Zionsville Town Council

Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 ZIONSVILLE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FOR NOVEMBER 4, 2024 AT 7:00 P.M. EST ONSITE MEETING 1100 West Oak Street This meeting was conducted onsite. All Councilors participated in person. Council Members Present: Jason Plunkett, President; Brad Burk, Vice-President; Tim McElderry, Craig Melton, Evan Norris, Sarah Esterline Sampson, and Joe Stein Also Present : Heather Harris, Town Council Attorney; Mayor John Stehr; Deputy Mayor Justin Hage; Cindy Poore, Director of Finance & Records; ZFD Chief James VanGorder; Steve Hayes, President of Local 5195 Boone County Firefighters Association; Walter Leverich, Vice-President of Local 5195 Firefighters Association; Jo Kiel, Director of Human Resources, Jarod Logsdon, Superintendent of Parks & Recreation; ZPD Chief Michael Spears; Aaron Shook, ZPD Patrol Officer; Amy Lacy, Municipal Relations Coordinator; and other Town Department Staff OPENING A. Call meeting to order B. Pledge of Allegiance Plunkett All right, good evening. I will now call to order the Monday, November 4, 2024 Town Council meeting. If you would please, stand and join me with the Pledge of Allegiance. All Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF THE MEMORANDUM OF OCTOBER 21, 2024 REGULAR MEETING Plunkett All right up first on the agenda is the approval of the October 21, 2024 Town Council meeting memoranda. A copy has been posted. Are there any questions or comments from Councilors? Having none, I would entertain a motion. Melton Motion to approve. Plunkett First from Councilor Melton. Page 1 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Sampson Second. Plunkett Second from Councilor Sampson. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 2024 PAYROLL CLAIMS Plunkett Up next is the approval of the October 24, oh, I’m sorry – October 2024 payroll claims. Are there any questions from Councilors? Having none, I would entertain a motion. Burk Move to approve. Plunkett First from Vice President Burk. McElderry Second. Plunkett Second from Councilor McElderry. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 4, 2024 CLAIMS Plunkett Up next is the approval of the November 4, 2024 claims. Are there any questions from Councilors? If none, I would entertain a motion. Stein Move to approve. Plunkett A first from Councilor Stein. Sampson Second. Plunkett A second from Councilor Sampson. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Page 2 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. REQUEST TO SPEAK Plunkett Up next is a Request to Speak on Agenda Item. Amy, do we have any requests to speak? Lacy No, we do not. MAYOR/ADMINISTRATION UPDATE Plunkett Moving along to the Mayor/Administration Update and we have Mayor Stehr with us this evening. Stehr Good evening everybody. All Good evening. Stehr My computer is not cooperating so I’ll just jump right into it. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you tonight. As you all know, Election Day is tomorrow and the polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Town Hall will be closed for business. It is a paid day off for all town employees. We’ve had five early voting days so far. Turnout has been very high and I’m happy to say that security has been effective too and we have a good plan in place. We have strong communication with the county and other agencies to make sure that Election Day is safe and secure for everyone, both tomorrow and in the coming days. And I just wanted to say one thing – while I understand that passions are running high, I want to remind everybody in the public that after November 5th we’re still all going to be neighbors so I would urge everyone to approach Election Day with mutual respect for one another. The next item I have is the SBOA process. Last meeting we talked about the State Board of Accounts audits for 2022 and 2023 and the process that will follow from here. We have been given the initial report and have filed our official response to the, prior to the deadline which was last Thursday and they have acknowledged receipt of that. They’re working on the final document which is due in the next two weeks. We will present that to the Council and the public when that is available. Also since your last meeting, we have talked about public restrooms and we’ve made progress on a temporary solution to put restrooms in the Village. I was hoping to be able to make an announcement tonight about a two-year lease to open up an existing building to the public but we are still in legal review so I’m not quite ready to make that announcement tonight and at the same time, I want you to know we’re considering a plan for signage. We don’t want to create visual pollution on our brick street but we will need a few signs to direct people to the location and we will also socialize that with downtown business owners so they can direct visitors to the right place. Important that you know that that is absolutely on our radar. Page 3 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 And the final item I have has to do with public safety. You know that coming up on your agenda tonight are proposals for Merit Boards for both our Police Department and Fire Department and a proposal to amend the Safety Board. I just wanted to say that Chief Spears and Chief VanGorder will be presenting that and I want to compliment both of them on the efforts that they have put into this and just say that I think we are very, very fortunate in Zionsville to have people of their caliber in those leadership positions and I also want you to know that for what it’s worth, that I’m in complete support of these ordinances as I believe they will benefit all of our officers and all of our firefighters. And that is all I have for now. Thank you very much. Plunkett Very good. Thank you. McElderry Thank you. TOWN COUNCIL UPDATES Plunkett Up next would be Town Council Updates. Are there any updates from Councilors? OLD BUSINESS Plunkett All right, moving on to Old Business – there are no Old Business items. NEW BUSINESS Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing the Compensation to be Paid to Officials and Employees for 2025 Ordinance 2024-27 (First Reading) Plunkett So the first item of New Business is a Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing the Compensation to be Paid to Officials and Employees for 2025. This is Ordinance 2024-27. This is a first reading and we have Director of Human Resources, Jo Kiel, here to present. Kiel Hello. Plunkett Good evening Jo. Kiel Highlights from the 2025 Salary Ordinance that have been reviewed by Heather Harris and Jon Oberlander are as follows: The 2025 Salary Ordinance Section 1 has been edited to reference Exhibit A - Salaries Set by the Mayor and Exhibit B - Salaries Set by the Town Council. Section 6 and 7 reference differential pay which has really been added to clarify current practice. Exhibit A is the Salary Administration as I said set by the Mayor which includes employees, appointed officers of committees and commissions. It includes a 4% staff-wide salary increase or increases based on the compensation study, whichever is higher, parity achieved between like positions in the Police and Fire Departments. Position updates include a Deputy Director of DPW, Parks Maintenance Skill Technician and the Payroll and Benefits Manager title has been updated to Manager, it was previously Administrator, and then