Zionsville Town Council

Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 ZIONSVILLE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FOR APRIL 21, 2025 AT 7:30 A.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: Mayor John Stehr; Deputy Mayor Justin Hage; Jon Oberlander, Town Attorney; Chief James VanGorder; Chief Michael Spears; Amy Lacy, Municipal Relations Coordinator and other Town staff OPENING A. Call meeting to order B. Pledge of Allegiance Plunkett All right, good morning. I will now call to order the Monday, April 21, 2025 regular Town Council meeting. If you would please, stand and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. All Pledge of Allegiance. SWEARING IN OF NEW POLICE OFFICERS Plunkett All right, first on the agenda we have swearing in of police officers and we have Mayor Stehr and Chief Spears here this morning. Stehr This is always a good way to start the meeting so I’m gonna ask first of all Matthew Deeter to come up please. I’ll ask you to raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Matthew Deeter – Deeter I, Matthew Deeter – Stehr Do solemnly swear – Page 1 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 Deeter Do solemnly swear – Stehr That I will support the Constitution of the United States of America – Deeter That I will support the Constitution of the United States of America – Stehr And the Constitution of the State of Indiana – Deeter And the Constitution of the State of Indiana – Stehr And the Ordinances of the Town of Zionsville, Indiana – Deeter And the Ordinances of the Town of Zionsville, Indiana – Stehr I will follow the rules and regulations – Deeter I will follow the rules and regulations – Stehr Of the Zionsville Police Department – Deeter Of the Zionsville Police Department – Stehr The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics – Deeter The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics – Stehr That I will faithfully – Deeter That I will faithfully – Stehr Honestly – Deeter Honestly – Stehr Impartially – Deeter Impartially – Stehr Without malice or prejudice – Deeter Without malice or prejudice – Stehr Discharge all my official duties as Police Officer – Deeter Discharge all my official duties as Police Officer – Stehr In the Town of Zionsville, Indiana. Deeter In the Town of Zionsville, Indiana. Page 2 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 Stehr So help me God. Deeter So help me God. Stehr Congratulations. Okay, the next person I’ll ask to come up is Olin Leising. Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Olin Leising – Leising I, Olin Leising – Stehr Do solemnly swear – Leising Do solemnly swear – Stehr That I will support the Constitution of the United States of America – Leising That I will support the Constitution of the United States of America – Stehr And the Constitution of the State of Indiana – Leising And the Constitution of the State of Indiana – Stehr And the Ordinances of the Town of Zionsville, Indiana – Leising And the Ordinances of the Town of Zionsville, Indiana – Stehr I will follow the rules and regulations – Leising I will follow the rules and regulations – Stehr Of the Zionsville Police Department – Leising Of the Zionsville Police Department – Stehr The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics – Leising The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics – Stehr And I will faithfully – Leising And I will faithfully – Stehr Honestly – Leising Honestly – Stehr Impartially – Leising Impartially – Page 3 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 Stehr Without malice or prejudice – Leising Without malice or prejudice – Stehr Discharge all my official duties – Leising Discharge all my official duties – Stehr As Police Officer – Leising As Police Officer – Stehr For the Town of Zionsville, Indiana. Leising For the Town of Zionsville, Indiana. Stehr So help me God. Leising So help me God. Stehr Congratulations. And last but not least we have Evan Rice. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Evan Rice – Rice I, Evan Rice – Stehr Do solemnly swear – Rice Do solemnly swear – Stehr That I will support the Constitution of the United States of America – Rice That I will support the Constitution of the United States of America – Stehr And the Constitution of the State of Indiana – Rice And the Constitution of the State of Indiana – Stehr And the Ordinances of the Town of Zionsville, Indiana – Rice And the Ordinances of the Town of Zionsville, Indiana – Stehr I will follow the rules and regulations – Rice I will follow the rules and regulations – Stehr Of the Zionsville Police Department – Rice Of the Zionsville Police Department – Page 4 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 Stehr The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics – Rice The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics – Stehr And I will faithfully – Rice And I will faithfully – Stehr Honestly – Rice Honestly – Stehr Impartially – Rice Impartially – Stehr Without malice or prejudice – Rice Without malice or prejudice – Stehr Discharge all my official duties as Police Officer – Rice Discharge all of my duties as Police Officer – Stehr For the Town of Zionsville, Indiana. Rice For the Town of Zionsville, Indiana. Stehr So help me God. Rice So help me God. Stehr Congratulations. Plunkett As the Mayor said, it’s always fun to start meetings like that and certainly appreciate everybody coming out in support. You don’t have to stay for the rest of the meeting so if you’d like, I can pause and you guys can go take pictures and talk and hang out and do whatever you want to. Yes, go ahead. Thanks for coming. APPROVAL OF THE MEMORANDUM OF THE MARCH 17, 2025 REGULAR MEETING Plunkett All right, as we move along here the next item on the agenda is the approval of the March 17, 2025 Town Council Meeting Memoranda. A copy has been posted. Are there questions from Councilors? Otherwise, I would make a motion to approve. Melton Second. Page 5 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 Plunkett A second from Councilor Melton. 