Lapel Town Council

February 18, 2021

Lapel Eagles

Call to order: Chad Blake, Teresa Retherford, Lindsay Washmuth, Paula Lee, Kourtney Krabbe, and attending virtually was Ashley Hopper, town attorney.

Blake opened the meeting to public comment for anything not on the agenda. No public comment was made.

Motion to approve February 2021 docket claims made by Washmuth, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor.

Small Purchase Policy: Guidelines for a small purchase policy based off state law were provided by attorney. Attorney will write up a legal ordinance and have it prepared for the March meeting for discussion and approval.

A motion to approve Resolution 2-2021 was made by Blake, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor.

A motion to approve Salary Ordinance Amendment 2-2021 was made by Washmuth, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor. This was the first reading of this ordinance, readings 2 & 3 will be done at the March 18^th meeting.

A motion to approve Ordinance 4-2021 was made by Retherford, 2^nd by Blake; all were in favor. This was the first reading of this ordinance, readings 2 & 3 will be done at the March 18^th meeting.

SR13 paving: Rob Belucci with CommonWealth Engineers wanted to update the council that he and Mary Armacost have been in communication with INDOT so that the town’s water project and INDOT’s SR13 paving project do not cross paths.

Westside Property: Blake wanted to inform the council that someone has approached him with interested in purchasing the town’s 4.39 acres off 1000W. This information was just to inform, and find out what the legal process would be if the town did chose to sell the property. No discussion was held on actually selling the property.

Park Additional Appropriation: A motion to suspend the regularly scheduled meeting and open a public hearing for the park additional appropriation was made by Retherford, 2^nd by Blake; all were in favor. Krabbe stated that this additional appropriation was advertised in the Herald Bulletin on 2/1/2021. According to State Board of Accounts, when the parks department charges to rent the ballfields at Brookside Park, that income has to be appropriated before the revenue can be spent. Krabbe got with Park Board President Steve Tipps who estimated that they should receive $6,000 in rental fees this year. As the year goes on, if the parks department brings in less revenue than the $6,000 proposed, an appropriation reduction can be done. No other public comment was made.

A motion to close the public hearing and reopen the regularly scheduled council meeting was made by Retherford, 2^nd by Blake; all were in favor.

A motion to pass the first reading of Ordinance 3-2021 was made by Retherford, 2^nd by Washmuth; all were in favor. The second and third readings of this ordinance will be done at the March 18^th meeting.

Police Update: Chief Naselroad stated that the police department has interviewed two people for potential reserve officers. They are currently moving forward with one of the interviews. Retherford wanted to thank Officer Dulaney for helping the utility crew plow snow this past weekend.

Park Update: Katie Hutchison stated there was no meeting this month, so she has no update for the council.

Utility Update: Mary Armacost, Utility Superintendent asked if they can move water meters closer to the property line during the water project. Blake asked if this would increase the cost of the project. Rob Belucci said it should not increase the project cost, because we would be replacing the same amount of water line either way. Moving the meters closer to the property line would make it easier on the utility crew when they need to locate a water meter. A motion to allow water meters to be moved during the water project was made by Blake, 2^nd by Retherford; all were in favor.

Armacost provided a quote from Northern Tool & Equipment for a Tsurumi submersible water pump for $509. She stated one of the companies that helped out with our last water leak had a pump similar to this which helped fix the water leak a lot quicker. A motion to accept the quote for a Tsurumi submersible water pump from Northern Tool & Equipment was made by Blake, 2^nd by Washmuth; all were in favor.

Armacost provided quotes for a new gas chart recorder from Recorders Charts & Pens for $1,666.00 and from Groebner for $2,127.13. Armacost stated that the current chart recorder is from 1967, and it is not work correctly. Armacost said the crew would prefer to go with the Groebner option due to the fact that the crew typically does business with Groebner, we know the quality of their product, and we know their service people. Lee stated the town does have a long standing account with Groebner, and do not have an account with RCP. A motion to accept Groebner’s quote for a gas chart recorder for $2,127.13 was made by Retherford, 2^nd by Washmuth; all were in favor.

Armacost stressed her desire to hire another member for the utility department. The council stated this would be discussed after Trae Armstrong is 100% certified.

Planning Update: Retherford stated there was no update this meeting.

Office Update: Lee stated that Archive Social has reached out to Town Hall a couple times offering their services to achieve our social media accounts for $199/month. Lee reached out to Daniel Paull with Regal Computer Services, who currently manages most of the Town’s IT work, and Paull can achieve our social media platforms for $50/month. A motion to accept Daniel Paull’s quote for $50/month was made by Blake, 2^nd by Washmuth; all were in favor.

Town Hall will be closed March 15^th - March 18^th for Lee and Krabbe to attend virtual ILMCT training. Utility payments can be made by using the drop box located at the front of the Town Hall, online at lapelindiana.org, or by mail.

The backdoor at Town Hall needs to be replaced. However, the town did not get three quotes before tonight’s meeting so this was tabled until March 18^th.

Lee stated that due to the excessive amount of snow we received, the utility crew cannot read touch read water meters. If your meter is not a radio read, or if your radio read is not working properly, your water meter will be estimated on the March bill. All gas meters are radio reads so they will all have accurate readings.

Ron Ragan from Utility Gas Management stated that if the town can make it through Saturday 2/20/21, we should be able to come out okay during the gas crisis the Midwest is experiencing.

Rob Belucci would like to hold a work study group to go over potential water & sewer rate increases.

Old/New Business: Retherford would like to hold an executive meeting next Wednesday February 23, 2021 at 6:30pm at Lapel Town Hall to discuss personnel issues.

Being no further business to discuss, meeting was adjourned.

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