an updated list of stipends. Exhibit B is the Salary Administration set by Town Council which includes the Page 4 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Mayor, members of Town Council, Judge and Prosecutor. Exhibit C is the Longevity Pay Schedule. There’s a $1,000 increase at the 20-year mark. Exhibit D is the Holiday Schedule. It’s been updated for the 2025 calendar but no new holidays. Also, there are two late-breaking changes I would like to read into the record and we’ll update the document for the second reading. The Wastewater Chief Operator salary is set at $81,830, Wastewater Lab Manager 2025 salary is set at $72,758 and I’m happy to answer any other questions you might have. Plunkett Jo – McElderry I’m just interested in knowing when we create a position how, who determines whether it’s a Manager, Director level? Like how is that, how is that determined? Kiel It’s all based on the job description. McElderry Okay. Kiel And we, if we have questions if there are no other no like like positions that we can compare it to then we have a consultant that I can call and say hey, what do you think? McElderry And then – Kiel We have a relationship with them having done salary surveys and so they will take questions anytime. McElderry Okay. I was interested in knowing just because if, if we can’t find candidates at the Manager level, have we ever considered making it a Director-level position to bring more talent to the? Kiel Sure, I would say that Directors are few and far between and there are, they are set based on the departments that we have and so I would, I think we do, I don’t think the organization is large enough to have many more Directors than we have now. McElderry Thank you very much. Kiel Yes. Stein I noticed in Exhibit A some of the new positions already have salaries listed next to them – Kiel Yes. Stein But in the Whereases up above – Kiel Yes – Stein It says that the individuals will, their salary will be paid, be based on experience, education, so on and so forth. Page 5 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Kiel The Exhibit A is the maximum salary. Stein Okay. Kiel For the position. Stein That helps. Thank you. Kiel Yes. Melton And these all fit into the 2025 budget right? Kiel They were exactly what the budget was based on. Melton Perfect. Great. Plunkett Any other questions from Councilors? I would point out this is a first reading so this is something that will be reviewed again at the next meeting for final approval. If there are no questions, I would entertain a motion. Norris I will make a motion to approve or to – Sampson Introduce. Norris Introduce on first reading Ordinance 2024-27. Plunkett I have a first from Councilor Norris. Stein Second. Plunkett Second from Councilor Stein. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Thanks Jo. Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing the Police Merit Board Ordinance 2024-28 (First Reading) Plunkett Up next is a Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing the Police Merit Board. This is Ordinance 2024-28. This is also a first reading and we have ZPD Chief Spears with us this evening. Spears Good evening everyone. Mike Spears, Police Chief. In 2023, the legislature enacted a code which requires towns and cities with a population of at least 20,000 by the end of this year to do one of two things: To either establish a Merit Commission system for oversight of its Police Department or to affirmatively opt Page 6 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 out of such a Commission. A Zionsville Police Department Merit Commission would establish a body which would govern the selection and appointment of persons to be employed as members of the Police Department and to govern the promotion, demotion, discipline and dismissal of members of the Police Department. The proposed Merit Commission would consist of five members. Two of the members are appointed by the Mayor, one from each political party, two members are elected by the active members of the Police Department, one from each political party and one member is appointed by the Town Council. In order to qualify for membership to the Commission, members must be at least 21 years of age, of good moral character and a legal resident of Zionsville for at least three consecutive years before beginning his or her term. A Commissioner may not receive renumeration as salary from the Town of Zionsville. Terms of the Commissioners are for four years. One of the Mayor’s and the Police Department’s initial appointees, however, shall have terms of two years to provide for staggered terms after that four-year period. The establishment of this system is subject to approval and ratification of, of the, of the system by a majority of the active members of the Police Department. This is conducted through secret ballot, through voting to accept or reject the merit system and it shall be convened within 60 days after the adoption of this ordinance pursuant to Indiana Code. So what are the advantages of a Merit Commission for our Police Department? The Commission would provide authority to oversee and approve applicant testing, screening and hiring lists, selection of persons to be employed as probationary police officers, promotion testing, scoring, appeals, processes and promotion lists. The Commission would review for both hiring and promotion the, the methods to recruit applicants and, and those interested in promotion as well as the scoring techniques and the, and the consultants which might be used. The Commission will also oversee the promotion of officers once recommended from those lists which would be established by the Police Department and the Commission. Other advantages include that this Commission will provide officers with increased due process and appeal opportunities. A member who is reprimanded in writing or suspended under this section may within 48 hours after receiving notice of the reprimand or suspension request in writing the Commission review the reprimand or suspension and uphold or reverse the Chief’s decision. At its discretion, the Commission may hold a hearing during this review. So, in other words, recommendations and decisions that I might make relative to an officer’s career – whether it’s in a discipline fashion, demotion, those officers have the right to appeal that to the, to the Commission. And, and also if I didn’t say it, the demotions or recommendations for dismissal will be held before this Commission in what could be a full hearing fashion depending on the circumstances. Officers have an opportunity to have significant input into the selection of this Commission. The officers have the ability to nominate and elect two of the Commission’s five members, so 40% of this Board will be comprised of members which are recruited and voted on and approved by our own police officers. This, this provides them with the ability to seek and recruit members they believe will be of good moral character, better understand the pressures and stress of police work and represent and judge them in a fair and unbiased manner. Page 7 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 I’m joined this evening by Officer Aaron Shook, a 14-year veteran of our Police Department. He’d like to offer his thoughts about what a Merit, a Merit Commission would mean to our, our line-level police officers. So Aaron – Shook Good evening, Aaron Shook, patrol officer, 14 years. I’ve been here