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 MEMORANDUM OF THE MARCH 24, 2025 EXECUTIVE MEETING Plunkett Up next is the approval of the March 24, 2025 Town Council Executive Session. A copy of that has been posted as well. Any questions from Councilors? I’ll make a motion to approve. Burk Second. Plunkett Second from Vice President Burk. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett Those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 2025 PAYROLL CLAIMS Plunkett Up next is the approval of the March payroll claims. Are there any questions from Councilors? Otherwise I would entertain a motion. McElderry Move to approve. Plunkett First from Councilor McElderry. Stein Second. Plunkett Second from, was that Councilor Melton? Stein Stein. Plunkett Oh Stein, Councilor Stein. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett Those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Page 6 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 21, 2025 CLAIMS Plunkett Up next is the approval of the April 21, 2025 claims. Are there any questions from Councilors? Otherwise I would entertain a motion. Burk Move to approve. Plunkett First from Vice President Burk. Sampson Second. Plunkett Second from Councilor Sampson. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett Those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. REQUEST TO SPEAK Plunkett Up next is Request to Speak on Agenda Item. Amy, do we have any requests to speak? Lacy No, we do not. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS Town Council Proclamation Regarding Prevent Child Abuse Awareness Month o Adam Krupp/Matt Wilson Plunkett All right, so up next on our agenda will be a special presentation. We have a couple of presentations here. We will have a Town Council proclamation regarding Prevent Child Abuse Awareness month. With us this morning we have the Director of the Indiana Department of Child Services, Adam Krupp, as well as the Executive Director of Boone County Mentoring Partnership and the President of Prevent Child Abuse Boone County, Matt Wilson. So if either one of you guys would like to come up, it’d be great to hear from you. Thank you. Krupp They want me to go first. All right, thank you Mr. President and members of the Council, good morning. Members of the community thank you for being here. My name is Adam Krupp and as Director of Indiana’s Department of Child Services, that’s my son, since January appointed by Governor Braun but also, importantly, I am a proud Zionsville resident. I’m grateful for the opportunity to address you guys this morning. Page 7 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 So April is Child Abuse Prevention month around the country. Really it should be every month and it should be every day but the nice thing about highlighting April is that there are events happening all throughout the state. I was in my hometown where I grew up in Plymouth, Marshall County, about a week or two ago and they were planting pinwheels all around the community, the Mayor was reading a proclamation and it was just a full community support, people larger than this audience gathered around to raise awareness for child abuse prevention and it was a beautiful thing to see. So I will say that here in Zionsville, of course, we cherish our tight-knit community, our amazing schools and our safe neighborhoods but even here child abuse and neglect can and unfortunately does happen. We aggregate data and we post data publicly on our dashboard at the Department of Child Services on a county level right for certain reasons so when we look at Boone County, we see anywhere from 65 to 75 active cases of children in need of services right because there’s been substantiations of potential abuse and neglect. What I will say to this audience here because we’re in Zionsville do not think because we are such a beautiful, wonderful community that cherishes those things that it doesn’t happen in our backyard. Okay, I’ve seen it. I’ll be the one to tell you personally so please don’t think when you hear abuse and neglect Boone County that it’s probably not Zionsville because we’re Zionsville. Please don’t ever get complacent and think that because it can happen anywhere. Every case is one too many so as your neighbor I know that we all share a common goal of making sure that every child in our town grows up safe, loved and supported. Child Abuse Prevention month just reminds us that prevention starts with the community so we have our community here. And at the