Town Council

Rocky Ripple Town Council Meeting February 14, 2023 Rocky Ripple Town Board Chair, Mandy Redmond, called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. Town board members Megan Hulland and Randy Sanders were present. Julie Smith, clerk treasurer, and Mike Kiefer, town marshal, were also present. Welcome Community! Town board chair welcomed and thanked those who were present at town hall as well as those who are joining us for tonight’s meeting via Zoom. Clerk Treasurer Reports Minutes – January minutes were presented. Randy made a motion to accept the minutes with said corrections, Megan seconded. All were in favor, motion unanimously passed. Treasurer Report for January 2023 – The town hall gas amount is two months of bills not one. Paychex fees were higher than normal, but that includes all the year-end reporting they do for us. Other non-routine expenses included the ad for the car auction, annual bond for the Clerk Treasurer, snowplow wages, and December’s legal counsel invoice. Ending bank balance for 1/31/2023 was $154,426.73. Megan motioned to accept the Treasurer’s report and Randy seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion unanimously passed. Old Business Rocky Ripple Flood Protection: 2022 Summary; DPW Updates, ILA; town hall brainstorming sessions: Floodwall Poll Fact Sheet Committee – Mandy put together a 2022 summary. Quite a bit was accomplished by the town board in 2022 and Mandy wanted to celebrate the positives as well as give an update on the floodwall project. The blast was sent via email to all our website subscribers. It also can be found on our website located at www.rockyripple.in.gov Not much is new since that was sent out in late January. The town board has been asking DPW for a revival of the monthly meetings. However, DPW has been resistant. DPW feels their time would be better spent having a weekly update with one board member who can then share the information with the other two. Mandy has met with Shannon Killion and proposed to continue to meet with her, unless Randy or Megan wants to, so the board can have an update. DPW’s complaint about the monthly meetings was that there was too much community input when they were to be doing the business of the project. The town board will continue to push for the monthly meetings since efficiencies are gained if all three board members are present to discuss the project. DPW says they are at 90% design. The drawings are being routed internally through DPW for approval. They have more finalized drawings to share with the board. The drawings include more detail so homeowners along the river can see exactly how their outbuildings and land are being affected with the updated designs. DPW told Mandy that the appraisers will be addressing these changes with the homeowners. DPW is in the process of scheduling these appraisals. The board is not aware of any homeowners being contacted yet. DPW says that everyone with homes being demolished have been contacted. There seems to be some confusion since neither John Byrne nor Peter/Annie Horvath say they have been contacted. Mandy will inquire again regarding that matter. The board has asked to meet with the new DPW director, Brandon Herget. He will have individual meetings with each board member on February 22nd. DPW heard that the board was not happy with part of the ILA and met with Mandy regarding it. She provided some feedback to DPW and is hopeful regarding what she discussed with them. The board anticipates their final town board and town legal counsel edits to be done in the next week and will submit the ILA to the city for review and discussion. A brainstorming session for location of the new town hall was held on February 4th and great feedback was obtained from those attending. The group was divided as to where the new town hall should be located. One or two more sessions will be held regarding this matter. DPW seems to be wanting to streamline some communication and providing updates in public meetings versus going directly to the board. The city cannot proceed with construction on this project without signed agreement from the Town of Rocky Ripple. The board discussed legal fees for the outside counsel they have engaged related to guidance on the floodwall. A large portion of the fees that had been earmarked for this work have been spent. Clerk Treasurer will look to see where we might be able to cut costs and report back next month to the board. Additional appropriation might be necessary for legal counsel support. Carol Morotti filled in for Rachel Hunter as the floodwall fact sheet committee spokesperson. The committee has come up with 13 facts but are still needing more information on half of them. The committee will forward the list along with the questions they have to the board. Questions pertain to the location and design of new town hall, river access points, internal drainage issues, and impact of budget change orders. The board will oversee the actual poll. The committee does have strong opinion on doing the poll and requirements. For instance, the committee feels strongly that one ballot = one registered voter is fair, although the committee has not yet aligned on final recommendation. The board would like the committee to write down their rationale for this suggestion. Megan proposed that there be a separate meeting where the board can sit down with the fact sheet committee, get a full update, and decide next steps in moving forward. Everyone needs to be informed to cast their decision on the poll. The committee would like the ballot to be at the bottom of the fact sheet. Mandy stated the fact sheet would go out with the poll. The board will come to the next fact sheet committee meeting, which has yet to be scheduled. CEG STEP program, meeting on 22Feb2023 – There will be a Citizen’s Energy Group meeting at 6 pm on February 22nd at the Riviera Club to discuss the Rocky Ripple sewer project. Not everyone in town received a packet related to STEP enrollment. Only property owners along the river and those on Clarendon Road where the main will be installed received the