March 19, 2022 at 7:59 p.m.
Town Council Meeting 03/15
Town Council Meeting
Tuesday March 15, 2022
John Walstad called the meeting to order with a reminder to silence mobile devices. He then lead the opening prayer and pledge of allegiance. All council members were present except for Jerry Bragg who was at a family funeral.
Council then moved on to the approval of minutes from February 7th, 15th, 16th, 17th and March 7th. Ed Johnson made a motion to accept them. Clyde Compton seconded the motion. It passed 4 -0.
Claims were then presented and passed with a motion from Clyde Compton and a second from Ed Johnson. It passed 4 – 0.
John Walstad then introduced the new town manager, Jason Eckhart. Eckhart will begin the position April first. Eckhart stated he was pleased to have earned the position and he looked forward to getting to know the people and business owners of Hope. He invited anyone with questions, concerns, or issues to drop by his office in town hall after April first.
Victoria Bechert of ARA then gave a utility planning grant update. She remarked submitting an OCRA planning grant for quarter two would be too tight, but quarter three submission would open June 15th. The application would be due August 12th. That would require the July council meeting to be a public hearing. The application would be for a $60,000.00 for a utility planning study. A local match of at least 10% is required. A larger match is allowed and would result in more points earned during grant submission evaluation.
Steve Robertson of Strand Associates then presented a CCMG (community crossing matching grant) update. The contract notice to proceed give to Globe Asphalt has been filed with INDOT. They will have until August 28th to complete the project. A deadline of 210 days for final completion puts the deadline on September 27th. Compton asked about the paving interfering with Heritage Days. Robertson replied it would not. The final completion at the end would just be cleanup and grass reseeding where necessary.
Robertson then moved on to the ACED Award. The American Council of Engineering Company has awarded the downtown park project a quality-based selection award. There will be a luncheon on Indianapolis April 28th. Strand would like to take a representative from the town. Council was uninterested in attending and recommended the new town manager Jason Eckhart attend.
Council then moved on to a sidewalk proposal by Steve Robertson of Strand Associates. It would involve engineering services and assessment of the current sidewalks using a rating system like what was employed with street assessment for the CCMG paving grant. It would not include curb ramp ratings as they are more involved. Compton asked about the town manager being trained to rate the sidewalks, since the previous town manager had been trained to rate the streets. The town could save money, but that would take longer since a new person would need to be trained. Robertson cited an approximate savings of $2,000.00 to $2,500.00 dollars by using the town manger for rating instead of Strand. He proposed a not to exceed fee of $16,400.00 for rating all the sidewalks within town limits. There was then discussion over what comprised an ADA sidewalk and whether or not the existing sidewalks which were not ADA compliant could be grandfathered in. Federal grant money would require ADA compliance for new sidewalks. Roberson stated the purpose of this program was just to evaluate the existing sidewalks and would be the first step in seeking Federal funding. The $16,400.00 would cover the whole community, every street in town, even if it did not currently have a sidewalk and rate it on a 1 – 10 scale. There are currently 11.3 miles of street in the town. Compton suggested the town start saving money and replace the sidewalks a block at a time like they did with the streets before the paving grant money was available. He felt sidewalks were needed for the children, especially a sidewalk from the school to town. Robertson stated regardless of all that all he needed was a letter proposing the agreement for now. He also reminded council the sidewalks along Main Street are owned by INDOT and could not be changed without their permission. His next step would be to put together a proposal. Ed Johnson asked how long the rating would be good. Robertson suggested a motion authorizing Strand to proceed at the not to exceed $16,400.00 figure using the town as much as possible. Clyde made the motion and Ed seconded it. It passed 4 – 0.
Council then moved on to the 2022 boards & committees. There was a motion by Clyde to accept all boards and committees as presented. Ed seconded the motion. It passed 4 -0
Council then moved on to the ordinances. On the agenda were the violations ordinance, the weed control ordinance, the noise control ordinance, the vehicle parking ordinance, and the mobile food vehicle ordinance. Matt Galbraith, Matt Tallent, and Scott Andrews had met about strengthening the ordinances to give them more teeth. They had been presented initially, changes had been made and they were forwarded to Scott for review. Clyde would like them to be voted on at the next meeting for more time to review. Council tabled the ordinances until the next meeting.
Compton then presented two EDIT requests. One was for the executive director of Main Street’s salary. Main Street was seeking five hundred dollars more funding to be able to attend the Main Street National conference. If this conference is attended, it opens the eligibility for larger grants. Façade funding would be available which is sorely needed in Hope. Otherwise, the total cost remained the same as last year. A motion was already made by EDIT, council approved it 4 -0.
The second EDIT request was also from Main Street for flowers in the flower boxes and a gardener. The prices presented were the same as the previous year. The request was approved by EDIT and the council passed it 4 - 0.
Diane Burton then presented the water and sewer budget for 2022. There are no large requests and a less than one percent increase. The meter replacement will drop off after 12 years. The budget included a 3% increase for salary and benefits. There was a health insurance increase. The total increase amounted to $6.374.00 for water and $3,874.00 for sewer. She recommended a sewer study. Ohmer Miller made a motion to approve the budget with Compton seconding it.
Matt Tallent then presented a new program for the town’s elderly and shut-in community. He announced a check in list for elderly and shut-ins would be established. Check ins would happen weekly. The check in list would also help with building an assistance list for natural disasters. Clyde suggested having a small fund to help get shut-ins what they needed. Steve Robertson replied there are already several local agencies in place for that including the Ministerial Association, the Township Trustee, and the Students’ Fund of Hope.
The Maple Street warehouse property was postponed until next month.
The meeting was adjourned.