Department of Child Services under the new administration, we are working tirelessly to work with families to strengthen them for early intervention, expand our foster care support and collaborate with local organizations but as everybody knows and DCS knows, we can’t do it alone and so here in Zionsville we have incredible resources as all of you know together, we just need to rally together to support strengthening families and protecting our kids. I gave a, I gave a speech at the Child Abuse Prevention month kickoff at the Statehouse in the first week of April and I said that the best defense for child abuse and neglect is a strong family and I think we know that Zionsville has some incredibly strong families but prevention requires that, that we not get complacent. So I’m wearing a blue pinwheel on my lapel today. I hope that all of you know at least if you didn’t before today that you do moving forward that the blue pinwheel is the national symbol for child abuse prevention and the blue pinwheel is to represent the joy, playfulness and carefree childhood that we want all children to have so that all of our children in our communities can thrive so I see many, if not all of you, are wearing some shade of blue this morning so thank you for doing that. Again, my name is Adam Krupp, proud Zionsville resident. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this morning Mr., Mr. Chair. Wilson Good morning Council. I am Matt Wilson. I am the Executive Director of Boone County Mentoring Partnership and President of, of Prevent Child Abuse Awareness month or Prevent Child Abuse Boone County, sorry. Page 8 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 I don’t know that I can say much, anything much more than what Adam has shared and I appreciate his willingness to step into the role as Director of DCS and helping us continue throughout the state of making Indiana a better and safer place for all, all, all young people. I would like to recognize just a couple people also here who are, who have been big proponents and advocates for young people – Brian Stevenson, Major Brian Stevenson with the Sheriff’s Office. He is, he’s gonna beat me up later but for even mentioning him but he’s on our Prevent Child Abuse team for the county. Jamie VanGorder, he is on the Board at Sylvia’s Child Advocacy Center and Amanda Rubeck is on my Board at Boone County Mentoring Partnership. And on behalf of Prevent Child Abuse Boone County, I would like to thank the Town of Zionsville for joining the many other towns and cities and states throughout the country by recognizing this month as Child, Prevent Child Abuse Awareness month. As President of Prevent Child Abuse Boone County and Executive Director of BCMP, I appreciate your willingness to take the step and responding to not only preventing child abuse and neglect but promoting proactive and pro- social ways to do so. Through collaboration and joint efforts personally and collectively with our communities, local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, schools and families, we will be able to empower our young people and ensure that they have a safe and supportive community to grow in. So I thank you for taking this moment and this month to be very intentional in recognizing this month. Thank you. Burk Thank you. Plunkett Thank you Matt, Adam. I appreciate – Matt reached out in early February and, or late February I should say and we immediately responded and were supportive and wanted to do this and just unfortunately with the way our meetings lined up having a mid-month meeting we weren’t able to kick off the month but appreciate, appreciate your reaching out and giving us all this opportunity. So Council you’ll notice that there’s not a vote for this but we do have a proclamation and if you bear with me here for a second I’ll go ahead and read through that. Whereas, the Town of Zionsville, Boone County, Indiana believes that all children should be able to grow up in a safe environment in the Town of Zionsville and across the state; and Whereas, Prevent Child Abuse Boone County works to increase awareness of the problem of child abuse and seeks to inform communities about solutions serving as a valuable resource for families, individuals and organizations as well as advocating for expanded and improved programs and policies to prevent child maltreatment; and Whereas, the Indiana Department of Child Services reported that there were a total of 56 children deaths in the State of Indiana as a result of abuse and/or neglect in 2023; and Page 9 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 Whereas, child abuse and neglect are preventable and the Town of Zionsville or the Town Council believes that it is critical to, to bring awareness to the community and to teach children, parents, caregivers and educators how to report and respond to these crimes; and Whereas, the community, all community members must play a role in ensuring that families have the resources they need to provide for the safety and support of their children; and Whereas, the Town Council commends the efforts driven by Prevent Child Abuse Boone County in educating and informing Hoosiers about the importance of preventing the pain of child abuse and neglect; and Whereas, the month of April is nationally known as Child Abuse