packet. Other property owners received a letter informing them about the meeting. There are three phases to the project. Phase 1 is planned to begin in May 2023, phase 2 in July 2023, and phase 3 in September 2023 and will be done by January 2024. CEG is awaiting an easement from Butler University and IDEM construction permits so dates are subject to change. This project is going forward regardless of the floodwall project. What are the plans for homes scheduled to be demolished, which are listed as being part of phase 1? No clear answer to whether those residents should pay for sewers at this time. There is a Marion County Health code that requires you to hook up if you are within 50 feet of a sewer line. The board advised residents to read the STEP info provided (and posted on town website) and attend the meeting on the 22nd of February and bring any questions they have. Town Legal Counsel – vote on new counsel contract; transition date – The board interviewed several good candidates for the position. The board agreed on one candidate and have made an offer. Need to vote now on a new counsel and a contract with a date for transition. No contract was on file for this position, so Mandy drafted one. Matthew will review it. Randy made a motion to ratify the new counsel contract with a transition date of April 1st, 2023. Megan seconded. All in favor, motion unanimously approved. Town Hall Maintenance/Repairs – No repairs at this time. Sale of Old Police Car – The auction ended last week. The police car sold for $3259. The purchaser will be coming on Thursday to take possession. After that happens, Randy will go to govdeals.com and acknowledges the car has been picked up, and the money is then wired to our bank account. Clerk Treasurer will sign the title and give to the marshal who will be present on Thursday for the exchange. We will utilize the same process when we go to sell the old snowplow. Govdeals.com provided great exposure. Randy reported that the car had over 900 views, 67 people were following the auction, and it came down to a bidding war between 2 people. In the final day, it went from $2100 to the final price of $3259. American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds - Projects – All funds have been allocated. Emails about the upcoming required annual report were received and are due on April 30th. The marshal has been told that the truck has been built and is estimated to be delivered to the dealership in mid- March. The dealership will need a couple weeks to outfit the truck with the plow and the salt spreader. INDOT ADA and Title 6 Compliance Plan – A revised plan was sent the previous month. We just need to keep working on the ordinances. Town Manager/Marshal’s Report - 2023 Road Paving Grant Application – On January 15th, at 0100 in the 4900 block of Riverview there was a DUI arrest. The CCMG grant has been submitted and we are waiting for approval. Community Association Updates – Bingo was a hit on February 4th. Hot pizza was served. March 11th and April 22nd are the other two dates for Bingo. Festival talk is underway. Requests for vendors, food, and volunteers are being accepted. Still need a RRCA secretary. Easter Egg Hunt and Cake Walk are being headed up by Mandy Redmond and Diane Householder. RRCA has a meeting next week. The town board thanked the RRCA for bringing refreshments to the Town Hall brainstorming session. New Business Town Web renewal contract for town website – They are not raising our rates, but our 3-year contract is up. It is $910/year for another 3-year contract. We have seen improvements. There are still areas we have concerns about, but starting with somebody else would have its own problem and cost would be similar. Randy made a motion to pay the invoice and sign the contract for the next 3 years with Town Web. Megan seconded. All were in favor, motion unanimously passed. Megan suggested we meet with them to talk about some changes we might like to see. Clare Wildhack-Nolan Service Offerings – Clare Wildhack-Nolan wanted to stop by and introduce herself. Clare lives in the neighborhood and has lived back here for many years. She holds an elected position as a Democratic Precinct Committee Member for our area. She helps with getting the vote out and specifically Democrats to the polls. Clare also works at the Peace Learning Center, a nonprofit organization that helps with conflict resolution. Clare is specifically trained in restorative practices which means bringing communities together to build relationships and to address when harm has been done. If we were to enlist her help, she foresees our first stage would be to have a responsive circle. From that stage would come tangible needs and possible solutions which would help the community in going forward as to whom we would enlist to help us. Clare foresees some of our needs as being a way to celebrate what we are losing as a community that honors one another and our community. Clare is offering her services in helping us as a community to grieve in healthy ways regarding the impending changes anticipated as a result of the floodwall project. Town board members thanked Clare for her offer and asked that she present ideas for next steps for when a session should be held to the town board. RRTB Chair/President for 2023 – A topic that usually is in on the agenda in January, although there is no ordinance that says when we must do so, but Mandy wanted to offer chair and/or president positions to Randy and Megan if interested. Chair and President of Town Board does not need to be the same person. Randy is fine as it stands with Mandy being both. Megan would like to review the duties before deciding. Community Concerns Kandy Kendall asked if anybody is showing interest in becoming the next Clerk Treasurer since that position is vital to being a town. There are no leads at the present time. Margaret Brabant asked about the property at the end of Clarendon Road. Health department has been notified. Mandy made a motion to adjourn, Randy seconded. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 9:21 pm. Respectfully submitted, Julie Smith