a while. I don’t know too many people including myself that have been involved with or have a lot of knowledge of what our Police Board of Commissioners does now and I think the greatest positive that I can see with reading this ordinance is that we, like the Chief said, have the power to select two of the members on this Board which I think does nothing but help us to take more ownership of what’s going to be going on, especially since the Board has a lot of power over people’s careers and the people that we work with and things of that nature. And another example I thought of too was that I’ve had a lot of interactions with the public over my time and as most of us may know, what people think we do and what we actually do sometimes that is a pretty big gap as far as knowledge goes and so having a part in that process to pick some people that at least would be maybe willing to learn or people that are already a little more prepared for that job I think would be helpful and it’d keep things running smooth and so I don’t, I don’t really see any negatives reading the ordinance and any questions I had were already answered pretty much by reading it so. I think being able to select two members is above and beyond, far and above what we have now. If you guys have any questions, that’s all I’ve got. Norris Thank you. Plunkett Thank you. Sampson Thank you. Plunkett Appreciate, appreciate your presentation. Are there any questions or comments for Chief Spears? Burk Chief, just one question – obviously, if this goes into effect I’m assuming then the Board of Police Commissioners or BOPC that is, becomes nonexistent? That would require probably a separate piece of legislation? That’s not in here to replace, right? Spears That Board would be dissolved and whether it’s dissolved by the enaction of this ordinance or a separate ordinance to dissolve it, I’d leave that to Mr. Oberlander. Plunkett Well I guess I would say and, Jon, maybe you, save you a trip – I do think that at least for the near term we will have both BOPC – Burk Okay. Plunkett And the Merit Board for different reasons. They’ll serve different purposes. I think BOPC and Safety Board as Chief VanGorder will read shortly gives both the Police Department and the Fire Department an opportunity to talk about the things that they’re doing within their departments beyond merit and, and hiring and firing and promotion/demotion. Page 8 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Burk All right, so your vision would be that both are maintained. Plunkett Yes, for, for the time being. Burk I was going to have a, a significant, a similar question about Fire – Plunkett Yes. Burk So, so you see – Spears Hopefully in time members of the BOPC could become members of the Police Commission, Merit Commission. So, there’s nothing to say that those members would be automatically disqualified but they’d have to be appointed pursuant to the new requirements of the ordinance relative to the election and/or appointment by the Mayor or the Council. Burk Chief, I like it. I guess the only question I have is having sat up here for four years and I realize this is kind of state driven at this point to take action. Why, why has the town not already in the past and maybe this is not an answer you have, but why haven’t we already instituted a Merit Board approach as opposed to waiting until the state to kind of asked us to do that? Spears That’s a good question and I’ve thought about that since I’ve been here and part of it has to do, I think, with the already established guidelines in the, in the law relative to sizes of, of a community and, and the, the belief that it seemed to be working well and this, this new legislation in 2023 allows us to take a broader look at all this and, and determine which is the best way to proceed and what I, why I feel so strongly about this is it does give officers a significant amount of input into the Board that’s, that’s comprised of 40% of the members that they recommend and, and elect so I think that’s a very valuable thing for them relative to being represented by individuals who perhaps have a better understanding of their, of their work and that they have faith and confidence in that will, that will, that will support them properly. Sampson I liked what officer Shook shared with having field knowledge and having input. Do you have a plan for how those two people would be selected or is something, I guess, already set within the state law that says how they’re selected? Spears I think, I think it’s rather perhaps purposely vague to allow the officers the ability to go out and recruit candidates they think would be good members and to get them on the ballot and, and have them elected those individuals to the extent that that’s the way I think it ought to be for them. I think I should stay away from that and let them do that. Plunkett Chief, I noticed in Section C(2) it mentions Commissioners, Commissioner may not be an active member of the department and not more than two Commissioners may be a past member of a Police or Fire Department agency. That’s any Police or, or Fire Department, correct? Not just Zionsville, that’s any, correct? Page 9 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Spears Yes. Plunkett So we, so we would need to make sure whatever appointments we had as well align with that so we would need to make sure that we at least communicating with the department or with the Chiefs – I see both Chiefs shaking their head – to make sure that we’ve got no more than two of those so. That’s something we probably just need to make sure we’re on. McElderry Oh, go ahead – Melton President Plunkett, Chief, it says one person appointed by the Town Council. So my question is and it talks about not, not being able to be paid employee or paid by the town. Does that mean it’s an appointee by the Town Council? It is not a Town Council member? I just wanted clarification on that. Plunkett Yes, it would be someone that we would appoint, obviously, not anyone receiving compensation from the town. Sampson And not one of us. Plunkett Yes. Melton Perfect and then I guess, yes, just I’m for this. I think, I think the reason to answer the question that Brad had it’s just growth. We are continuing to grow and we’re going to see this growth continue and this gives our police officers due process as well as the opportunity to, this is just a great thing for us long term, I think, as we continue to go from 20,000 to 32,000 and, and so forth as we move forward so I’m definitely supportive. Thank you. McElderry Chief, I got a simple question. I know we don’t anticipate this Commission meeting a lot or, or regularly but in that same section that President Plunkett brought up on Commissioner requirements, #5 it says that the Town Council shall upon the recommendation of the Board of the Metropolitan Police Commissioners determine a per diem to be paid to each Commissioner for each day of actual service for the Commission. Do you know what that recommendation is from the Metropolitan Police Commission? Spears I would recommend it be consistent with what we do now with the, with the Board of Police Commissioners. I think they’re paid a small stipend for each meeting. McElderry Okay. Spears Honestly don’t know what it is. It’s – Sampson It’s $25. Spears It’s small. Harris I think it’s like $35 or something like that. Page 10 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Sampson Was it? I think it’s $25. It