Town of Osgood Minutes

Regular Meeting
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
7:00 P.M.

Present at the meeting were Tammy Wilhoit, Norman Kappes, Holley Rose, David Bultman, Lynn Fledderman, Nick Buchanan, Tina Wallace, Christina DeWitt, Toby Church, Charlene Hale, Tony Wood, Will Wallace, Alex Brison, Bart Hicks and Gerry Harmeyer.

Roll Call – all present

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

3 – ayes

Old Business:

Tabled from last month were Ordinances 2017-5 and Ordinance 2017-6 pertaining to farm animals in corporation limits and the number of dogs/cats allowed per property. Lynn Fledderman is still working on getting a list of residents that are already agricultural properties that would be exempt from the farm animal regulation.

223 N. Elm will be going up for tax sale on October 31^st at 10:00 A.M.

Carl Mullikin – Council has asked Lynn to write a letter to the Ripley County Board of Zoning appeals to request that they stop giving extensions on this property’s violations. The situation is getting worse and nothing has been done to correct it. Surrounding property owners are not happy.

David Mullikin – Council has asked Lynn to write a letter to the Ripley County Board of Zoning to request a deadline be given for this property violation.

Inter Community Medical – still need two more names for nominees to set on board.

240 W. Wilson – Public Hearing will be held on October 30, 2017 at 5:00 P.M. to move forward with the sale.

Unsafe Building Job Description – Lynn has left a message for the building commissioner from Batesville to contact her. This is still being worked on.

2^nd Public Hearing for the 2018 Budget was opened. Norman Kappes asked if anyone had questions, no one responded. Hearing was closed.

Motion was made to adopt the 2018 Budget and Ordinance 2017-7. Holley 1^st, David 2^nd

3 – ayes

Two members of the Napoleon Community Water Board were present to discuss the contract that is needed for the USDA Loan. Napoleon’s attorney did not want to meet in a public meeting and the two board members didn’t feel that they were in any position to negotiate. Lynn stated that their attorney had sent her an email at the end of the day with some options. Bart Hicks stated that we need each other and that we need to find a common ground. Lynn explained that the Town is subject to the Open Door policy. Bart Hicks stated that he was open to that. Toby Church asked if they had any questions concerning the project, he would be willing to discuss it with them. Napoleon’s attorney, Kris Wheeler, had previously explained to them that it’s a big commitment to sign a contract for 40 years. Napoleon explained they are open for negotiation. Christina DeWitt with Umbaugh and Associates explained that other financing options had been looked at, such as S.R.F., but that it came with a higher interest rate than what the Town was receiving from USDA. She explained that we will not be able to get a lower rate without going through Rural Development. Christina assured the two board members that other avenues had been looked at. The reason the contract is for 40 years is because USDA requires it to be the term of the financing. Bart Hicks asked why in 2010 they were allowed to sign a 20 year contract. Toby Church explained that he discussed this with Craig McGowan from USDA and was told the regulation was in place at that time, but was not being enforced. McGowan explained that it should not have been done that way last time. Christina DeWitt explained that USDA requires a contract for the term of the loan. If we shortened the term of the loan, the yearly payback would be higher. Rates would need to be calculated and would increase with the shorter term. Toby Church, Christina DeWitt, and Charlene Hale offered to answer any questions that the Napoleon Board had. As Christina explained, the 40 year will be the lowest rate impact. The shorter the term, the rate percentage would increase. Mr. Hicks agreed that a meeting needs to be set up so that everyone can discuss this.

The Town of Osgood was awarded a $670,000 community Crossing Grant from INDOT. The grant will go toward the 2018 S. Walnut Street Sidewalk and Paving Project. Toby Church presented the Engineering Agreement between the Town of Osgood and Commonwealth Engineers. The Agreement is for the Design Services, Bidding or Negotiating Services, Construction and Commissioning Services, Resident Project Representative Services, and other additional services such as easements for $219,600. Toby explained that the Town had applied for $1 million and was awarded the $670,000. The Town met all INDOT compliance and everything was completed correctly. INDOT will be holding a meeting on October 19^th to discuss the program. A general contractor has to be under contract by March, so time is of the essence. The project will include new sidewalks, blacktopping, and ADA accessibility.

