Town Council

Rocky Ripple Town Council Meeting December 13, 2023 Rocky Ripple Town Board member, Randy Sanders, called the meeting to order at 7:31 pm. Town board member Megan Hulland was present. Julie Smith, clerk treasurer, and Mike Kiefer, town marshal, were also present. Welcome Community! Town board member, Randy Sanders, 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 – November minutes were presented, Megan pointed out capitalization changes to be made at the bottom of page 1. Randy made a motion to accept the minutes with those changes, Megan seconded. All were in favor, motion unanimously passed. Treasurer Report for November 2023 – In addition to routine expenses, invoices for mowing and street paving were presented. Ending bank balance for 11/30/2023 was $81,126.31. Megan motioned to accept the Treasurer’s report and Randy seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion unanimously passed. TaeKwonDo is behind in payment for their use of the town hall. Discussion ensued about how to proceed. Discussion of Chase transition next steps – Our government entity contact at Chase Bank, Melanie Bellinger, sent us a template to fill out and return to her. Will put on hold until early January. Old Business Rocky Ripple Flood Protection: DPW Updates, ILA – On November 4, DPW sent an updated Interlocal Agreement (ILA) to the Rocky Ripple Town Council. The Board did mark up the ILA and sent it back to DPW on November 7 with some additional comments. One item questioned was an exhibit that listed the streets that the City would repave if damaged. The Board pushed back and said that all streets should be considered. The City has edited the exhibit to include all streets will be open to being repaved. Another minor item that was edited was access to all town’s property not just where the new town hall was being built. The other item questioned was the termination clause. It was changed to say that the town of Rocky Ripple can OPT OUT if they do not like the final flood protection design but before a contractor is hired. Board thought design was not final until after a contractor had looked at the plan. It is anticipated that DPW will have the final design in winter of 2024 and will then send designs to FEMA for CLOMR (Conditional Letter of Map Revision) spring of 2024. The town can also OPT OUT if it does not approve of the town hall designs. No more additional information on the internal drainage project was provided. Megan corresponded with Bruce Arick at Butler University. He said has heard nothing yet, but appraisers were out. ILA will be published on the town’s website so the community can see it. Randy will send Rachel Hunter, newly elected board member, the old copies and the most recent copy of the ILA. Megan is hoping that sometime next year that they will be able to nudge DPW for a public meeting to see all the updates. The ILA has not been signed but the board will review in 2024 when the new board is in office. CEG STEP Program Update – Mandy said there were no new updates. Cut off is here in December for anyone still interested in being part of the project. This does not include demolished homes or Town Hall. Speeding Cars in Rocky Ripple/Related Safety Concerns – Will address in spring. INDOT ADA and Title 6 Compliance Plan – No update, but we are currently in compliance. Town Manager/Marshal’s Report – On November 15th, at 1715 hours in the 5000 block of Riverview there was a call about a stray dog attacking and killing a cat. On December 4th, at 1820 hours in the 5000 block of Riverview there was a call about harassing phone calls. On December 10th, at 1325 hours in the 5300 block of Byram there was a domestic battery call with an arrest. The 2023 CCMG was closed out. Thank you to Jon Stohler for filling a number of potholes around town with asphalt. New locks will be installed. The town hall will be connected to Wi-Fi and the pavilion electrical box will have a code. Town Web Email Migration – We are completely switched over to Google for our email. It was a smooth transition. Rachel’s email, rachelohunter@rockyripple.in.gov, is up and running. Thank you to Randy for leading the charge here! Community Association Updates – Park grove update, others – The park grove was cleared and cleaned up. They did a great job. Kandy Kendall has been in touch with KIB asking about discounts and/or grants they might be aware of. The park committee will work on a plan over the winter and propose their ideas to the board in the spring. Holiday Bazaar was very successful. Nancy Barton thought it was the most steady in the 28 years that she has been in charge. Thank you for all who made baked goods to sell. There is no December meeting. Next meeting is January 16th. Bingo is happening in February. Mandy suggested a chili cook-off and pitch-in for a thank you for her service to the community. New Business – Frank’s Livery board meeting was cancelled so Megan had no updates from them. Megan wanted to send out a newsletter to the community in the new year with updates on the ILA, and the CEG project. Also, information about the chili cook-off, Bingo, and a call for someone to step forward to be Clerk-Treasurer. Matthew has been contacted to be present to swear in the new board on January 9, 2024 if Sarah is unavailable. The board will need to discuss division of duties and who will be president/chairperson of the board. Kandy Kendall will be taking the minutes of the meetings starting in the new year for the town board. Community Concerns Kathy Cancilla passed away. No additional community concerns were raised. Randy made a motion to adjourn, Megan seconded. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:29 pm. Respectfully submitted, Julie Smith