was just in that ordinance that we passed with the Exhibit A if you look. It’s on there I believe. Spears I think another – McElderry $25 per day? Sampson Per meeting. Spears I think another difference you might find between the two Boards is our current Board of Police Commissioners doesn’t meet that often and that’s not necessarily a bad thing – McElderry Right. Spears Because their, their jurisdiction is for very few things which, which include things like demotion and terminations. They don’t, by statute, have the same oversight authority that this Board would have relative to reviewing the processes the Police Department would use to recruit, select, hire, train employees, police officers. So that’s one difference. Another difference is and I’m being honest with you, it’s been a second since I read the whole thing. I looked at it before I came over here so I might’ve forgotten it but I think there’s a requirement that it meet a little more regularly than that and the idea would be that we would provide more regular updates about a variety of things within our Police Department – the work of the officers, crime trends, other issues that that Board and the public through things like this would be interested in, in seeing and learning so that’s, I think, another advantage to the, to the Merit Commission. Sampson Well I think you made a good point when you said that the per diem is each day that that could add up if we had a long-term review or something that took a little bit of time. I don’t know budget wise you should consider that. Spears Yes. Sampson Because I did look on Exhibit A. It is $25 per meeting but it doesn’t say per diem so semantics but I guess it does matter, right? We could have a review that lasts for two weeks and then are they meeting each day. Do you know what I mean? Like if something big happens is, are they meeting each day and I don’t know – Spears Yes. Sampson Would you revisit those (inaudible) Spears I wouldn’t anticipate hearings lasting that long but at the same time, I think we should be prepared and, and, and I’ll have an answer for that next time we get together. Sampson Yes, that might, that would maybe be a detail that should be like occurrence versus day or per diem wording. Spears The Fire Chief and I can get together and discuss that so we’ve got similar – Page 11 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Sampson Yes. Spears Guidelines. Harris And I think the language in the statute just for the Town Council says that the Town Council may establish a per diem upon recommendation of the Safety Board. Under our Board of Police Commissioners Ordinance, it serves as the Safety Board for the Police Department where the Safety Board serves as the Safety Board for the Fire Department so we may want to look at that because I don’t think it’s a requirement that we pay a per diem. Sampson It says shall. Plunkett Yes, I think – Harris It does in the ordinance but not in the statute – Sampson Okay. Harris So we just need to – Sampson Good, good. Plunkett Yes, I think we’re probably going down a rabbit hole that, I mean it’s not, this is, we don’t have anything outlined in here for compensation, just that we can. McElderry Right. Plunkett So I think we’ll – McElderry Yes, it’s just asking for a recommendation that’s it. Plunkett Yes. Any other questions for the Chief? Spears Thank you. McElderry Thank you. Plunkett Thank you. I’ll make a motion to introduce Ordinance 2024-28 on first reading. Norris Second. Plunkett A second from Councilor Norris. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Page 12 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing a Fire Merit Board Ordinance 2024-29 (First Reading) Plunkett Up next is the Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing a Fire Merit Board. This is Ordinance 2024-29. This is also a first reading and we have ZFD Chief VanGorder to present. VanGorder Thank you Mr. President. I would like to ask our Local 5195 President, Steve Hayes, and our District Vice President, Walter Leverich, for the Zionsville District to join me this evening. In the interest of time, I will save any prepared comments that I had that I think Chief Spears adequately discussed the police merit system and the only thing different is this is for the Fire Department. One may ask a simple question too about the opportunity to merge the two and the answer is no. You cannot, per the statute. You have to have two separate Boards so, yes, the Mayor will have two appointments, the firefighters will appoint two and the Council will appoint another one. The same things that Chief Spears mentioned about differing political parties, staggering terms, all of those same rules and policies from the statute hold true. I was speaking with HR Director, Jo Kiel, in the back of the room and the way the ordinances are written for the police merit as well as the fire, you would need to wait for a recommendation from the Safety Board or Board of Police Commissioners to make those recommendations. We are anticipating during those early meetings in 2025 of reviewing those stipend discussions and come back to you and we could do a salary revision at that time some time in January or February, whatever the Council would like to do. But those are per the statute. I would welcome either President Hayes or DVP Leverich to say anything that they would like in support of this proposed ordinance. Hayes Steve Hayes, President of Boone County Firefighters Association. This is something that, honestly, we’ve, we’ve wanted to, to get in place for some time. Councilor Burk, you brought up the question about not having something like this submitted before. We actually submitted something through Amy I want to say 5, 5 or 6 years ago and I think at the time almost a completely different Council. There just wasn’t a whole lot of, of interest in it at that time and maybe a whole, not a whole lot of education as to what the merit system would bring to the Fire Department and the Police Department and, obviously, the new House Enrolled Act 1016 that came in 2023 kind of changed the game for a lot of cities and towns in looking at developing a merit system for their Police and Fire Departments. So, again, like Officer Shook had shared, I mean I really, I can echo everything that he said as far as the merit system. They are, they are basically identical, Fire and Police, you just can’t have one that oversees both at the same time so they have to be separate Boards but having the opportunity of electing two Commissioners to that Board by all of the Fire Department members and, again, we’ve, as we’ve talked with our members and Chief and us have gone around and met with every crew on every shift and discussed this Board and what it brings to us, electing those Commissioners to the Board is all of the active members of the Fire Department. It’s not, it’s not, you know, labor side or there’s none of that it’s all of the members of the department so but having the opportunity to do that and, and being able to seek out individuals to appoint to that Commission that we feel like have sufficient knowledge in the fire service Page 13 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 and have the ability to understand what we do on a daily basis and those kind of things is, is what we feel is a huge benefit for us and really that’s the main benefit. It does give us buy-in as Officer Shook shared as well as firefighters into that Commission and the oversight of processes to hire and appoint new firefighters to, to the department is something that we’re proud to have some ownership in so. I’m happy to answer any questions if you have those but those are the benefits we think the Board brings for us as firefighters. Plunkett Thanks Steve. McElderry Thank you. Burk Hey Steve, I’m just curious and President Plunkett referenced this in the same statute where there’s a section and I’m not looking at it because I – where it says they couldn’t be an active member of the department. Hayes Correct. Burk Does that mean that that’s not an active employee of Zionsville Fire Department? Hayes They cannot be a career firefighter for any Fire Department. They can’t be an active, current career firefighter. Burk So what do you see usually for Merit Boards that you’re familiar with, what from, from the appointments that come from the rank in file, what, who do they tend to look to nominate to do that? Hayes It’s just generally somebody that has some background in public safety. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Fire. It can be a family member of a current firefighter so there is that potential and then as you also mentioned, you can have up to two that were previous members of a Police or Fire Department. So, we generally just search out those kind of folks that have some knowledge and background in public safety and are able, again, to, to kind of understand the process of what we do and, and how they can benefit us on that Board. Burk Yes, I assume there’d be a lot of retired – Hayes Unfortunately, Zionsville doesn’t have a lot of – Burk Right, I know. Hayes Retired firefighters but we do have one but he actually doesn’t live in Zionsville now so that doesn’t help us. Burk Yes. Hayes But, again, there are other folks that have been around the fire service over the years that were maybe volunteers here or family of volunteers, family of our current firefighters. There’s going to be quite a few to choose from. Page 14 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Sampson I wondered about that – if the volunteer firefighters would qualify as a general public person or as a member of a firefighter background. Hayes Yes, it could be either/or honestly. Yep. Burk Thanks Steve. Hayes Yep, you bet. Plunkett Yes, I would just say I appreciate kind of echoing Mayor Stehr’s comments earlier, I appreciate the work of both Chiefs, men and women of the Fire Department, Police Department, patience of the Local 5195. I know I’ve been on Council for seven years and I think when I first came on you guys were trying to do this so appreciate your patience there. Also, your guys’ communication with the Council. For those folks in the public that don’t know – both, both of the Chiefs opened up opportunities to meet with the Councilors individually. Many took them up on that so I appreciate that and from my perspective I appreciate and trust the opinions of the men and women of the Fire Department so if they’re supportive of this stuff then I don’t know why we wouldn’t be. So I appreciate all your guys’ work there. Any other questions for Chief VanGorder? Otherwise, I would entertain a motion. Norris I will make a motion to introduce on first reading Ordinance 2024-29. Sampson Second. Plunkett I got a first from Councilor Norris, a second from Councilor Sampson. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Thank you very much. Consideration of an Ordinance Amending the Safety Board Ordinance Ordinance 2024-30 (First Reading) Plunkett All right, up next is the Consideration of an Ordinance Amending the Safety Board Ordinance. This is Ordinance 2024-30. This is also a first reading and we have Chief VanGorder here as well. VanGorder Thank you Mr. President, members of the Council. I come before you for a Safety Board Ordinance. You may remember back in 2021 the Safety Board at that time was then revised to only limit its power and authority to disciplinary processes. Other duties and responsibilities were taken away at that time and have caused difficulties over the past four years. The Safety Board that we have today, its only authority as the local ordinance is in place is to take care of the items for which we are just trying to transition to the merit system. So, therefore, before you today is a revision to the Safety Board that does remove those Page 15 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 responsibilities from the Safety Board and move it over to the Fire Department Merit Commission but it also brings back the Safety Board the way it was 4+ years ago where it will oversee the Fire Department. It will have monthly meetings. It will also act as the appeals body for the Fire Protection Ordinance that was passed in 2010 because the last four years we have not had an appeals process for any developer or building owner who was wishing to seek relief from a fire prevention determination as to how you should develop a building in accordance with the codes and standards as they’ve been adopted and interpreted or has an annual inspection (inaudible) So this is another secondary point that’s vitally important to returning the Safety Board to its previous responsibilities. The Safety Board is a five-person Board. It’s made up of three Town Councilors, two members of the community. The Council would make all of those appointments. They are one-year terms and the purpose of the Safety Board, again, returning it back to administering the Fire Department per 36-8-3 of the Indiana statute that had governed and overseen the Zionsville Fire Department up until that time four years ago. I’d be more than happy to answer any questions that you have. Plunkett I would just, I appreciate that Chief and I would just for, to let this Council know, this has been something that the Chief and I and Heather have been in communication with as well as Mayor Stehr for quite some time. I think we’re privileged when the Safety Board was in its previous form to have witness to presentations. I remember, excuse me – one time where we had a presentation on the LUCAS device here in the Town Council Chambers and the very next meeting as a result of that presentation, there was an ask for the LUCAS device and we were able to, to do that. The Safety Board would make that recommendation then to the Town Council without having to jump through too many hoops. So, I appreciate, I appreciate that this is something that’s before us. We already have this, the appointments to this Board. You’ll all know we have voted and have the appointments for this Board anyway. In fact, I would, I would go as far as to say if this Council feels like this is something we can move forward with, I would be in favor of suspending the rules to have it approved tonight so that the Safety Board could call a meeting at the next scheduled meeting which would be the second meeting for us in November, that morning meeting. So, I certainly appreciate that it’s back on our schedule or on our agenda and appreciate the work on this Chief. Any questions from Councilors? Norris No, if I could just make a comment – Plunkett Yes. Norris I agree with suspending the rules so we can get this thing active and going. Plunkett Yes. Norris Especially with the new year coming up and all the changes going on. Plunkett Yes. Norris So, thank you. Page 16 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Harris President Plunkett, I don’t know if we’ve done that with this Council. So does everyone understand the process for doing it the same night? Norris We’ve done it. Sampson We’ve done it. Harris Okay. McElderry Once or twice. Harris Okay. Plunkett All right. Harris I couldn’t remember. Plunkett Well, if there are no questions for the Chief, I will make a motion to introduce Ordinance 2024-30 on first reading. Burk Second. Plunkett I have a second from Vice President Burk. