1 00:00:01,506 --> 00:00:07,927 - We will call to order the Monday, September 28th, 2026 meeting of the Elstville Town Council. Chief, 2 00:00:07,927 --> 00:00:14,475 - prayer. I have the Father again become before you when he asks that you be with us tonight to make the 3 00:00:14,475 --> 00:00:21,024 - decision to defect this little town. Mr. Wilson, always we thank you for the blessings you've bestowed 4 00:00:21,024 --> 00:00:28,017 - on every one of the representatives here. We ask that you say in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance 5 00:00:28,017 --> 00:00:30,878 - to the flag of the United States of America. 6 00:00:31,170 --> 00:00:41,989 - And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice 7 00:00:41,989 --> 00:00:53,237 - for all. Roll call, please. Here. Dan Swafford. William Ellis. Here. Trevor Sager. Here. Pamela Samples. 8 00:00:53,237 --> 00:01:00,414 - Action for minutes of the 914-2026 town council meeting. So moved. 9 00:01:01,474 --> 00:01:07,882 - Motion second all those favors say aye aye any opposed any abstaining Acts to pay accounts payable vouchers 10 00:01:07,882 --> 00:01:13,934 - and payroll vouchers. So moved second motion second also favor say aye aye any opposed any abstaining 11 00:01:13,934 --> 00:01:20,164 - This is a little bit of an unusual council meeting and that there are no resolutions There are no orders 12 00:01:20,164 --> 00:01:26,395 - on first reading their orange is on second reading. There's no old business which takes us to the bottom 13 00:01:26,395 --> 00:01:27,166 - third of our 14 00:01:27,906 --> 00:01:35,730 - Little synopsis here and we'll start with area 10 agency on aging executive director I'm the new director 15 00:01:35,730 --> 00:01:43,333 - for area 10 agency on aging and rural transit. Thank you for letting me speak to you this evening area 16 00:01:43,333 --> 00:01:50,935 - 10 rural transit has been honored to serve your community and we understand that this service has been 17 00:01:50,935 --> 00:01:52,190 - an important and 18 00:01:52,866 --> 00:02:00,928 - resource for riders traveling to work, medical appointments, shopping, and essential daily activities. 19 00:02:00,928 --> 00:02:09,068 - We know that losing this service will create challenges for many, and we want all of our riders to know 20 00:02:09,068 --> 00:02:16,347 - that this is solely due to required funding loss for area 10 rural transit. The 2020 census, 21 00:02:16,347 --> 00:02:21,278 - as you may know, determined an urbanized area for Ellitsville. 22 00:02:22,274 --> 00:02:29,823 - And because Area 10's rural transit operates with funding from NDOT's Rural Transportation Grant, we 23 00:02:29,823 --> 00:02:37,447 - were advised that we would need to stop providing transportation for the urbanized area. The only way 24 00:02:37,447 --> 00:02:45,295 - rural transit is allowed to continue serving the urbanized area of Ellitsville is if the operating costs 25 00:02:45,295 --> 00:02:49,854 - are paid for and funded by other entities. So I'm here today 26 00:02:50,338 --> 00:02:57,688 - to request that the town of Ellisville consider funding public transportation for the urbanized area 27 00:02:57,688 --> 00:03:05,038 - of Ellisville. There has been a 2% increase in ridership each year for the past three years. So with 28 00:03:05,038 --> 00:03:12,606 - this projected increase in ridership for 2027, we estimate the cost for providing public transportation 29 00:03:12,606 --> 00:03:17,118 - for the total urbanized area of Monroe County to be $200,000. 30 00:03:17,634 --> 00:03:26,017 - Ellitsville ridership has been consistently 70% of this urban transportation so far in 2026. So we're 31 00:03:26,017 --> 00:03:34,318 - requesting 140,000 from the town of Ellitsville to help support rural transit, public transportation 32 00:03:34,318 --> 00:03:43,358 - for the urbanized area. I hope you've received my little handout, kind of broke it down a little bit for you. 33 00:03:45,442 --> 00:03:52,185 - I'm happy to answer any questions, or if I can't answer them right now, research and get figures to 34 00:03:52,185 --> 00:03:59,265 - you if you'd like. Any questions from council? I just want to say we have tried to get funding for rural 35 00:03:59,265 --> 00:04:06,210 - transit. The county currently collects a food and beverage tax from Ellitsville, and the county fought 36 00:04:06,210 --> 00:04:13,156 - us on taking that tax and using it for rural transit. So until that changes, I mean, I'm just speaking 37 00:04:13,156 --> 00:04:14,302 - for myself here, 38 00:04:14,914 --> 00:04:24,592 - We can't be in the transportation business. There's just no funding to scale up for that Other questions 39 00:04:24,592 --> 00:04:34,179 - from council Thank you, ma'am, okay, I appreciate your time Next we'll move to a presentation from disc 40 00:04:34,179 --> 00:04:44,318 - golf club Colin Frank I'll try to be quick. So for