SHIPSHEWANA TOWN COUNCIL
MARCH 23, 2017 6:00 P.M.
SHIPSHEWANA TOWN HALL
ROGER D. YODER COUNCIL ROOM
345 N MORTON STREET
SHIPSHEWANA, IN 46565
PRESENT: Council; C. Arlene Lazzaro, Elmer J. Mast, Lynn M. Bontrager, J. Mike Wilcher, Tad T. Hite.
Staff; Mike Sutter, Kurt R. Bachman, Ruth Ann Downey, Juan C. Jasso, Nicholas M. Byroad, Brandon M. Hooley, Caleb Clapp, Tom M. Fitch II. Public; Guy Thompson, Marvin Yoder, Lora Gates, Russell Boyd, Nikki Byroad.
Council President C.A. Lazzaro noted that all Council Members were present, welcomed everyone, asked that they sign in, and pointed out that agendas were available.
INVOCATION & PLEDGE: L. Bontrager gave the invocation and E. Mast led the pledge.
C.A. Lazzaro asked for corrections or additions to the January 26th and the March 9th Town Council minutes.
MOTION: T. Hite made a motion to approve the January 26th and the March 9th Council meeting minutes as presented. L. Bontrager seconded the motion. Motion carried.
POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESENTATION: T. Fitch II reported that Deputy Marshal Nicholas M. Byroad has been with the department for about 10 years and over the years has done a good job for the community. About 1 ½ months ago, we added a new Canine to his position which has increased his responsibilities. Nick has done about everything including the dirty work for the department. Now, I would like to present Nick with a plaque that officially acknowledges his advancement in the department to the position of Corporal. The plaque was presented and congratulations shared.
POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT: T. Fitch presented the January and February Police Reports to the Council and noted that they would also post them on the Town web page. As you can see from the reports January and February have been busy for us and it continues to be busy. Discussion followed.
CARRIAGE FOR HIRE ORDINANCE: K. Bachman reported that the revisions to this Ordinance are basically housekeeping changes based on recommendations from the Carriage Committee. The annual registration fee in the amount of $200.00 now includes registration for the first 5 carriages with an additional $50.00 fee for each carriage registered over the five with no limit on the number of carriages that can be registered. L. Bontrager reported that another addition is the requirement of a flag on the Pedi-cabs. R. Downey pointed out that this Ordinance repeals and replaces the first Ordinance passed at the February 23rd Council meeting. Discussion followed.
President C.A. Lazzaro introduced AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 70.15 TO THE TOWN CODE OF ORDINANCES WHICH REGULATES THE COMMERCIAL USE OF CARRIAGES FOR HIRE IN THE TOWN OF SHIPSHEWANA. Council Member T. Hite made a motion, seconded by Council Member E. Mast, that said Ordinance be numbered and placed on first reading, and that the same be read in full at this time. Motion carried.
Said Ordinance having been designated as “IV-D-1-b(2)” and having been read in full, and the provisions of the same having been considered by the Council, Council Member L. Bontrager made a motion, seconded by Council Member E. Mast, that any requirements for a second or third reading be waived and that all rules of the Council, which unless suspended, might prevent the final passage and adoption of “IV-D-1-b(2)” at this meeting, be suspended and that said Ordinance be placed on its final passage. Motion carried.
“IV-D-1-b(2)” having been read in full was then placed upon its final passage, and on call of the roll the vote for the adoption of said Ordinance was as follows:
AYES: Tad T. Hite, Elmer J. Mast, Lynn M. Bontrager, J. Mike Wilcher, C. Arlene Lazzaro.
NAYS: – 0 –
There being present at said meeting at least two-thirds of the members elect of the Town Council and “IV-D-1-b(2)” having been passed after unanimous suspension of the rules, the President thereupon declared said Ordinance to have duly passed and adopted.
YODER DAY PROCLAMATION/RESOLUTION: Town Manager, M. Sutter read the Yoder Family Reunion Days Proclamation in full.
President C.A. Lazzaro introduced A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF SHIPSHEWANA PROCLAIMING SEPTEMBER 20TH THROUGHT SEPTEMBER 23RD AS “YODER FAMILY REUNION DAYS” IN SHIPSHEWANA, INDIANA. Council Member E. Mast made a motion, seconded by Council Member L. Bontrager that said Resolution be placed on first reading and noted that the same had been read in full by the Town Manager. Motion carried.
Said Resolution having been read in full, and the provisions of the same having been considered by the Council, Council Member L. Bontrager made a motion, seconded by Council Member E. Mast, that any requirements for a second or third reading be waived and that all rules of the Council, which unless suspended, might prevent the final passage and adoption of A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF SHIPSHEWANA PROCLAIMING SEPTEMBER 20TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 23RD AS “YODER FAMILY REUNION DAYS” IN SHIPSHEWANA, INDIANA at this meeting, be suspended and that said Resolution be placed on its final passage. Motion carried.