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. I would also make a motion to suspend the rules. Stein Second. Plunkett A second from Councilor Stein. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. And I will make a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-30. Sampson Second. Plunkett A second from Councilor Sampson. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Page 17 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Thank you guys very much. I appreciate that. VanGorder Thank you. Plunkett Thank you. Consideration of an Ordinance Authorizing Bonds (The Farm) Ordinance 2024-31 (First Reading) Plunkett Last item on the agenda for New Business is a Consideration of an Ordinance Authorizing the Bonds for The Farm. This is Ordinance 2024-31. This is a first reading and we have Sarah Correll, Ice Miller, counsel for the petitioner – on my agenda anyway. Correll I’m Sarah Correll with Ice Miller. We serve as counsel for – Plunkett Yes, Sarah, if you wouldn’t mind just going up to the – sorry about that. Correll I’m Sarah Correll with Ice Miller. We serve as counsel for the Economic Development Commission but tonight I’m going to hand it over so we can hear a little bit more interesting information about the project and where we stand. Sam Pittman Good evening Council. My name is Sam Pittman with Pittman Partners. Do you mind if I present? ?? No. Sam Pittman Thank you. Address for the record is 9589 Valparaiso Court, Indianapolis, Indiana. I’m joined by Steve Pittman with Pittman Partners, Wayne Falstad (sp?) and Jerimi Ullom of Barnes & Thornburg. The purpose of this introduction is to just kind of talk about where we’ve been and where we’re going with this project. It’s been a while since we’ve been in front of Council so we just want to provide a refresher on the project. I’ll try to keep it short. So going back to the beginning, the project was approved in July of 2013. The PUD allows up to 400 multi-family units and that is what is now known as Phase I, The Silo Apartments, that’s being developed in a partnership with Scannell Properties and then Phase II is approved for up to 225,000 square feet commercial space. Phase II will be developed in multiple phases. And as we went from a concept plan to turning this into a real living and breathing development, there were kind of six pillars that we thought about to sensibly develop this project, the first of which was to preserve the legacy and identity of Pittman Farms. This is a site where I used to live when there was a house on the project, on the property and spent a lot of weekends with my grandpa working on Page 18 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 this property and we know what a key corner this is and don’t take the responsibility lightly. The opportunity is not lost on us. We want to establish a gateway to Zionsville, create connectivity and complement downtown Zionsville as well as set the standard for future development in Zionsville and ultimately build an amenity for residents to live, work and shop which will, in turn, bolster economic viability for the town. It’s no secret that these mixed-use projects are big economic drivers. We want to keep, we want Zionsville residents to be able to spend their money within Zionsville. I think a lot of times for daily needs people are traveling to Whitestown, Carmel or Indianapolis so we want to provide that mixed-use experience here. I won’t get too far into the TIF stuff – that’s Jerimi Ullom’s forte but the project is located in the Michigan Road Economic Development Area. The Pittman Farms allocation area was set up when Phase I came through for approvals. Phase I, again is the multi-family portion of the project. The spine road known as Pittman Farms Drive and the master detention for the site. Phase II is really everything else. There’s about 23 usable acres. Again, Phase II will be developed in multiple phases. Because of the sheer size of it, a Development Agreement was approved when the allocation area was set up and we are not asking for any changes to the Development Agreement. This is a progress photo of Phase I showing the apartments. I would say the apartments are rounding third. They’ll open their doors in 2025 and we’re really excited and think it will kick the project off in a great way. Obviously to make a project mixed-use, you can’t just have residential uses so Phase II, what we’re here to talk about tonight, puts the mixed in mixed-use. We call this a neighborhood, neighborhood, mixed-use neighborhood retail center. It’ll have uses that range from office, medical, residential, grocery, financial services. We see this center having a lot of daily needs drivers and the type of place you can expect to visit three to five times a week, whether you’re getting your nails done or grabbing lunch, grabbing groceries. We hope to provide a lot of different uses. As I said earlier, the project is being developed in phases. Phase IIA is about 42,000 square feet of restaurant, medical, fitness, financial services and general retail space and we also went ahead and completed the final piece of the infrastructure puzzle known as Silo Crossing. It’s the roadway that serves the commercial area. We’ll be doing a 12-foot public walking path around the perimeter of the site. Right-of-way dedication along Michigan Road and Sycamore Street is ongoing. The campus signage will be installed in Phase IIA. We are doing a signalized intersection at Michigan Road and Pittman Farms Drive to allow for safe ingress and egress from the project and we are also doing masquerading and utility work for all future commercial parcels. This is a view of the project from the corner of Michigan Road and Sycamore Street. We spent a lot of time designing this. I would say we were obsessive about materials and creating greenspace and pedestrian connectivity. We did a big effort to make these buildings four-sided where materials from storefronts carry through the backs of the buildings and then complemented that with really dense landscaping to shield areas, back of house areas such as trash enclosures or electrical panels. Page 19 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 This is a view of the storefronts. That is what we call Building 9. We used the same architect on the first, the multi-family phase and the retail phase so the buildings all kind of flow together as one. The campus is going to have a cohesive look with a lot of materials that are similar. We took a pedestrian-first design approach here and focused on what happens when you get out of your car. There’s pedestrian connectivity points between all buildings. The project is unique because the buildings are split up into so many different buildings rather than one long run of buildings. It maximizes opportunities for gathering spaces and patios and then we’ll have canopy space in front of the buildings to allow for walkability and shield pedestrians from the elements. This overlay shows the Phase IIA area on the actual property. It’s a big chunk of the