those of you who don't know me, my name is Colin Frank and 41 00:04:44,738 --> 00:04:50,619 - I'm proud to live in Ellitsville. I'm also a proud member of the Bloomington Disc Golf Club. I'm proposing 42 00:04:50,619 --> 00:04:56,115 - that we add a disc golf course to the Ellitsville Town Hall Park. I was here two years ago and gave 43 00:04:56,115 --> 00:05:01,722 - a very similar presentation, but we've definitely refined things, and this is a much better plan than 44 00:05:01,722 --> 00:05:07,603 - I initially had. So what is disc golf? So for those of you who are not familiar with it, it's very similar 45 00:05:07,603 --> 00:05:13,374 - to golf. Your goal is to try to throw a disc, or you can think of like a thinner frisbee, into a basket, 46 00:05:13,506 --> 00:05:19,614 - and as few throws as possible. It's playable by all ages. So recently, there's the World Disc 47 00:05:19,614 --> 00:05:26,242 - Golf Championships. The oldest competitor was 88 years old. The youngest was 13. In our club, we have 48 00:05:26,242 --> 00:05:32,870 - a member who's four years old who shows up regularly. So this is a very accessible sport. It's a very 49 00:05:32,870 --> 00:05:39,563 - affordable sport. You only need one disc to start. Discs typically sell for $10 to $25. So this is not 50 00:05:39,563 --> 00:05:40,798 - a high-cost entry. 51 00:05:40,994 --> 00:05:46,433 - It can be played all year round. So we play in winter. We play in the summer. Doesn't matter what the 52 00:05:46,433 --> 00:05:51,872 - weather is. We're out there. It's one of the fastest growing sports in the world. So the Professional 53 00:05:51,872 --> 00:05:57,524 - Disc Golf Association 2025 reported that there were over 1100 new courses worldwide. So this is something 54 00:05:57,524 --> 00:05:58,430 - that is growing. 55 00:06:00,098 --> 00:06:05,989 - So what would a disc golf course look like? So typically disc golf courses are nine to 18 holes. People 56 00:06:05,989 --> 00:06:11,766 - typically think of wide open holes, but they can be placed in a large variety of outdoor settings. So 57 00:06:11,766 --> 00:06:17,657 - on your screen there is a picture of a hole from Ellettville, a disc golf course in, or sorry, Edgewood 58 00:06:17,657 --> 00:06:23,491 - disc golf course at the elementary school. Disc golf courses can be designed for a variety of players. 59 00:06:23,491 --> 00:06:27,966 - So it can be designed for beginner players, advanced players, or professional. 60 00:06:28,130 --> 00:06:34,017 - You can use multiple, that should say, T positions to offer a variety. So you can have a short T to 61 00:06:34,017 --> 00:06:40,199 - make the whole easier. You can have a longer T to make it more difficult. And then just to kind of offer 62 00:06:40,199 --> 00:06:46,263 - some comparative courses. So Edgewood is the closest course, but it is closed during the school hours, 63 00:06:46,263 --> 00:06:52,210 - so it is not publicly available for most of the day. And then you have Carson Farm Park, which is on 64 00:06:52,210 --> 00:06:57,214 - the southwest side of Bloomington, and then Crestmont Park, which is in Bloomington. 65 00:06:58,594 --> 00:07:05,567 - So just some benefits of a disc golf course. So it provides a recreational activity for Ellitsville. 66 00:07:05,567 --> 00:07:12,540 - It's a low-cost, high-return investment. So a course typically costs $10,000 to $20,000, which we'll 67 00:07:12,540 --> 00:07:19,582 - talk about that a little later, which is significantly cheaper than something like a basketball court 68 00:07:19,582 --> 00:07:20,894 - or a tennis court. 69 00:07:21,314 --> 00:07:27,331 - It provides a social activity for youth and adults. So disc golf is typically a social game, if you 70 00:07:27,331 --> 00:07:32,927 - can't tell from all my supporters who came out tonight. With youth, it's really important to 71 00:07:32,927 --> 00:07:39,005 - offer recreational activities that they can play with their friends that don't cost a lot, right? So 72 00:07:39,005 --> 00:07:45,383 - this is something that gets them out, gets them away from their phone, gets them offline, enjoying nature 73 00:07:45,383 --> 00:07:49,054 - and enjoying their community. We also have community events. 74 00:07:49,186 --> 00:07:55,729 - There are tournaments that we host throughout the year. And there's a lot of community engagement. So 75 00:07:55,729 --> 00:08:01,952 - you can think of like golf scrambles at a golf course. We have fundraisers as well in Disc Golf. 76 00:08:01,952 --> 00:08:08,880 - So in 2026, we hosted the Wintry Indiana Frozen fundraiser event or what we call WIFs. And all the proceeds 77 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:14,910 - went to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. So we do support local businesses and charitable groups. 