A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF SHIPSHEWANA PROCLAIMING SEPTEMBER 20TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 23RD AS YODER FAMILY REUNION DAYS” IN SHIPSHEWANA, INDIANA having been read in full was then placed upon its final passage, and on call of the roll the vote for the adoption of said Resolution was as follows:
AYES: Elmer J. Mast, Lynn M. Bontrager, J. Mike Wilcher, Tad T. Hite, C. Arlene Lazzaro.
NAYS: – 0 –
There being present at said meeting at least two-thirds of the members elect of the Town Council and A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF SHIPSHEWANA PROCLAIMING SEPTEMBER 20TH THROUGH SEPTEMBER 23RD AS “YODER FAMILY REUNION DAYS” IN SHIPSHEWANA, INDIANA having been passed after unanimous suspension of the rules, the President thereupon declared said Resolution to have duly passed and adopted.
2017 CHIP & SEAL PROGRAM: M. Sutter referred Council Members to their paperwork for a list of streets for the 2017 Chip & Seal program and reported that each year we chip & seal some streets in Town to help maintain and prolong the life of our streets. This year we estimate that the cost per square yard of surface will be between .90 and .93 cents. We have earmarked the following streets for our 2017 Chip & Seal program: North Harrison from Depot to North Street, Indiana and School Streets, South State Street from Middlebury to the end, and Summey Street from Walnut to Middlebury Street. The total estimated cost is $6,103.00. This work is done by the County Highway Department so we want to give them the go ahead so we can be worked into their schedule. Discussion followed.
MOTION: L. Bontrager made a motion to approve the 2017 Chip and Seal program as presented with a not to exceed cost of $6,103.00. T. Hite seconded the motion. Motion carried.
REWORK BACKWASH POND: M. Sutter referred Council Members to their paperwork for information regarding excavation projects and reported that the backwash pond has a serious erosion issue which is causing the bottom to fill with dirt. The Town also has a weed control Ordinance and the backwash pond is a problem area because it is hard to control the weeds and brush. Sometime within the next five-year period we will probably need to increase our water system and that will require a deeper backwash pond. Three excavating companies were contacted but only M. Miller Excavating of Shipshewana submitted a quote in the amount of $9,280.00 for the project which will include making the backwash pond 2’ deeper, lining the walls of the pond with driveway paper, and covering it with a layer of large stones and then a layer of smaller stones. To do this work the fence around the pond will need to be cut, the cost of that repair will be an additional $500.00 and the fence work will be done by Quality Fencing of Shipshewana. Discussion followed.
MOTION: E. Mast made a motion to approve the Job Estimate in the amount of $9,280.00 as submitted by M. Miller Excavating for the Backwash Pond work and the quote for the fence repair in the amount of $500.00 from Quality Fencing for a total cost of $9,780.00. L. Bontrager seconded the motion. Motion carried.
SOCCER FIELD PARKING AREA EXPANSION: M. Sutter referred Council Members to the excavation project paperwork for discussion regarding expansion of the parking area for the soccer fields. M. Sutter reported that due to the growth of the soccer program and not allowing parking along CR 735 or E. Middlebury Street more parking space is needed. We are proposing increasing parking on the northeast corner of the present parking area. We have only received one quote for this project. R. Downey
reported that before this project can move forward we will need to do an additional appropriation in the Food & Beverage Tax Fund. Discussion followed.
MOTION: E. Mast made a motion to approve the Job Estimate in the amount of $25,000.00 from M. Miller Excavation for additional parking at the soccer fields subject to additional appropriations in the Food & Beverage Tax Fund. L. Bontrager seconded the motion. Ayes: Elmer J. Mast, Lynn M. Bontrager, Tad T. Hite, C. Arlene Lazzaro. Nays: J. Mike Wilcher. Motion carried.
BALL DIAMOND RECONDITIONING: M. Sutter referred Council Members to their paperwork for an estimate from Hostetler Lawn and Landscaping, Inc. of Middlebury, IN and reported that they are a sole vendor due to the magic mix they use on ball diamonds, and they have experience in diamond upkeep. This process is done every other year to keep the diamonds in good shape. Discussion followed.
MOTION: J.M. Wilcher made a motion to approve the Estimate as submitted from Hostetler Lawn and Landscaping, Inc. in the amount of $4,000.00 for the reconditioning of the two Town ball diamonds. T. Hite seconded the motion. Motion carried.
