Town of Osgood Minutes

Regular Meeting
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
7:00 P.M.

Present at the meeting were Tammy Wilhoit, Norman Kappes, Holley Rose, Chris Kuhn, Will Wallace, Steve Wilhoit, Tony Wood, Toby Church, and Jerry Vollmer.

Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call - all present

Motion was made to waive the reading and adopt the pre-read minutes. Holley 1^st, Chris 2^nd
3 - ayes

Norman Kappes opened the public hearing for the Re-establishment of the Cumulative Capital Development Fund. The levy will begin with taxes due and payable in 2022. This fund has been in place for years, it has to be re-established every three years. No questions were asked. Hearing was closed.

Subsequent to the hearing the adopting body can vote to pass.

Motion was made to adopt Ordinance 2021-1: an Ordinance Re-Establishing the Cumulative Capital Development Fund for the Town of Osgood, Ripley County, Indiana. Holley 1^st, Chris 2^nd
3 - ayes

2019 Culvert Project claims:

Commonwealth Engineers - $14,571.58 for construction/commissioning and RPR
Dave O’Mara Contractor - pay estimate #2 for $457,128.36

Motion was made to approve Commonwealth and Dave O’Mara claims. Holley 1^st, Chris 2^nd
3 - ayes

Commonwealth Engineers - Toby Church was present. The newly awarded Community Crossing Grant will need to be under contract by April 8^th. Ads will be placed in the paper first part of March and bids will be received on March 26^th by 4:00 P.M. A special meeting will need to be held to award the contract. Prior to the Community Crossing Project, we will need to get a quote to do storm water pipe on E. Ripley and Hunt Street. Toby presented the Task Order for the CCG Project.

The Town has applied for and received a reimbursement of $12,775.15 from the Coronavirus Relief Fund for expenses that were related to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Council has requested the Clerk-Treasurer to contact a company that can assist with stray cats.

Norman Kappes presented outgoing council member David Bultman with a plaque, thanking him for serving on Town Council.

Street Department - Steve Wilhoit requested Council to consider (1) transferring the properties at 223 N. Elm, 523 Leslie and 531 Leslie to the Osgood Beautification Committee for future development. That would be the Town’s contribution to make improvements in those locations. (2) Great Plains Communications (formerly ETC) has submitted an application to bore in fiber optic cable along Railroad Ave to provide service to Case Paper. Lynn has reviewed their bonds. Steve and Tony have reviewed the plans and will approve the application once the permit fees have been paid. A modification was made to contract that if the Town has a project in the future and those lines create an issue and need to be moved, they will be done at Great Plains expense. (3) Steve and Inspector Tim have gone over all claims for the Culvert Project and no issues with an over run were found and it should come in under budget. Structure 4 still has a punch list that needs completed. Once nicer weather comes, the paving can be completed and grass seed planted. The project will then be closed out. (4) Steve has met with Jeremy Schmitt from Commonwealth Engineers to go over the new Community Crossing Project, some edits will be made then it will go out for bidding. (5) A couple of requests have been made by people to use the hall side of the green building next to the Town Hall. Town Employees will secure the other part of the building and the same rent will be charged as if they were using the Town Hall. (6) It’s becoming a money pit to keep maintaining the small dump truck. The last maintenance performed was $6,000. The truck has over 100,000 miles on it. Steve will look into replacing the truck and get back with Council on his findings. (7) Amy Streator with the Ripley County Community Foundation has contacted Steve to see if the Town would partner with the schools to do tree replacement and a pollination garden. Steve stated that this could be utilized at the Trails and in the community.

Motion was made to approve Ripley County Community Foundations request. Holley 1^st, Chris 2^nd
3 - ayes

Gas Department - Steve Wilhoit stated that the leak survey is scheduled for the week of March 22^nd and regular inspections will be completed.

Water Department - Tony Wood stated the plant is running good and the chemical usage is down. A water loss audit was completed and there are three things that need to be done: 1. Purchase hydrant meter, so that when hydrants get flushed they can keep track of how much water is being used. 2. Make a plan for updating customer water meters, so the meters don’t slow down and lose accuracy. 3. Calibrate large meters to ensure they don’t slow down. (When a meter goes bad, they slow down and do not record the accurate flow of water, the usage is lower than what is actually used.) Tony will also be doing some software and system updates. The Town did not receive the OCRA grant for the Water Project, however the application will be revised and we will reapply in April. The Reynolds Foundation and the Rising Sun Regional Foundation will hold the matching grants. He stated that they have repaired a couple of water leaks on Sycamore Street and by 1142 W State Road 350.

Sewer Department - Tony Wood stated that Best Metal had a change in their process and added a new chemical to fix a secondary problem. It created an ammonia problem at the sewer plant and he had to meet with them. Sewer plants have a nitro fine bacteria and the ammonia killed it. They will need to re-inoculate material from Dillsboro to get the plant fired back up. He will send a response letter to IDEM on actions that were taken to correct the problem. They did have a pump go out and the SCADA System will be updated to Windows 10.

Osgood Beautification Committee (O.B.C.) - Jerry Vollmer was present and said that he realizes there could be a conflict with Council members attending their meetings. He would like to obtain Councils’ emails to keep them informed. Or if just one Council member could come as a spectator. At the Council’s Organizational meeting, they had discussed appointing someone to the O.B.C. to represent the Town. Steve Wilhoit had talked with Jodi Comer to see if she would be interested in doing that since she is already a member. She told him she would be interested.

Motion was made to appoint Jodi Comer as the Town’s Representative to the O.B.C. Holley 1^st, Chris 2^nd
3 - ayes

Claims were signed.

Motion was made to adjourn the meeting. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
3 - ayes

Osgood Town Hall	Osgood Street Utilities	Osgood Water Plant	Ripley Co. Sheriff
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