Town Council

Rocky Ripple Town Council Meeting January 9, 2024 Rocky Ripple Town Board member, Megan Hulland, called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. Town board members Rachel Hunter and Randy Sanders were present. Julie Smith, clerk treasurer, Mike Kiefer, town marshal and Sarah Guffey, legal counsel, 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. Swearing in of new RRTB – Sarah Guffey helped swear in the new board: Megan Hulland, Rachel Hunter and Randy Sanders. Board members took their oaths and Sarah mentioned she would file paperwork with the Election Board to make everything official. Town Positions – Randy mentioned the need to determine different leadership positions in the town, including President, Vice President, and Chair. Megan suggested that board members could read descriptions of the different positions on the state website and make a decision at the February meeting. Marshal Mike explained that the town would need to have a President in place to sign off on the Community Crossings Grant (CCG) for road paving in this meeting. Randy nominated Megan and Megan nominated Randy. After some discussion, Randy agreed to serve as President for the town with the understanding that the board may rotate and revisit responsibilities in the future. Clerk Treasurer Reports Miscellaneous – Julie Smith has offered to stay on as Clerk Treasurer for one additional year. Thank you, Julie, for your service to the town! A resident asked if Julie would continue to be compensated for her work and Randy confirmed that yes, she would continue to be paid. Megan expressed to residents to continue to consider the position of Clerk Treasurer, as Julie’s tenure is not permanent for another four years. With a new year underway, Julie mentioned that she will also manage uploading annual reports and will answer any general control questions for the town. As part of her decision to stay on for an extra year, Julie will be transitioning responsibilities for meeting minutes to members of the board; Megan will manage meeting minutes for January. Minutes – December 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 December 2023 – In addition to routine expenses, expenses for town hall repairs related to new lock installation and snowplow car wash were presented. Ending bank balance for 12/31/2023 was $98,683.33. Megan motioned to accept the Treasurer’s report and Randy seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion unanimously passed. TaeKwonDo continues to be behind in payment for their use of the town hall. Discussion ensued about how to proceed. Randy expressed that he will connect with the group at the next available opportunity. Discussion of Chase transition next steps – Julie continued to investigate the best path forward to add Megan and Randy to the bank account and remove Mandy. The board will try to find a window when they can visit the bank live and discuss. Julie will coordinate with the board and Chase to get this taken care of. Old Business Rocky Ripple Flood Protection: DPW Updates, ILA – Not many updates. Megan called Shannon Killion of DPW and Shannon shared that Mike Massonne had retired at the end of 2023. Shannon also reiterated that DPW plans to share final design with FEMA by spring 2024 and DPW plans to share design plans with Rocky Ripple before submission. No updates on internal drainage, although Shannon mentioned design was ongoing. A resident asked if the new board would still honor the intention to complete a town-wide survey before signing the ILA. Randy explained that the ILA as it currently stands is very different from the original ILA and does not lock the town into any specific design. Megan mentioned that a vote was important, but that there were aspects of the current ILA that were also critical to the town, including a “quit clause” and a commitment to DPW rebuilding the Rocky Ripple town hall. Megan said she would reach out to Shannon to get an update on budget for the project as well as more details related to timeline and request a sit down meeting for the new board. CEG STEP Program Update – No new updates. Randy and Megan have not received any updates from CEG; Randy plans to reach out before the next board meeting to make sure point of contact is transitioned from Mandy. Installations are continuing around town. Randy reminded residents that gravel fill should not be coordinated with CEG on town owned property without express permission from the board or Officer Mike. Julie mentioned she had received her first notification that sewer bills would start appearing; her system was installed four months ago, so it appears there is a bit a of a lag in installation vs. billing. No one in attendance has started to pay fees yet. 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. Megan mentioned wanting to revisit the formatting for ordinances and Randy remembered a new tool that might be able to help. Town Manager/Marshal’s Report – No police reports this month. New locks have been installed and seem to be working great; admins can track who is entering the building and have the ability to lock and unlock remotely. Town Manager is working on next steps for insurance, as Assured Partners, Rocky Ripple’s existing provider, dropped coverage for the town. There are very few options here and most are more expensive than they have been in years past. Randy has reached out to other small towns to see how they have managed. The plow truck already has two recalls; the Marshal will work to get these issues resolved. Otherwise, plow drivers have been very pleased with the new truck. Marshal Mike asked about paving priorities for this next cycle and the board agreed that the 5100-5200 block of Riverview and Lester leading into the Butler fields were top priority. Community Association Updates – Park grove update, others – The “sugar shack” park grove has been trimmed back and looks great. Clothing swap was so successful in 2023 that a swap is now planned quarterly for 2024. The first swap for the year will take place on February 4 th. A chili supper/pitch in/send-off for Mandy is planned for February (date TBD). The next Rocky Ripple Community Association meeting will take place on January 16 th. New Business – No updates. Community Concerns No community concerns were raised. Megan made a motion to adjourn, Randy seconded. All in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:36 pm. Respectfully submitted, Megan Hulland