Motion was made to approve and sign Commonwealth’s Agreement for the 2018 Walnut Street Sidewalk and Paving Project, contingent upon approval from the Reynold’s Foundation. Holley 1^st, David 2^nd

3 – ayes

Ordinance 2017-8 was presented for the 1^st reading: An Ordinance Creating a Community Crossing Matching Grant Fund. Pursuant to HEA 1001-2016, Council establishes this Fund to be governed by the applicable statutory provisions.

Motion was made to primarily adopt Ordinance 2017-8 with the second reading being done on November 21^st. Holley 1^st, David 2^nd

3 – ayes

Ordinance 2017-9 was presented for the 1^st reading: An Ordinance Amending the Nuisances; Health and Sanitation Ordinance. It is in the benefit of the Town to amend the ordinance to prohibit littering and illegal dumping. Council would like to table this ordinance for further review.

Buckeye Street Sidewalk Project claims were presented:

Johannigman Excavating Inc. Pay Estimate #2 for $133,541.50 with a retainage of $7,028.50.

Commonwealth Engineers - $21,354.83 for RPR and Construction/Commissioning

Motion was made to approve Johannigman Excavating and Commonwealth Engineer claims contingent upon Reynolds Foundation approval. Holley 1^st, David 2^nd

3 – ayes

Water Department – Nick Buchanan stated they have been working to locate the raw water line on Fairground Road due to construction of a new house. When that raw line was installed they did not use tracer wire, so it was difficult to locate. Once it was located, the right of way was cleared and signs were installed. After receiving three quotes from different chemical companies, it was determined that Chemical Inc. was the lower quote and the first order was placed. The backwash pump and starter at the lagoon went out and they will being flushing hydrants the month of November.

Sewer Department – Tony Wood stated the 5 year NPDES has been signed and will be sent to Brady Dryer, the compliance engineer. He will review the past testing history and see if the testing frequency can be reduced. Reducing the testing frequency will save money. The permit is ready 2 ½ months ahead of schedule. The sludge sampling is done and Tony hopes to be hauling fertilizer next week. The pump station on 300 N will need to be redone. By keeping chemical, utilities, and labor costs down, budget is good. The Rising Sun grant has been submitted for the brush hog attachment. Other small grant cycles will be coming up the first of the year.

Police Department – Will Wallace presented Council with his monthly statistics. He had 76 calls. He has noticed a drop in the uncovered mattresses and wants to commend the Council and Rumpke for working together to resolve this issue. The Department will be accepting applications until October 20^th at 4:00 P.M.

Fire Department – Alex Brison stated they’ve been doing a free smoke detector program and they are looking at extending it until the end of November so more can be done. On October 20^th they will be at the Jac-Cen-Del Elementary for Fire Prevention and on October 22^nd they will be having their Pork Chop Dinner from 11:00 until the food runs out. They will also be helping with the Halloween Legion Parade after Trick or Treat on October 31^st (5:00 – 7:00). They’ve also been working with the Versailles Fire Department on pre plans for the Annex and Courthouse.

Jack Huesman was present and questioned the Animal Ordinance. He was concerned that his daughter would not be able to raise rabbits for the 4-H Fair. Lynn Fledderman stated that those would be tame rabbits and would not be affected by the ordinance. Mr. Huesman was still concerned with the wording of the proposed ordinance. Lynn and Council assured him that it would be reviewed again and tweaked. Once it’s been changed we will do another first reading.

Claims signed

Motion was made to adjourn the meeting. Holley 1^st, David 2^nd

3 – ayes

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