Member Abbott, Marshal Croymans, Public Works Director John Mrozinski, Special Projects Assistant Susan Moffitt, Town Attorney Andrea Halpin, Town Engineer Jared Huss, Deputy Clerk Yvonne Hoffmaster, and Clerk-Treasurer Julie Brown present. Also in attendance: JJ LaBounty (LFA), Bob Middlebrook, Carol Middlebrook, Chad Hess (NCFD), Carl Brown-Grimm, Olivia Nix and Donny Ritsma. Absent : Vice President Doll and Council Member Short. Approval of Minutes Approval of minutes from May 21st, Public Hearings, and May 21st, General Meeting. Motion was made to accept by Council Member Abbott and seconded by Council Member Colanese. Motion was approved 3-0. Visitor Comments -None Employee Reports • Marshal Brent Croymans -Presented monthly reports to the Council • Bob Middlebrook -None • Town Attorney, Andrea Halpin -Stated she worked on special projects and attended meetings. • Jared Huss, Town Engineer -Evaluating another option for the metering station to help the Town save money and provide opportunity for future expansion, if necessary. -Thanked Yvonne and Julie for the update on the obligation deadline of the SLFRF (ARPA Funds), which will go hand and hand with the metering stations. He will keep his “foot to the peddle” on it. -CCMG is being currently advertised and bid opening is on June 18th, which will give us plenty of time to get everything reported to the state by the August 11th deadline. -Continues to work on both water treatment plant projects and all details involved with that. General Meeting, June 4, 2024 Page 2 -Working on interlocal agreements and water supply agreements. • John Mrozinski, Public Works Director -June 17th will be when Ritschard will start on the church demolition. Parts of Front Street will be closed throughout the project. - He received quotes for tennis court/pickleball court. He is reaching out to another company for more estimates. The options ranged from $30,000 to $127,000. -He also received quotes for striping the parking lots but waiting for other bids to come in. -John stated that Perry will be transferring into the Electrical Department at the beginning of the next pay period, which will be June 13th. There is an in-house posting for another Town Crew Leader to which he has one applicant and will work through the process during the week. -Council Member Colanese asked John if the pickleball court project money has been appropriated for this year? John replied that we have a certain amount of money for capital projects that were not slated for this project and have been looking at possible grants. It has been more of a project than anticipated. The tennis court is really in rough shape. Old Business • Donohue; Engineering Services Agreement for Water Utility PER for SRF Funding Project. Jared explained that the agreement is to amend changes for the work that has been completed on our behalf for the Cliffs treatment plant assessment that will hopefully reduce the impact on the residents for that project. Additional services beyond the original agreement in order to complete the application in a timely manner. Signature and approval needed for the additional amount. Council Member Colanese made a motion to approve the new agreement not to exceed $37,000 and was seconded by Council Member Abbott. Motion carried 3-0. New Business • Approval of the updated Town Crew Leader job description. John explained that we took out the WT required license which is for the water treatment plant. President Kauffman asked if there was a copy in her packet, explained that I (Julie Brown) did not print them since they were previously emailed and apologized. A motion was made by Council Member Colanese and was seconded by Council Member Abbott. Motion was carried 3- 0. Ordinances & Resolutions • Ordinance #1468; Additional Appropriation in the budget of the Public Safety Local Income Tax (PS LIT) to Fund additional personnel and equipment. President Kauffman read the Ordinance by Caption Only for the third and final reading. Council Member Abbott asked about the previous meeting where the council voted on each project individually. Explained we are just moving the money so the Town can fund the projects that were previously approved and not all the monies will necessarily be spent. A motion was made by Council Member Abbott and seconded by Council Member Colanese. Motion carried 3-0. General Meeting, June 4, 2024 Page 3 • Resolution #24-06-04-01; Approve 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Carl Brown-Grimm spoke of the Comprehensive Plan and its basics. Carl explained that it has been adopted unanimously at the May 21st meeting by the Area Plan Commission. I also let everyone know that the Comprehensive Plan is a pop-up on our website along with a link at the bottom