project, around 32% of the total acreage, so it’s a big commitment from us. We’re really excited about it. We hope that the town feels the same way and any questions about the project I can take and any, if we want to dive into more TIF- related questions, Jerimi could come on up so. McElderry Sam, I have a question real quickly – Sam Pittman Yes? McElderry If, if I’m looking at it correctly and I’m sorry, my monitor is out – it appears that the retail buildings, the back is facing Michigan Road. Sam Pittman That’s correct. McElderry So I appreciate the fact that you are wrapping the buildings with materials that look good but like where do dumpsters go? Where does, that’s, that’s my only question is if, if this is the gateway to Zionsville and people are driving down Michigan Road entering Zionsville, they’re going to see the back of buildings as opposed to the front of them. So help me understand that a little bit. Sam Pittman Yes, so in doing our civil design, to speak on your dumpster question – we took it a step further where we sunk kind of the corner of the site so there are retaining walls that will block those dumpster enclosures and then we did have right in, right outs contemplated at the mid-block of, on Sycamore and Michigan and when those got taken away, facing the buildings towards Michigan didn’t really make sense because you’re not accessing them from that way. The campus has kind of an interior-oriented feel where the apartments, the future grocery store and the small shops all kind of play off of each other. So that was our thought process there. Plunkett Sam, you said when those were taken away, who took the right in, right out only away? Sam Pittman Was that INDOT or the town? Yes, I think it was INDOT as well as the town. Plunkett I was under the impression that on our end we wanted that. Page 20 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Sam Pittman I believe the thought was that they were too close to the traffic signal on the corner there. Sampson When I was there – Plunkett Well, hold on a second – who would’ve made that decision though? Like is that something that Lance would, is that something if we, I guess if we, when we went through this and maybe when you get up here if I’m wrong you can just tell me to pipe down but I feel like when we went through this process that was part of the from the last Council that was part of the plan was to say well, right in, right out only, not necessarily wanting people to cross traffic on Sycamore. Is that something that the town made the decision to change or? Lantz I would never tell you to pipe down, by the way, for the record. Lance Lantz, Public Works Director. These come about rather organically through discussions with INDOT and it, I think a more accurate characterization would be it was kind of a group consensus that it would be better without the right in, right out on Sycamore because of its proximity to the intersection and the development team didn’t necessarily object to that or object strenuously or openly. So it’s just kind of an evolution of discussions on a little bit of give and take so I think – did that? Plunkett Yes, I guess I’m trying to wonder then like if we’ve got PUDs that we approve and projects that we approve and, I mean I would go back to conversations with Councilor, previous Councilor Garrett when he was, that was kind of his primary focus was that right in, right out only and it was, I know there were a lot of discussions that kind of moved Councilors in the direction of yes let’s but now that’s not there. Lantz So maybe, maybe to clarify the issue and I don’t want, I don’t know what their presentation is tonight so I don’t want to get too far ahead of what they may, may be presenting to you later. There were originally two access points on Sycamore Street. The primary one which was further to the west and then between that primary intersection and Michigan Road, there was the right in, right out. It was that right in, right out that was removed so that left a single entrance into the development on Sycamore Street and I don’t know if you’re going to – I can say more or I can leave you to go on with your presentation if you’re going to speak to that but I guess I’ll just go ahead and say that, as you recall, President Plunkett, there was the desire of previous Council that that be a roundabout, I support that as well – Plunkett Yes. Lantz So when this project came in early on and the traffic studies were presented that showed there was not going to be a near-term warrant for intersection control on the Sycamore Street ingress/egress but there would likely be in the future, we asked the development team, which they have done, to set up their development that a roundabout would then be at the time it was deemed necessary, the intersection control on Sycamore Street. In the interim condition or as it’s being built for now, it’s just a full access T, basically a T intersection. They have a provisional signal approval from INDOT at their entrance on Michigan Road which lines up across with the southern entrance to the Presbyterian Church Page 21 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 across the road. So that’s kind of where things stand as far as interactions with the town and sort of the future of access to the development. Plunkett Okay. McElderry I guess to just follow up on mine and then Sarah I’ll let you go – so, Sam, are you saying that the change from the right in, right out to what it is currently is what caused you to flip the retail spaces around so that the back is facing Michigan Road or was it, was that always the plan that they would face inward? Sam Pittman I think it was, well – I don’t have enough history on this. Steve Pittman For the record, my name is Steve Pittman, Pittman Partners. So, so really the way we looked at this site, we looked at, so the site you had, you had significant fall from the north to the south so you either had to cut the site down at the north end or raise the site up at the south end. So you were going to have retaining walls somewhere so we started really looking at this corridor and looking at Zionsville as the gateway to Zionsville and we said – and I brought this up in one other, a previous meeting, if you go south on Michigan Road it’s basically retail development as usual. It’s put a big, put a big building out there, put a sea of parking and we said let’s do that differently here and let’s do that so when you come into Zionsville it doesn’t feel like a big retail development and we were super respectful of Sycamore Road especially. So when you think about the residential estates on the north side of Sycamore, we dropped that down so we have, we’ll have retaining walls that are 10 to 11 feet tall along Sycamore so you’re gonna, you’re not going to be and then on the top of that you’re going to have a fence and you’re going to have landscaping so you’re not, it’s not going to feel like this big strip center as you’re coming into Zionsville. So I think we’ve done that. We’ve done that in a very, very special way. In addition with having the multi-family, the 400 units and the retail the way that we’re doing it, we’re creating the energy inside of the developments and created this walkability, we’re, we’re creating walkability from the different uses. So I think it’s actually going to be a, a very nice use. How it, how it did originate at one point we were looking at our buildings looking out onto the