Prevention month and the Town Council has determined it’s, it is important to recognize the growing threat of child abuse and works towards preventing abuse and giving survivors the resources they need to heal and thrive; and Now, therefore, the Town Council of the Town of Zionsville, Indiana proclaims that April be recognized as Prevent Child Abuse Awareness month and we ask all citizens to join in this observation. We will, we will have, I will sign this, the Town Council will sign this and we will certainly offer that to you guys as well so thank you very much. Chief Van Gorder/Mayor Stehr o ZFD Competition Team o 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb recognition Plunkett All right, up next on the agenda we have another special presentation with Fire Chief Jamie VanGorder and John Stehr, Mayor Stehr. Stehr So some of you may have heard of this by now, this is, this is really kind of a big deal. The Zionsville Fire Department won a worldwide EMS competition last week, a major competition from the Fire Department Instructors Conference in downtown Indianapolis. It’s a competition that’s based on the, the best uses for the latest modern technology and it included EMS teams from around the world including places as far away as Australia and Abu Dhabi and a number came in from Europe too. Our team has come close the past two years we came in second place but this year we finally got over the top. We’ve never won before this month and the team members include those you see on the screen right there – Brian Blazak, Ray Kline, Dully Abamislimo and Jeremy Anker and I think Ray is in the audience today so Ray, why don’t you stand up and take a round of applause. Now this is something I think we’ve known in Zionsville but it confirms that we are fortunate to have some of the best EMS crews in the world and all these guys deserve really the round of applause that Ray just got, they deserve that every day for the work they do and do you want to say anything about this? You’re good? Okay. But it’s a big deal and we’re, we’re proud of them for doing that. Page 10 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 And then shortly after that competition took place, I know at least one of them, Jeremy, moved over to the 911 Memorial stair climb which is something that’s part of the FDIC each year and they were joined by Councilor Norris, by the way. This is not a competition but it is a way to remember the New York firefighters who died on 9/11/2001 in the attacks on the World Trade Center and it’s a grueling climb. What they do is they start on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, they walk all the way up to the 600 level, sometimes in full gear, and then they go up and down every set of steps in the top tier and then they come back own to the field level once again. It is a remarkable accomplishment to do that, particularly when you’re not trained in it as Councilor Norris – he was here a few days after that and couldn’t walk down the steps. When he left he had to take the elevator. Norris He’s not joking. I couldn’t walk. Stehr I’m not joking and all, all the money raised goes to support the New York Fire Department’s Counseling Services Unit. So for those who were here today who took part in that grueling climb, we should stand up and accept a round of applause from us. Thank you and thank you not only for the way you performed and the way you made us proud at the FDIC but for really what you do every day, every day of the week, 24 hours a day including weekends, 24/7 so we appreciate that every much. MAYOR/ADMINISTRATION UPDATE Stehr Now moving on Councilors and President Plunkett, if it’s okay, I’ll move on with the Administration Update. I just have a couple of quick notes here, the first of which is the Comprehensive Plan which is moving forward, still on target to wrap up by late summer or early fall. Information from two public meetings this month, we had one on April 9th and one on April 15th, will be considered. The sub-committees will meet again and the steering committee will meet again. HWC is working on trying to put together a meeting, a joint meeting between the Town Council and the Plan Commission which would be open to the public and carried online so that is something that they’re working on right now, all heading toward the goal of presenting the Comprehensive Plan to the Plan Commission in August and the Town Council after that. Then in the meantime, people have asked where, where they can provide input and where they can put in – there is an opportunity to do that on our, on the website right there – it’s on the screen – uniquelyzionsville.com. You can follow the link to send comments by email. All those emails are collated and it really is the best way to engage in the process at this point. Your voice will be heard if you choose to, to go on the website and make a comment. The next item I have is the, the Village restrooms. They’re open and functional in the parking lot just south of The Friendly Tavern and I know it may look like we just kinda drove this in there and plopped it down and that’s it but it really took the work of many departments. DPW and Parks worked on the design and they will service these restrooms going forward. IT had to establish safety protocols to go around it. The