TECH COMMITTEE REPORT: T. Hite reported that the Town has been having issues with the server. Atlas IT of Middlebury thinks the biggest issue is that we currently host our own e-mail and they are recommending that we do not host our own e-mail. By not hosting our own e-mail it will free up some memory space on the server. The Tech Committee has been doing some research and found that we can go with Micro-Soft 365 at a cost of $12.50 per month per user, this cost includes several programs such as Word and Excel or $8.00 per month without the additional programs. The Town Attorney has recommended that the Council have Town e-mail addresses at the Shipshewana.org address rather than using their own personal e-mail addresses for Town business. The estimated cost to add the 5 Council Members and move it all to the Cloud is approximately $2,500 per year. Discussion followed. M. Sutter reported due to the large volume of e-mails he sees, let alone what everyone else receives, he understood that e-mails can be taking up a lot of room on the server. T. Hite reported that last year we spent about $4,000.00 with Atlas IT and about half of that cost was hardware with the balance being computer issues and 90% of those issues were e-mail issues. R. Downey reported that sufficient funds should be available since the monthly cost would be split between the utilities and the different departments. T. Hite reported that the Tech Committee feels this is a big enough issue that it needs to be addressed now rather than waiting to put it in next year’s budget. Discussion followed. Atlas IT who we are currently working with for Tech support can transfer over the current e-mail address and take care of everything. There is a fee of $150.00 per account to transfer the current e-mail addresses and we currently have about 12 e-mail accounts to transfer. R. Downey asked if the $150.00 per account is a one-time per account charge and an additional cost over the $2,500.00 annual estimated user fees. T. Hite responded yes. Discussion followed. E. Mast pointed out that in the future the plan is to build these costs into our budget. T. Hite reported that the Tech Committee was unanimous regarding this recommendation.
MOTION: E. Mast made a motion to authorize Atlas IT to move the Town e-mail services off the Town Server and to use Micro-Soft 365. L. Bontrager seconded the motion. Motion carried.
- Hite passed out a Service Proposal for Managed Services for Server & Network Management from Atlas IT. This proposal has a couple of service options. The Tech Committee was looking at the possibility of a service contract because of the amount of money we spent with Atlas IT in 2016. The Silver agreement would be $965.00 per month and the Bronze $293 per month after their initial fees to bring the system up to their operating standards. It would help keep things up to date. I don’t know that this is something that we want to do now but it maybe something that we want to consider for the budget next year. The other major project that we are working on is the internet. Our internet service here is not good. We have had people from Maple Net and Zip Spider come out to talk with the Tech Committee and both have offered free internet service to the Town. I have provided some documents from both companies to K. Bachman for his review. There are pros and cons for both places. K. Bachman reported that he hoped to have his review completed by the first part of next week. T. Hite pointed out we just wanted you to be aware what we have been working on. Discussion followed.
CAR MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT: R. Downey referred Council Members to their paperwork for the December 31, 2016 Car Museum Annual Financial Report. This report was provided to the Shipshewana Car Museum Inc. Board for their Annual meeting. The money on this report is only Endowment money and all that money was sitting in the checking account on December 31st because I did not do a December investment. I did not attend their meeting. K. Bachman reported that at the meeting Esta Hostetler was appointed to a three-year term, C. Arlene Lazzaro was elected President, Esta Hostetler Vice-President and J. Mike Wilcher is the Secretary-Treasurer. A presentation on a Vision for Hostetler’s Hudson Museum was presented by Ryan Riegsecker & Chuck Christner with Industry Insights given by Vivian Lavine. The Board is now considering their presentation. Discussion followed.
MOTION: T. Hite made a motion to approve the Annual Car Museum Financial Report as submitted. E. Mast seconded the motion. Motion carried.
SET DATE FOR ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS PUBLIC HEARING: R. Downey reported in addition to the Additional Appropriations in the Food & Beverage Tax Fund for the Soccer Field parking lot expansion there is the need to do an Additional Appropriation in the Town Center Operating Fund for utility expenses. I am proposing a $35,000.00 additional for the Food & Beverage Tax Fund and $30,000.00 for the Town Center Operating Fund. Discussion followed. R. Downey recommended setting the Public Hearing for April 13th at 6:00 p.m. Discussion followed.
MOTION: L. Bontrager made a motion to set the Public Hearing for Additional Appropriations for April 13, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. E. Mast seconded the motion. Motion carried.
FINANCIAL REPORT: R. Downey reported in addition to holding the Public Hearing on April 13th we will also be opening sealed bids for the Sale of the 2009 Dodge Charger police vehicle. A motion to approve the Claims Register and Adjustment Journals would be appreciated. Discussion followed.
MOTION: E. Mast made a motion to approve the Claims Registers & Adjustment Journals as submitted. T. Hite seconded the motion. Motion carried.
TOWN MANAGER REPORT: M. Sutter reported that the LCEDC Annual Dinner Meeting is next week please be sure to RSVP if you plan on attending. Long term project lists are being developed for our Water and Wastewater Departments. The Street Department long term project list is almost completed. I am working on reviewing and updating the job descriptions since Joshua Koontz’s has earned his Water Plant Certifications and is now a Certified Water Operator. Discussion followed.
ATTORNEY REPORT: K. Bachman had nothing further to report.
C.A. Lazzaro asked if anyone had anything further to bring before the Council.
- Gates reminded everyone that the R.V. Service center would be holding an Open House on Monday, March 27th from 2 to 6 p.m. Discussion followed.
- Sutter thanked the Tech Committee for all their work.
There being no further business to come before the Council, C.A. Lazzaro asked for a motion to adjourn.
MOTION: T. Hite made a motion to adjourn. E. Mast seconded the motion. Motion carried.