road kind of the way traditional retail was. We did lose those right in, right outs. The important thing about the right in, right outs from a retail perspective, the more access, I kind of look at it as the more access points you have, the better for retail. So we lost those. The other thing with, with those right in, right outs, it allowed us to stairstep the site down with, because when you had a right in, right out then you could stairstep the site. So when you think about having a, let’s say a grocery store out there in the parking lot and some restaurants with parking lots, you can’t allow the site to fall. You think about carts and things out there so as we, as we dealt with all those issues this is how we’ve, how we’ve put it all together and I think it’s, I think it’s going to be spectacular and I think people are going to be really happy with it and from the initial responses we’re getting from some big retailers and restaurants and things like that, people are pretty pleased with it. Burk Steve, looking at the map that’s up now, where would the traffic come into this retail you have? It’s not really marked on here very clear. I mean you can see the Page 22 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 drive into where the residential Phase I is but where, where are the, where do you come in? Steve Pittman So, down on, on Michigan Road on the very south end down there directly – Burk (Inaudible) coming in so that’s the entrance? Steve Pittman Yes you’re, you’re directly, we align with the, with the church and we’re gonna have a traffic light there and a left, left turn lanes so – Burk And the only other entry point off Sycamore is where you turn in currently? Steve Pittman Correct. Sampson And that’s what I was going to say – when I did go visit just to get a feel for what, where the phase was and I was, I was really surprised how tall the retaining walls are going to be. So when you’re driving on Sycamore, I got the impression that you’re not, you would have to like lean out your car and look down to see the back of the building and I had noticed that it was being set up for a roundabout at that time just kind of the way they were aligning the road. I just wanted to point that out that I have been there and it’s a substantial drop, I mean, you said 10 feet? Steve Pittman Yes, 10, 11 feet. Sampson It’s definitely right, I mean. Melton Steve, how, how tall are these buildings going to be in this blue area here? Steve Pittman Sam, what, what’s, what’s the building height? About 26 feet. Melton So, that was kind of a selling point on us initially doing such a large apartment complex in the Town of Zionsville and setting it back was this idea that we would have these buildings out front that we’re going to keep our line of sight really from seeing the what I’m going to call the behemoth of an apartment complex which is very nicely done but I do want to say I came out and did a site visit as well and I can really appreciate the unique design that this creates for, for Zionsville as it’s being developed. Now it’s not done, obviously, but I think this uniqueness of having a heavy landscaped surrounding is going to set us apart and continue to keep us uniquely Zionsville compared to what you have south on Michigan Road. So, that’s my two cents on this. The height, as long as we’re still not going to see so much of the apartments sticking up which I don’t believe we will, especially as we hit Sycamore which I think Sycamore will plateau out a little bit differently than the corner of Sycamore and Michigan Road. So, I just wanted to point that out and I did go out there and it is a huge drop but I think it looks really, I think it’s going to tie it really nicely together as long as we can maintain that – Steve Pittman Yes – Page 23 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Melton Landscaped and, and hide some of those, and I don’t have any challenge, I don’t have any – I’m sure that you’re going to do a great job with that part of this. Steve Pittman Thank you Councilor Melton. Yes, and also just to point out, to follow up with that – where you have that internal ring road, Silo, what’s it called? Yes, Silo Crossing, you’re going to have another grouping of buildings on the other side of that building and then the apartments so you’ll, you will have a lot of things that will block those. Plunkett I mean I think we’re, I’m assuming, this wasn’t in our packet so I didn’t have this information in advance of the meeting and are we, I’m assuming we’re going to move on to the bond ordinance? Is that right? Steve Pittman Yes I think we were just trying to, trying to give you guys an update so you could see it. I don’t know if your policy is not to do that and just go, we thought that’d be helpful for you guys but we’re here to just complete what we agreed to two years ago. Plunkett Sure. Yes. Ullom Yes, I’ll take that. Jerimi Ullom with Barnes & Thornburg representing Pittman. Yes, the bond ordinance is in keeping. In 2022, I think some of you were on the Council then. We negotiated a Project Agreement. That Project Agreement related to Phase I and Phase II. Now it’s time for Phase II so we’re here to get that project process started. With respect to the TIF, etc. those areas have been established. As Sam said, we’re not revisiting that, we’re not revisiting the request. This is just the process to move along so introduce the ordinance tonight, consider the ordinance for adoption at a future meeting and, and that’s the extent of the action necessary by the Council this time around. Plunkett Yes, I appreciate that Jerimi. I think Council whenever, whenever folks petition the Council to be on the agenda as Steve and Jerimi both did, my, my response is to revisit the original approved or agreed upon ordinance or, or agreement I should say and then as long as there aren’t any modifications or any changes, I have no problem certainly introducing this so. If you guys have questions or if there’s any questions Jerimi or Steve or Sam or anybody can walk through that. If there are no questions, I would, I would entertain a motion. Melton I’d like to make a motion to introduce Ordinance 2024-31. Plunkett I have a first from Councilor Melton. McElderry Second. Plunkett Second from Councilor McElderry. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Page 24 of 25 Zionsville Town Council November 4, 2024 Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Thanks guys. Ullom Thank you. OTHER MATTERS Plunkett Up next are Other Matters. I don’t necessarily have any other matters except certainly want to remind everybody to come out and vote tomorrow. As the Mayor mentioned, Town Hall is open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. There’s a number of other areas or locations here in the surrounding community. The Hussey-Mayfield Library and the Whitestown Town Hall as well so exercise your right to vote. Anything else from Councilors? ADJOURN Plunkett I’ll make a motion to adjourn. Norris Second. Plunkett Second from Councilor Norris. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett All those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. The next regular Town Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 18, 2024 at 7:30 a.m. in the Zionsville Town Hall Council Chambers. Final notice will be posted in compliance with the Indiana Open Door Law. Respectfully submitted, Amelia Anne Lacy, Municipal Relations Coordinator Page 25 of 25