of the page. Council Member Abbott made the motion to accept the Comprehensive Plan and was seconded by Council Member Colanese. Motion carried 3-0. • Ordinance #1469; Amendment to Salary Ordinance #1458 and Add Positions. President Kauffman read the Ordinance by Caption Only for its first reading. Council Reports • Council Member Colanese -Fire Territory has the contract renewal coming up soon which is every 2 years. -He believes everything is going well with the utility departments. • Council Member Abbott -Park Board met and they are really pushing the summer programs. There are advertisements on Facebook. -Concerns with the Splash Pad hours were brought up. Alison asked John if he had anything to add to the conversation. John stated that we had run the numbers for the last eight days since it was opened. John asked me (Julie) to present the numbers. I let the council and audience know that in just eight days the pad used approximately 224,000 gallons of water, at the cost to the Town of around $3500 between wastewater and water. Reminding everyone that the wastewater rates will be going up 20% July first so the cost will increase. At the usage rate with the current hours of 12p-6p, we will consume our budget by the end of September. Gave my recommendation of closing the pad on Monday and Tuesday, keeping the hours on Wednesday and Thursday the same and extending the hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10a-8p. Presented a couple of hour changes requested by residents; one suggestion was 10a-1p and then 5p-8p. Other suggestions were 9a-8p. Explained the split hours are good but with all the park rentals on every Saturday in June/July that people are more than likely wanting to use the pad during the rental hours. John suggested we just watch the water usage especially with the 20% wastewater increase and pay attention to what is going on time wise vs. gallons used. He understands that people are frustrated with the hours, but it is very costly. Mallory from the Park Board stated they would recommend running the water for shorter periods of time. Jerry Colanese asked what the cost was per month last year, let him know it was on an average of $20,000-$25,000 per month and reminded him that we didn’t start until July of last year. Jerry stated that this month will be approximately $14,000 but the weather hasn’t been that great and he feels that once the weather warms up that the cost will be between $25,000-$30,000/monthly especially once the rate increase hits. He feels it would be a good idea to cut back on the run- time. Jerry explained the way our system runs with the Indiana laws, how it has to go through our sewers, and that is what we are up against on the cost. We can’t bankrupt the town to run it. Alison asked if we would be able to put something up on our website asking for a poll from the residents to put in their ideas and to also make it transparent with the costs, etc. Jared stated that it was a good idea to put the costs related out on our website or General Meeting, June 4, 2024 Page 4 Facebook, so everyone has a clear understanding of what is involved with running the Splash Pad. He did not feel that the poll would be a good idea because of the possible disappointment of the residents if they make suggestions and we can’t adhere to their requests and also the amount of responses that come in may be overwhelming to the Clerk’s Office. Jerry mentioned that we are trying to find a benefactor to help pay for the operation of the Splash Pad. Marcy stated that the board will take it all under advisement and try to make a decision that makes the best sense. • President Kauffman -There have been meetings with Carl Brown-Grimm and Olivia Nix from MACOG to discuss looking at our zoning to have it updated. On an immediate level, Olivia will be helping with an RFQ (request for qualifications). They will be discussing what the needs for the town are and seeking bids from interested parties who are willing to help us update our zoning to get it more in line with the needs/wants of the Town. Also, Carl and Olivia will be “spot checking” on some specific areas and make any amendments to get some things in place that the board feels are in immediate need regarding zoning issues. Next meeting is Thursday, June 6th. Clerk-Treasurer Report -None Bills to be Paid Council Member Abbott motioned for all bills to be paid that are on the docket and Council Member Colanese seconded the motion. All approved 3-0. Adjournment Upon a motion by Council Member Colanese and seconded by Council Member Abbott, the meeting adjourned at 7:05PM. ____________________________________________ Marcy Kauffman, Council President Attest: _______________________________________ Julie Brown, Clerk-Treasurer