Fire Department inspections and then proper permitting from the Planning Department too so pretty much everybody in this building has Page 11 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 touched this process and it, it might look a little bit stark to some people right now but there is going to be some landscaping that’s gonna go around it and I think it’ll be something that’ll serve the public well. It certainly has been a long time in coming and it’ll serve, serve the town well. The next item that I have is the 2024 Year-End Financial Report. It is finalized, you have a memo in your packet. It was uploaded to Gateway on February 25th which was several days ahead of the March 1st deadline and just a couple of highlights that I think are important for people to know that all of our accounts are reconciled, our reporting to the state is fully up to date and the credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, has removed the negative outlook from our finances. So it’s all very good, we’re on track and I, and I want everybody to know that our Accounting Department, our Finance Department is doing a great job in keeping us where we need to be. The next item that I have is the State Legislature. The legislative session will end on April 29th but it has already passed Senate Bill 1 and that has been signed by the Governor and that will provide property tax reform but at the same time it will affect the revenue that all municipalities get including Zionsville. So under the current projections from the Department of Local Government Finance, it appears that our revenue growth will slow by $1.35 million dollars in 2026, $1.82 million in 2027 and $2.44 million in 2028. The cumulative impact will be $5.62 million dollars. Also, we are no longer eligible for the excess levy growth appeals. So we are now working with Crowe on our 5-year budget projections for 2026 through 2030 and I just want you to know that we’re confident we’re going to come up with a workable plan. Working together we’ll be able to find our way through this. We will work with the revenue we have available and we will still be able to provide the level of service to which our constituents have come to expect. And I want to state publicly and state it very clearly and I, and I believe that everybody on this Town Council would agree that the number one commitment to me is that we will not allow public safety to be compromised in this process in any way and that’s a commitment that I know we all have and that’s a commitment we will carry forward as we, as we go through what is going to be a bit of a challenge in the next few years. And that’s all I have. Thank you very much. Plunkett All right. Thank you. Burk Thank you. Plunkett I would echo the Mayor’s sentiments regarding the Comprehensive Plan. If there’s anyone in the public who wants to make sure they have input, please, please go to uniquelyzionsville.com and participate in that exercise. Page 12 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 OLD BUSINESS Consideration of an Ordinance Authorizing Bonds (Holliday Farms Project) Ordinance 2025-09 (Final Reading) Plunkett Up next is the first item of Old Business – this is a Consideration of an Ordinance Authorizing Bonds. This is a final reading. This is Ordinance 2025-09. This is for the Holliday Farms project. We have petitioners in the room with counsel if there are questions. Otherwise, as, as I mentioned, this is a second reading. We’ve heard this before so any questions from Councilors? Otherwise I would entertain a motion. Norris I will make a motion to approve on final reading Ordinance No. 2025-09. Burk Second. Plunkett I got a first from Councilor Norris, a second from Vice President Burk. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett Those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Thank you very much. Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing a Donation Fund for the Town of Zionsville Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council Ordinance 2025-10 (Final Reading) Plunkett Up next is a Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing a Donation Fund for the Town of Zionsville, Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council. This is Ordinance 2025- 10. Again, second reading, final reading. We have Deputy Mayor Hage here to talk through this if there are any questions. If there are no questions, I would make a motion to approve on final reading. Melton Second. Plunkett I have a second from Councilor Melton. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett Those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Page 13 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 NEW BUSINESS Consideration of an Encroachment Appeal (Oakley Terrace-Wildt) Plunkett Up next is a Consideration of an Encroachment Appeal. This is the Oakley Terrace appeal. We have DPW Director, Lance Lantz, or someone from Lance’s department here that can also offer and the petitioner, David Wildt, to go through the petition. Norris Mr. Susong. Plunkett Yes, either one. I don’t know, David, I don’t know if you want to start or, or – I’m also happy to introduce this too. So we’ve made a, we’ve made a change to the way that the public files appeals and the process is for residents to contact their local representative. In this particular case, Mr. Wildt is in my district. He shared with me his desire as you guys saw in the packet with the memo that he provided just simply to provide some privacy with some, with some trees and after speaking with DPW Director Lance Lantz, he found no problem with that. This particular, this particular area is somewhat unique in the way that the neighborhood was set up and established before some of the landscaping was put in so with that being said I guess I’ll let you kinda take it from there. Wildt You’ve answered my question. Thank you for the opportunity. It was simply to plant some trees between a driveway and a sidewalk in the Hampshire neighborhood on the north end and it is in a drainage use and sewer easement area, however, it doesn’t seem based on the way the landscape is set up that it should encroach too much on any drainage and this is also one of those things where prior to the neighborhood being built there was a different protocol then here, here we stand but I appreciate it. I don’t have much else to say unless there’s any questions. Sampson Does he need to state his address and name or is that – Wildt The address, yes, this is at 4679 Oakley Terrace in the Hampshire neighborhood in Zionsville. Plunkett Yes, go ahead, sorry. Sampson I think for me when Lance speaks for his department and says that this falls into an okay area for him it immediately puts me at ease and I like to look at the property rights of an owner and if it, those two things match it sounds good to me. McElderry And I’ll just add thank you for doing it the right way. Thank you for going through the process. Thank you for asking the right questions. Thank you for getting DPW involved. There are a lot of folks in our community that will plant a tree just because they think it’s on their property and they should be able to and this is the right way to do it so thank you for following protocol. Page 14 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 Plunkett Any other questions from Councilors or would you like to offer anything or? Melton I have a question for Mr. Susong if you don’t mind. I know, I know Lance isn’t here but I was just curious, this, this established a drainage utility and sanitary easement previously and then there was a 5”, I’m sorry, additional 5-foot drainage utility that I haven’t ever seen that before and as a contractor myself I’ve, I’ve seen a lot of different things happening. Is, is it in our, is this, is there something we need to change moving forward from a planning standpoint to kind of prevent some of this happening? And that’s my first question and then my secondary question is my understanding is that once you have a utility, I’m sorry, the easement, does, does the actual pipe in the ground is that usually at the center of an easement? Because this one is just kind of unique too. I’ve never really seen a diagonal pipe. I’m sure they, they exist that way but I just, I’ve never seen that so I was just curious what your, if there are any findings about change and then is this a typical scenario? Susong Well first of all, good morning. Michael Susong, Stormwater Division. You asked good questions here. It’s like well the first is that what procedurally possibly could be done differently in the future going forward – it’s very unique because it’s, you had the trail in there and that trail strip and then on one side is an easement, on the other side is the easement as well. So the engineers that design the subdivision will typically plat all these things out and design the pipes as such. Because of the pathway, they used that as the center to set the pipe in and even though it was in a diagonal and we’ve seen, you can see, there are places within easements they’ll put it as a diagonal in an easement just so that the, when you have easements on your platted lot next to, next to actually the, the easement, it’s not at a diagonal and then your house would have to be adjusted accordingly. You know what I mean by that? So it’s something that we’ll look at as we go forward but this is definitely an oddball situation. It’s unique and then on your follow-up question about was, are those the two, were those the two questions you had or what was the other one? Melton The, the 5-foot, the additional utility and I know that we didn’t do this as a town, however, at some point we approved it so I was just curious, I’ve never seen that. I’ve never seen an additional easement alongside so just – Susong Yes. Melton Just curious and if, if that’s something that we in the planning stages we need to kinda red flag or, or better understand why it’s existing. Susong Yes. I think the trail in there was probably the, the thing that made it an odd duck. Normally it would just be a utility strip for that storm pipe in the back. Melton Fantastic. Well I appreciate, I appreciate you commenting on that and it helps as we move forward both in the planning phases of developments but also if we have these come forward as you remember we had a similar situation at the previous meeting a couple of meetings ago so I appreciate it. Thank you very much for that information. Page 15 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 Susong Thanks. Plunkett Yes, I think we’re gonna, to your point, Councilor Melton, this particular development was approved in concept in 2006 – Melton Yes. Plunkett Right? So we’re kind of inheriting some of these unique situations so but I too appreciate Mr. Wildt’s approach and how we ended up ultimately getting here so. Are there any questions from Councilors? So this is a, this is not, excuse me – this is not an ordinance, it’s not a resolution this is just a thumbs up or thumbs down. So if there’s no questions from Councilors, I would make a motion to approve. Melton Second. Plunkett And a second from Councilor Melton. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett Those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Thank you. McElderry Plant your Viburnum. Consideration of a Resolution Expressing Interest in the Purchase of Certain Properties Valued at Over $25,000 Resolution 2025-09 Plunkett Up next on the agenda is a Consideration of a Resolution Expressing Interest in the Purchase of Certain Properties Valued at Over $25,000. This is Resolution 2025-09. We have Fire Chief VanGorder here with us today. I would point out before Chief VanGorder gets up here that this is a resolution that only requires one vote. VanGorder Thank you Mr. President, members of the Council for your time this morning. As you’re well aware, the Zionsville Fire Department has been working its way through a fire station feasibility plan for the better part of the past 8 months and as we’re reaching the conclusion of developing the final plan, it’s become very apparent that land acquisition is critically important to the long-term success of future public safety planning for our community. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. In these areas where we believe are going to need public safety facilities, the land is quickly being purchased by developers or individuals that wish to develop them into projects or ideas or homes for themselves. So to that end, based on the recommendations, we’ve reviewed multiple options in various locations throughout our community to locate the most optimal area to deliver timely, professional Fire Department services. Previous efforts by the Fire Department to acquire property in the area of 875 East and 400 South were a Page 16 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 good decision and provide locations for public safety services in the future. However, in other areas of our community, the town does not currently own property and there is a need to acquire property in eastern and westernmost portions of our service area to ensure we are able to deliver these essential services. Our consultants have encouraged the town to move forward to secure property in these areas before they are developed and unavailable. After careful analysis with our consultant, Woolpert, we’ve identified these two separate locations and come before you to ask your approval in this ordinance to allow us to continue our discussions with these property owners. This does not lock the town into purchasing these properties, it just allows us to continue to have conversations with these individuals to see if we can reach an agreement at the cost, work with the Mayor and his Administration to identify how they may be funded and then come back to the Council and move forward but per state law, anytime that we’re looking at acquiring property in excess of $25,000 it does require us to do this public discussion and then have the Council consider a resolution. I’m more than happy to answer any questions you have at this time. Plunkett Any questions from Councilors? Otherwise I would entertain a motion. Norris I’ll make a motion to approve Resolution 2025-09. Sampson Second. Plunkett I got a first from Councilor Norris, second from Councilor Sampson. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett Those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. Thank you. Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing the Reserve at Union Woodlands Planned Unit Development (Petition 2024-50-Z) Ordinance 2025-11 No action at this meeting Plunkett All right, last item on the agenda for New Business is Consideration of an Ordinance Establishing the Reserve at Union Woodlands Planned Unit Development, this is petition 2024-50-Z, Ordinance 2025-11. The Town Council will hear this matter on Monday, May 5, 2025 at 7 p.m. in the Zionsville Town Council Chambers here at Town Hall. No presentation by the petitioner will be provided at this meeting. No public testimony will be allowed during this meeting. Presentation by the petitioner and public testimony will be allowed at the May 5, 2025 meeting. Any other questions from Councilors? Page 17 of 18 Zionsville Town Council April 21, 2025 OTHER MATTERS Plunkett Any other matters? ADJOURN Plunkett Otherwise I would make a motion to adjourn. Burk Second. Plunkett Second from Vice President Burk. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All Aye. Plunkett Those opposed same sign. [No response] Motion passes 7 in favor, 0 opposed. The next regular Town Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 5, 2025 at 7 p.m. in the Zionsville Town Hall Council Chambers. Final notice will be posted in compliance with the Indiana Open Door Law. Thank you. Respectfully Submitted, Amelia Anne Lacy, Municipal Relations Coordinator Town of Zionsville Page 18 of 18