New Carlisle Town Council

124 E. Michigan Street, New Carlisle, Indiana

General Meeting, February 14, 2012

 

The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

President Colpitts called the meeting to order with Vice President Higgins, Council Member Gelow, Council Member Vojtko, Council Member Carter and Clerk-Treasurer Sue Moffitt present.  Also in attendance were Roger Nawrot, Andrea Halpin, Jack Mell, Ken Davis, Jeff Roseboom, Tim Kaminski, John Mrozinski, Mary Ann Swope, Mary Countryman, Mike Shilts, Augie Mauer, Cal Dittmar, Lou Ann Dixon, Paul Lawson and Josh Schweizer.

Minutes

Council Member Vojtko moved to accept the minutes of the January 24, 2012 General Meeting as written.  Seconded by Council Member Gelow the motion passed unanimously.

Employee Reports

Ken Davis –

·         Presented copies of his Annual EMS Report for Council review.

Andrea Halpin

·         Worked with Pat on the CSI/Water Tower Agreement.

 

·         Completed the update of the 2012 Interlocal Ambulance Service Agreement as well as the 2012 Ambulance and Fire Protection Agreement.

 

·         Researched disposition of 125 Zigler Street.

 

Roger Nawrot

·         Bid opening for the 2012 Sidewalk Project and walkway from Thunderbird to County Line is planned for April 24th with project completion hopefully prior to Home Town Days.

·         Reports the TE Project is still in Section 106 with the State Historic Preservation Officer who has submitted many questions to be answered by the environmental office.  One major concern is making sure trees will not hide historical building facades.

Old Business

·         Disposition of 125 Zigler Street

The Town is currently exploring the option of offering this property to adjoining land owners with stipulations that it be brought up to code  or demolished within a certain time frame.  There is a new owner of the home adjoining this property to the west and he has expressed interest in purchasing 125 but has not presented an offer to the Town.

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General Meeting  - February 14, 2012

 

Attorney Andrea Halpin reports that we have already gone through the statutory process and at this point in time there are many options available including selling the property through a realtor.  Specific requirements can be included with the purchase that could contain sanctions being imposed for failure to follow them.

President Colpitts stated that he would like a requirement to include a certain period of time to make the house habitable or have it demolished.  Vice President Higgins expressed concern for trying to enforce upgrades to the property. 

Council Member Vojtko voiced concern that we will be sitting here in two years with the same issues we are currently dealing with.  Andrea stated that terms of condition may be set up to allow the Town to purchase the property back by returning the purchase price if requirements are not met by the purchaser.

Council Member Vojtko inquired about the status of the house at 417 W. Michigan Street.  Sue reports that Bob Middlebrook is in contact with the new owner about the property and has also fined him twice.  Council Member Vojtko asked how long this would be allowed to go on.  Andrea reports that if the code enforcement/building inspector decides it is an unsafe property we can be more aggressive in our enforcement.

President Colpitts asked that we continue the discussion of 125 Zigler Street and establish a time line of when we move forward as the interested adjoining property owner has not made a written offer.

Andrea suggests  the Council put together requirements they would like to have included possibly at a work session.  Vice President Colpitts asked Council Member Vojtko to put something together.

·         Bid Opening for 1995 Chevy truck

President Colpitts opened the four sealed bids that were received for the 1995 Chevy truck as follows:

            Dulles Lawes -           $275.00

            Stan Michalski -        $700.00

            George Bladecki -   $735.00

            Todd Kaminski -         $850.00

With no minimum bid, Council Member Vojtko moved to accept the highest bid of $850 received from Todd Kaminski.  Following a second by Vice President Higgins the motion passed unanimously.

·         State of the Town Address

President Colpitts gave his State of the Town Address, a copy of which is on file in the Clerk’s Office as well as available on the Town Website.

·         2012 Ambulance and Fire Protection Agreement

 

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General Meeting  - February 14, 2012

 

Vice President Higgins moved to accept both the 2012 Ambulance and Fire Agreement and 2012 Interlocal Ambulance Service Agreement as written.   The motion was seconded by Council Member Vojtko and passed unanimously.

·         Water Treatment Plant RO Equipment

Water Plant Supervisor Tim Kaminski explained that we have to replace two membranes for the RO System.  These are the original membranes and have been in place for fifteen years while the average life expectancy for this type of membrane is five years with I/N Tek replacing theirs every two years.  Tim presented a purchase agreement for the replacement membranes at a cost of  $22,336 and a purchase agreement for labor at a cost of $4640.    Tim estimates an additional cost of $500 to $4100  to repair anything that may break when this part is replaced.   

A motion to accept the purchase agreement for $22,336 for the replacement membranes was made by Council Member Gelow and seconded by Council Member Vojtko.  The motion passed unanimously. 

Council Member Gelow moved to accept the purchase agreement for $4640 for labor to replace the set of membranes.  Seconded by Council Member Vojtko the motion passed unanimously.

Council Reports

Vice President Higgins       

·         Asked Fire Chief Josh Schweizer the status of the air packs discussed at the January Intergovernmental Meeting.

 

Josh  explained that they are currently researching options including the possibility of purchasing in conjunction with South Bend Fire to receive bulk pricing.

 

·         Stated that she is very pleased to see the spirit of cooperation between the fire, ambulance and police departments and encourages them to continue with the full support of the Council.

Council Member Vojtko

·         Reports that the Town Snow Removal Plan has been completed by Pat and asks that it be sent to the EMS, Fire and Police Department Supervisors for input.  He feels it is very concise but may need to include an “Emergency Plan” that would include clearing of sidewalks in certain areas such as to the school and downtown.  An Emergency Plan has not been included and he feels that it is a board decision whether or not to include one. 

President Colpitts feels that some type of emergency plan should be included.  He suggested that following a large snow event, an emergency could be declared and there would be a specified route that would be cleared.  Andrea recommended that if the Council would like to establish an emergency plan it be included in the Snow Removal Plan.

 

 

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General Meeting  - February 14, 2012

 

Steve thanked Pat and Augie for all of the time they spent on the very well done plan.  He feels that it makes very clear within the plan what the responsibility of the Town is and would like input from the emergency services department heads before adding anything to it.

Vice President Higgins stated that she feels the snow removal has been exceptional this year and thanked everyone involved.

President Colpitts

·         Recently held a Main Street Steering Committee Meeting.  He reports that eleven people attended and much good input was received.  They are planning a general organizational meeting soon.

Clerk-Treasurer Report

·         The Council was presented a memo regarding penalties received by NPUSC for their January Utility Billing.

The check from NPUSC was issued and mailed on January 13th but not received by the Clerk’s Office until January 25th.  Because it was not received by the due date of January 20th, penalties were added at that time.

Kathy Smith of New Prairie School Corporation has asked that the penalties be waived as payment was maileds in plenty of time to be received by the due date.   and the school corporation has never been late on a utility bill in the past.   Sue reports that in speaking with State Board of Accounts Area Representative Doug Weise, because of the circumstances and the fact that NPUSC has never been late on their account, the Council has the option of waiving the penalties for NPUSC.

Council Member Vojtko moved to waive the January 2012 penalties from the NPUSC account.  The motion was seconded by Vice President Higgins and passed 4-1.  Council Member Gelow voted nay.

Bills to be Paid

A motion to pay all bills as presented was made by Council Member Vojtko and seconded by Council Member Carter.  The motion passed unanimously.

Adjournment

Following a motion by Vice President Higgins and second by Council Member Vojtko the meeting was adjourned at 6 PM.

 

________________________________

Ronald Colpitts, Council President

 

______________________________

Susan I. Moffitt, Clerk-Treasurer