- On 2/17/2022
- In Town
Lapel Town Council
February 17, 2022 @ 7:00pm
GoTo Meeting Link
Attending tonight’s meeting was Teresa Retherford, Chad Blake, Noah Bozell, Lindsay Washmuth, Jason Kleinbub, Paula Lee, Kourtney Krabbe, & Town Attorney Jeff Graham. Tonight’s meeting was held 100% virtually due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. The public could attend the meeting using the GoTo meeting link posted on the Town of Lapel’s Facebook page.
President Retherford opened the meeting to anyone who had public comment for items that were not currently on the agenda. No comment was made.
A motion to approve the meeting minutes from January 20, 2022 & February 3, 2022 was made by Blake, 2nd by Bozell; all voted yes except Kleinbub who abstained due to absence.
A motion to approve the 2021 year end docket claims & the February 2022 docket claims was made by Kleinbub, 2nd by Retherford; all voted yes.
Crossroads Bank: In 2021 the Council voted to purchase a new vehicle for the utility department. The utility crew did not have the opportunity to customize that vehicle, and the Town has not yet received the vehicle due to COVID delays. The utility crew would like to add a truck cap to the vehicle, and since the Town has not yet received the vehicle, Crossroads Bank is allowing us to tag on the cost of the cap to the original cost of the truck that was approved. Brandon Hutchison obtained a quote from Clark Truck Equipment for $5,295.00. A motion to add the truck cap to the Crossroad lease for $5,295 was made by Blake, 2nd by Washmuth; all voted yes.
Council Liaisons:
Noah Bozell – Planning
Chad Blake & Lindsay Washmuth – Fire Board
Jason Kleinbub & Teresa Retherford – Utility Department
Chad Blake – Police Department
Jason Kleinbub – Park Department
Lindsay Washmuth – Office
Internet: Tim Miles with Fiberhawk Internet (Swayzee Communications) gave an update on their fiber optic plans for Lapel. Tim stated they delay has been due to man power, and COVID but he is expecting to have fiber optic in Lapel by summer 2023.
Snow Removal Policy: Retherford & Lee are going to work together and contact other towns to come up with a snow removal policy.
Ransomware: Daniel Paull from Regal Computer Services provided a proposal to the Town Council to help protect against ransomware. The proposal would perform routine maintenance to software & operating systems, inspect computers for vulnerabilities, and ensure anti-virus is not expired. Lee asked the Council to seriously consider the proposal, and informed them that the ARPA funding could be used for cyber security. Paull provided three plan proposals:
Plan A: Waste Water Plant Only for $60/month
Plan B: Waste Water Plant & Water Plant for $120/month
Plan C: Waster Water Plant, Water Plant, & Town Hall for $240/month
Blake is going to come up with a number of all computers & laptops by next meeting. Paull stated if the Town chose to protect all computers he would lower the price to $50/month.
Weather Sirens: An annual service agreement with Federal Field Services for Outdoor Warning Sirens was presented to the Council. A motion to approve the Annual Preventative Maintenance Inspection Agreement with Federal Field Services for $450 was made by Blake, 2nd by Bozell; all voted yes.
Police Update: Chief Naselroad provided the Council with a brief update. The application process for the open full time position closes Monday February 21, 2022. The job descriptions for the police department have been completed by New Focus HR. A motion to accept the Police Department job descriptions as written by New Focus HR was made by Blake, 2nd by Washmuth; all voted yes.
Planning Update: Planning Commission workshops with Innovative Planning started this month. The Planning Board currently has an open seat, and three people have shown interest in the seat: Greg Valentine, Brian Robertson, and Andrea Baldwin. The open seat is a Town Council President appointed seat. President Retherford appointed Andrea Baldwin as the new Planning Commission member.
A motion to nominate Noah Bozell as the Planning Commission Town Council liaison was made by Blake, 2nd by Kleinbub; all voted yes.
A motion to nominate Lindsay Washmuth, & Chad Blake as the Fire Board Town Council liaisons was made by Kleinbub, 2nd by Bozell; all voted yes.
Park Update: Katie Hutchison, Park Board President, provided the Council with an update. Hutchison stated that Katherine Cox is going to move over to the School Board seat on the Park Board, which opens a public seat on the board. Three people showed interest in the Park Board, and the Town Council appointed two of the three people last month. Hutchison would like the Council to appoint the third person for the newly open seat. A motion to appoint Olivia Wood to the Park Board was made by Bozell, 2nd by Blake; all voted yes. Hutchison asked for an update on making Central Park ADA compliant. Last year the Council discussed using Cascadden funds to do this. Councilman Kleinbub stated he would still like to use Cascadden funds instead of having this project come from the park funding. Discussion was tabled.
BZA Update: The BZA consists of Gary Shuck, Pamela Shuck, Tim Munro, Ron Nunnelly, & Herschel Hinkle. Pamela Shuck has decided to step down which leaves an open seat on the board. The open position is to be appointed by the Lapel Town Council President. Lee will post to the Town’s Facebook page about the opening. Anyone interested in joining needs to contact Lapel Town Hall by March 16th at 4pm.
Utility Update: Hutchison is currently the only one on the utility department that is fully qualified in natural gas. The utility department has three open full time positions; one of those positions would primarily focus on the natural gas department. Krabbe & Lee will post job opening to the Town of Lapel Facebook page. Water Operator John Nikoloff is in need of water & waste water CEU’s. A motion to allow Nikoloff to attend the Alliance of Indiana Spring Conference was made by Blake, 2nd by Retherford; all voted yes.
Kleinbub left meeting at 8:08pm due to work.
A motion to allow Mary Armacost to attend a course for wastewater collection systems was made by Retherford, 2nd by Blake; all voted yes.
Legal team will have an update on the utility take home policy by the next regularly scheduled meeting in March.
Office Update: Next month Krabbe & Lee will send out some marketing on Invoice Cloud. Lee & Krabbe will be in Muncie, IN March 14th – 17th for ILMCT conference. Lapel Town Hall will be closed during that time. Payments can be made online, or using the dropbox on the front of the building.
Common Wealth: Common Wealth Engineers provided the Council with an update on the water project.
Being nothing further to discuss, meeting was adjourned.
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