Town of Osgood Minutes

Town of Osgood
Regular Meeting
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
7:00 P.M.

Present at the meeting were Tammy Wilhoit, Holley Rose, DeDee Holliday, Norman Kappes, John Ertel, Toby Church, Christina DeWitt, Brittany Moore, Chuck Gill, Jeff French, Eric Roush, Suzy Bass, and Mitch Ripley.

Pledge of Allegiance

Roll Call - all present

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

3 - ayes

OLD Business: Lifetime Housing Group requested the Council to consider giving matching funds in the amount of $11,000 for 5 homes located in Osgood. This grant would look at home repairs such as safety, structural soundness, aging in place improvements, and energy efficiency improvements. Council feels there are many factors to take into consideration, but the main one is spending tax payer dollars to improve only 5 homes. This would increase the value of those homes, benefiting those individuals.

Motion was made to deny Lifetime Housing Group’s request. Holley 1^st, DeDee 2^nd

3 - ayes

First Apostolic Church from Versailles is requesting to have a concert at the clock by Osgood Primary Care. Council asked what date they were looking at and that information was not available. Also, Osgood Primary Care would need to be contacted. Council table this request.

Surveyor Historical Society - Jeff French was present and requested Council to approve and sign an ownership and permission form for a historical marker to be placed at the intersection of County Road 300 N and U.S. 421 for the Bilby Tower. It will give information about Jasper Bilby and his accomplishments with an arrow pointing the way to the tower. The bill will be paid by the Surveyor Historical Society.

Liberty National - Brittany Moore was present with supplemental insurance. Gave a presentation on Liberty National and what they offer. They have a benefit to a Life Insurance Program and if the employee ever leaves the policy would go with them. They also have a free accidental life policy. Norman Kappes asked if the Clerk-Treasurer would set something up for her to present the policies to the employees.

HR Unlimited Resources - Mitch Ripley and Suzy Bass were present to discuss updating the Town’s Personnel Policy, which hasn’t been done since 1996. Mitch explained that he has been working with municipalities since 2001 and that Suzy Bass is a former Clerk-Treasurer. They would take the current Personnel Ordinance to use as a basis to start and offer suggestion on saving money through over time or comp time. They would meet with whomever the Council would want to participate, being Council, Clerk-Treasurer, and Superintendents. The maximum amount of time to complete this would be three months. They stated that the policy should actually be looked at every two years. They would create it in on an electronic file so that it could be edited. After two years, if updates need to be made they would only charge an hourly rate. Attorney John Ertel stated that although it’s not required, we should obtain a second or third quote. Council tabled this for now, until more quotes can be received.

Umbaugh & Associates - Christina DeWitt was present to discuss refinancing the 1996 Sewer Bond. This was looked at a year ago and it was not worthwhile to do it at that point, but after running numbers this year, there is a possibility of savings. With the analysis that was done, she feels there is enough savings that would benefit the Town. The savings has to be at least 3% or it’s not worth doing. We currently have a $1,140,000 bond through USDA at 4.5% interest. This process is similar to refinancing a mortgage. It can be done two ways: 1. Negotiate - someone markets for us. We would be at the mercy of the person getting us the best rate. 2. Request for proposal - information would be put together and a date would be set to sell the bond issue. We would receive bids and find the best rate. The cost of the issuance would be higher, but we would get the best rate. Umbaugh would come down and cover the financial obligation, expenditures, and review rates to adjust accordingly. Clerk-Treasurer asked if both of our bonds could be put together, but our 2011 bonds are currently at 2.375% and we wouldn’t be able to get a better deal than that. It would take approximately 90 days from start to finish. There are no fees payable if the bonds are not sold. The Town does not pay anything up front, the cost goes through the bond issue. Council will take this under advisement.

Commonwealth Engineers - Toby Church was present and stated that savings has been seen at the Water Plant and they will get the Preliminary Engineering Report out in 4 to 8 weeks concerning cutting the 3^rd shift. They are still collecting data. It was asked if the Town should go ahead and do a partial water rate increase or wait for all the data to come in. Toby and Christina want to discuss this before doing anything. Toby feels the Town should wait and make their decision after reviewing the PER.

Stormwater Grant for the Preliminary Proposal should be ready for signatures on April 1^st. There is now money available for a project that will help with anything that is health related that can be documented and photographed.

Sidewalk Project- plans should be submitted to INDOT by March 25^th. Final plans will be delivered to Osgood on March 25^th. A preliminary set will be sent to the Reynolds Foundation and the Town for review prior to these submittals. Tentative schedule is April 25^th obtain permits from INDOT, April 26^th and May 3^rd ads will be put in the paper, May 10^th bids will be due, May 16^th bid award and notice to proceed, August 14^th substantial completion, and September 13th final completion.

Police Department - Eric Roush gave monthly statistical report. An arrest was made where the person spit in Deputy Marshal Bewley’s face. The individual gave consent to be tested for infectious diseases and it was negative. Officer Bewley will be going through the Hep B process and the individual was arrested for resisting and battery. During this arrest the hood to the new police car was dented and they have received an estimate from Dave’s of $618 to have it fixed. They will also contact a company that pops dents out that could be a lot less expensive. Officer Roush also wanted to thank the Council for their support with the Spillman Program and going after a grant. He also wanted to thank Tony Wood for helping with his knowledge and assistance in writing the grant.

The Town has received a phone call concerning possible structural damage of a building downtown. The Town doesn’t have a structural engineer, but has designated the Ripley County Building Inspector as the inspector for enforcement of the Unsafe Building Ordinance. The County Building Inspector has contacted the State Building Inspector to see if they have someone who can review this. As of this meeting, no response had been received from the State Building Inspector.

Claims signed

Recess meeting until Thursday at 4:00 P.M. so that issues can be discussed concerning the mediation of the Inter-Community Medical Center and be acted on if needed.

Motion was made to recess this meeting until Thursday, March 17, 2016, at 4:00 P.M. Holley 1^st, DeDee 2^nd

3 - ayes

Town of Osgood
Recessed Meeting
Thursday, March 17, 2016
4:00 P.M.

Present at the meeting were Tammy Wilhoit, DeDee Holliday, Norman Kappes, John Ertel, Holley Rose.

Motion was made to reconvene the meeting from Tuesday, March 15^th . Holley 1^st, DeDee 2^nd

3 - ayes

Discussion was had and a probable settlement was reached. Upon recommendation of Attorney John Ertel and DeDee Holliday who were both at the mediation,

Motion was made to approve the Settlement Agreement. DeDee 1^st, Holley 2^nd

3 - ayes

Motion was made to authorize Norman Kappes to sign the Quit Claim Deed and any other documents to complete the settlement and close this matter. DeDee 1^st, Holley 2^nd

3 - ayes

Meeting adjourned

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