Town of Osgood Minutes

Regular Meeting
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
7:00 P.M.

Present at the meeting were Tammy Wilhoit, Holley Rose, Chris Kuhn, Jeremy Schmitt, Will Wallace, Reyna Jackson, Marshal Koger, Herman Strumpf, Lynn Fledderman, and Erin Thomas.

Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call - Norman Kappes was not present.

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

Old Business:

On June 30, 2021 Ripley County Area Plan Commission sent letters to:

4462 Hillcrest Drive: violation of abandoned vehicles, waste matter, junk, and debris. (Section 80.06 (I), Section 80.26 (J), and Section 80.38 (A) of the Ripley County Zone Code.)

401 E Fairground: violation of boats, campers, and trailers in yard. (Section 80.06 (I), Section 80.26 (J), and Section 80.38 (A) of the Ripley County Zone Code.)

604 S. Buckeye: violation of too many cars being stored on the property and property being used as storage yard. (Section 80.15 (A) (6)(a)(3) and Section 80.36 (C)(1) of the Ripley County Zone Code.)

230 S. Buckeye: violation of a semi=trailer being used for storage. (Section 80.33 (B)(7) of the Ripley County Zone Code.)

Wait 30 days to see if compliance and Town will file suit.

Lynn Fledderman was asked if there was an update on the following property:

445 N. Maple Street, car parked over sidewalk, damage to sidewalk and right-of-way. Lynn has not received a response from the letter she mailed to the 3 property owners. She requested direction from Council as to proceed with filing suit.

Motion was made to file suit. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
2 - ayes

American Rescue Plan Act - request for payment has been signed by Norman and the paperwork will be submitted to the Indiana Finance Authority.

Commonwealth Engineers - Jeremy Schmitt was present to update Council on projects:

Water Improvements Project - grant was submitted prior to June 25^th and awards will be announced August 15^th.

2021 Community Crossings Project - work is progressing south on Elm. Contractor is beginning to work on Ripley, Franklin, and Jefferson. Scheduled completion is September 17, 2021. They had a delay waiting on the pipe, but it has finally come in.

Culvert Project - work is complete, currently working with contractors to receive final pay applications to get the project closed out.

2021/2022 Community Crossings Project - continuing to work on grant application, Jeremy and Steve will be meeting on Friday to finalize. Round 2021-2 is currently open and will close on July 30^th at 5:00 p.m.

State Water Infrastructure Fund - grant application was submitted on July 14^th, anticipating hearing about the award on or about August 6^th.

2021 Community Crossing Project claims:

Commonwealth Engineers - $14,780.25 for construction and commissioning, RPR

Lee Supply - $12,622.50 for 17 luminaires

Motion to approve and pay once funds are released. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
2 ayes

Dave O’Mara - pay application #1 for $194,116.00 and retainage of $10,216.64.

Motion to approve pay application #1 for Dave O’Mara. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
2 ayes

2019 Culvert Project:

Commonwealth Engineers - $1,243.82 for Resident Project Representative

Motion to approve Commonwealth’s claim. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
2 ayes

Lifetime Resources was present and requested funding from the 2022 Budget. Erin Thomas, Executive Director, stated that they cover the entire state of Indiana. They provide services to older adults to keep them independent in their homes. COVID helped people realize the services they needed in their home. She stated that we also have a rapidly aging population. They have proactively reached out to individuals to offer vaccines. They addressed the need of caregivers through a new program called TCARE. They created a volunteer program, Kind Caller, which matches volunteers with participants who have similar interest for regular phone calls. Catch a ride was really impacted by the pandemic, not being able to do a lot of work they typically do. They did receive cares act funding, but are concerned about sustainability in the future. They are requesting $1,500.

Motion to approve $1,500. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
2 -ayes

Herman Strumpf was present to discuss Rural Watch. There are four families in the devil’s elbow area with a goal for quality of place and quality of life. They have had some success in eliminating dumping and trespassing in the Versailles State Park. Their goal is to eliminate the things people are doing at devil’s elbow that they shouldn’t be doing. Officer Wallace and the deputy have been a major part of helping them out there. Mr. Stumpf is requesting Osgood Police Department’s patch for a sign that they would like to install.

Motion to approve Mr. Strumpf’s request. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
2 - ayes

Retroactive to June 21, 2021: Motion to hire Landen Comer as part-time school helper. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
2 - ayes

Motion to hire Stephanie Back for the part-time Deputy Clerk-Treasurer / Utilities Clerk position. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
2 - ayes

Street Department - Steve Wilhoit stated that the complaints have been abundant concerning storm water but we’ve received 9-10 inches of rain. Our storm water has changed since the storm water project, the recovery from high water is amazing. He is requesting Lynn to look at town labor and equipment rate, currently its $35 per hour. This is the last full year of the garbage contract, do we want to pursue it sooner than July of next year because it would affect the rates or see if we can get a 6 month extension. We will need to be able to recover rates if they increase.

Motion was made to explore the options. Chris 1^st, Holley 2^nd
2 -ayes

Steve and Jeremy Schmitt will have a Community Crossings meeting Friday to look at finishing up this side of town, Wilson, Eckert, and Morris. The budget was way too high for material. Morris is at the top of the list for concerns. That entire area was at a budget of $2.2 million and they need to cut that in half.

Police Department - Will Wallace stated that they had 131 calls. He also looked into Brookville’s Ordinance Blitz to see how it was being conducted. The Town of Osgood does have an ordinance for blowing grass in streets and storm drains. With the problems that have occurred because of the amount of rain and clogged storm drains from cut grass, Council has requested Officer Wallace to enforce the ordinance.

Reyna Jackson and Marshall Koger were present voicing their concerns about all the stuff that is being placed on the outside of REMC’s construction fence. Also, Hometown Auto had 5 junk cars parked on Lothridge’s property and they were told he was trying to get an ordinance that would allow him to do that. Mrs. Jackson also stated she went to the County to sign an affidavit at the Ripley County Area Planning and the vehicles had already been moved. She stated that he had put them back on his property. Council and Steve explained that they had already spoken to the owner of Hometown Auto and those vehicles were parked there temporarily while he power washed and no ordinance would be created because there is not enough land there for storage of vehicles. Officer Wallace stated that if vehicles sit stationary for 20 days even with a license, they can be towed. Lynn Fledderman stated that the County had already issued a letter giving the owner 30 days to correct the violations. Until that 30 day period is up, the Town will not be able to do anything. We need to go through the process. Marshal Koger stated that the dust is unbelievable when REMC brings poles in and stores them. The Town has no control over that. Reyna also stated that Short Street is being blocked with red trucks and REMC is storing stuff in town right of way. Steve stated he would speak to the construction manager about the items that are in the Town’s right of way. Mr. Koger also complained about semi traffic tearing up his corner. Steve stated that is the state right of way.

Claims signed.

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

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