Town Council

Rocky Ripple Town Council Meeting May 7, 2024 Rocky Ripple Town Board member, Randy Sanders, called the meeting to order at 7:34 pm. Town board members Rachel Hunter, Randy Sanders and Megan Hulland were present. Julie Smith, clerk treasurer, Mike Kiefer, town marshal, were 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 Miscellaneous – Julie and Randy to meet with auditor Brooke Nelson on Thursday. Minutes – April minutes were presented with no changes. Rachel made a motion to accept the minutes as written, Megan seconded. All were in favor, motion unanimously passed. Treasurer Report for April 2024 – Portion of town insurance bill was paid, as was first park toilet bill for the year. Randy questioned the $1800 2015 directive allocation on the ledger; Julie explained that this money was earmarked due to a request made in 2015. Julie will investigate next steps for these funds, as they have been set aside for almost nine years. Ending bank balance for 4/30/2024 was $95,147.31. Megan motioned to accept the Treasurer’s report and Rachel seconded the motion. All were in favor, motion unanimously passed. Revised June meeting date – Randy reminded residents that the June meeting has been adjusted and will take place Tuesday, June 4th. Old Business Rocky Ripple Flood Protection: DPW Updates, ILA – John Barth, District 7 Representative, delivered the Board’s formal request for a public meeting to review 100% design plans with DPW. DPW is reluctant to have a public meeting but has indicated they would be happy to answer questions via email and meet with residents individual on an as needed basis. Megan expressed frustration and the need for a public meeting and mentioned the need to escalate the request to the Mayor. Randy suggested that we continue to collect questions in the meantime in an effort to get things answered. Rachel also proposed we take DPW up on their offer to carve out time for individual resident discussion sessions. Several residents asked clarifying questions; a resident expressed dismay that the Board has not yet moved forward to conduct a town-wide survey. Randy explained that the Board was waiting for additional information, which DPW mentioned would only be clarified when the CLOMR was complete in 2025 and that those clarifications could sway how some people vote on the project. Megan mentioned that Rocky Ripple is not clear on the status of the CLOMR currently; a resident suggested that the Board could make an information request of FEMA if DPW was not able to provide the information directly. The Board will continue to collect questions from residents and will work with John Barth to help determine the best path forward. CEG STEP Program Update – Citizens Energy Group (CEG) continues to complete restoration in the neighborhood. Several residents have reached out to determine when their homes will be have restoration completed and the Board has been coordinating with CEG to track down answers. Speeding Cars in Rocky Ripple/Related Safety Concerns – No update for this month. Will address with Michael Lofton from Butler University in an upcoming board meeting. INDOT ADA and Title 6 Compliance Plan – No update for this month; Megan wants to bring her past research forward in an upcoming board meeting. Rachel is working on reformatting Rocky Ripple’s ordinance document now to simplify future editing. Town Manager/Marshal’s Report – Two complaints this month related to vandalism. A resident reported kids on a golf cart using foul language and making threats. The park also had trash dumped and one of the swing sets wrapped around the top. Marshal Mike plans to bring responses from his requests bids for Community Crossings Grant (CCG) to the next board meeting. Marshall Mike explained that town insurance is all covered until next April; the town is covered for the Festival. Randy mentioned wanting to run the Festival vendor agreement by town lawyer Sarah Guffey to make sure our agreements reflect guidance from our insurer. Community Association Updates – Park grove update, others –Replanting of park grove completed by volunteers. Julie mentioned that she would need to track water usage year over year to determine how much RRCA should contribute to the water bill for increased usage and watering. May clothing swap went well; RRCA plans to continue hosting the event. Games in the park were also positive, although not many attendees played games. Not much on the calendar in the near term; Festival planning to ramp up this summer. RRCA Business Meeting to take place on 5/28; two officer positions (Treasurer and Vice President) are up for grabs. Capital Asset Ordinance – No comments received on the Capital Asset Ordinance language. Randy made a motion to accept the ordinance as written, Rachel seconded. Motion passed and will be adopted. New Business Update to Rental Forms – Randy mentioned that we have been getting a lot of interest in rental of town hall and the park pavilion lately. This has been positive, but there have also been a number of last minute no-shows. Randy has proposed adding a fee for last-minute cancellations. There was some confusion around table and chair rentals at town hall; Randy had accidentally been charging for rentals, while these have typically been included along with the facility rental fee. This will be addressed with the renters and repaid. The Board will look into proposed adjustments to the forms before the next meeting. Community Concerns A resident raised a concern about the length of the grass in the park; Megan explained that there isn’t necessarily a set mowing schedule but that we could look into planning mowing before key events. This resident also asked about cameras in the park; Randy clarified that the park does not have Wi-Fi and the town does not have a budget to install cameras. Meeting adjourned at 9:17 pm. Respectfully submitted, Megan Hulland