78 00:08:15,874 --> 00:08:21,691 - Other benefits, so it doubles as a walking and biking trail. So here's another hole from the Edgewood 79 00:08:21,691 --> 00:08:27,394 - course. So you can see the trail going up through the woods. If someone's not playing that hole for 80 00:08:27,394 --> 00:08:33,381 - disc golf, there's nothing stopping you from just enjoying a nice walk out in the woods. It also reduces 81 00:08:33,381 --> 00:08:39,255 - crime in the park. So these are typically areas where you don't have a lot of people, which adds spots 82 00:08:39,255 --> 00:08:44,958 - where people could engage in illegal activity. So you are adding surveillance throughout your park. 83 00:08:45,058 --> 00:08:51,041 - It improves forest health, so part of this project is removing a lot of undergrowth as well as invasive 84 00:08:51,041 --> 00:08:57,023 - species. That introduces a lot of disease and decay within your woods. So by going through and removing 85 00:08:57,023 --> 00:09:03,006 - that, you actually improve the health of the mature trees. And then to improve utilization of the park. 86 00:09:03,298 --> 00:09:09,501 - Speaking a little bit more about utilization, there is a disc golf app called UDisc. It allows you to 87 00:09:09,501 --> 00:09:15,582 - track your disc golf rounds, so it keeps your score for you. But one of the really nice things that 88 00:09:15,582 --> 00:09:21,785 - it does is it provides reports on courses. So Karst Farm Parks would be the most comparable course to 89 00:09:21,785 --> 00:09:28,110 - one that we'd put in here. In 2025, there are 4,200 rounds. UDisc estimates that it captures about half 90 00:09:28,110 --> 00:09:29,022 - of all rounds. 91 00:09:29,154 --> 00:09:35,654 - When I play, I don't always use UDIS, so this is probably pretty accurate. Assuming that, that's 8,400 92 00:09:35,654 --> 00:09:42,090 - rounds a year, which means 24 people per day, regardless of weather or snow or cold, go to Karst just 93 00:09:42,090 --> 00:09:48,843 - to play disc golf, right? So that's 24 people per day that would be coming to this park. And then, another 94 00:09:48,843 --> 00:09:55,216 - really interesting fact is they show distance that people traveled. So over 300 people traveled more 95 00:09:55,216 --> 00:09:58,750 - than 30 miles away. So now, you are bringing new people 96 00:09:58,914 --> 00:10:05,959 - to Ellitsville. So why this park? So disc golf courses are fairly large. Here's a picture of the property. 97 00:10:05,959 --> 00:10:12,873 - Half of it has already been cleared, and you guys have plans for most of that. But half of it is wooded, 98 00:10:12,873 --> 00:10:19,984 - so there's about 22 acres of wooded hilly land that's really not suitable for other buildings or activities 99 00:10:19,984 --> 00:10:27,358 - other than trails, but we already talked that this would double as a trail. So we need about one acre per hole. 100 00:10:27,618 --> 00:10:33,878 - so we need about 18 acres, you have 22. Currently in Eltsville, there is no course publicly available 101 00:10:33,878 --> 00:10:40,137 - during school hours, so this would add a recreational need, once again, and then it would fit in with 102 00:10:40,137 --> 00:10:46,336 - all the other current plans, so it wouldn't impede anything out in the open. So what would that look 103 00:10:46,336 --> 00:10:52,657 - like? So here is a proposed design for the 18-hole course. So I have actually been out in those woods, 104 00:10:52,657 --> 00:10:56,830 - walked up and down, found different areas where we could put holes, 105 00:10:56,994 --> 00:11:02,618 - The course would have beginner tees and advanced tees. That way, new players could come out here and 106 00:11:02,618 --> 00:11:08,187 - enjoy the woods, but then advanced players would have a little bit more challenging of a course. We 107 00:11:08,187 --> 00:11:13,866 - would initially just have one pen placement. In the future, we'd have other spots where we could move 108 00:11:13,866 --> 00:11:19,658 - the basket, which adds variety to the course, but it also allows some of that land to take a break from 109 00:11:19,658 --> 00:11:25,337 - things like erosion and different things that come with having a course. So what would implementation 110 00:11:25,337 --> 00:11:25,950 - look like? 111 00:11:26,178 --> 00:11:31,938 - So once again, this is another hole out of Edgewood. Basically, we'd have to remove underbrush along 112 00:11:31,938 --> 00:11:37,926 - our fairway. Some saplings would have to be removed, so that's small trees, four inches or less at chest 113 00:11:37,926 --> 00:11:43,743 - height. We would not touch mature trees. Mature trees actually help your course. It helps define your 114 00:11:43,743 --> 00:11:49,617 - course. We would have to dig a hole for a basket, and we'd have to place the basket, put cement around 115 00:11:49,617 --> 00:11:53,438 - it. We'd have to level an area for a tee pad, and same for a sign. 116 00:11:54,754 --> 00:12:00,236 - You may be wondering what all that cost. Like I said, typically it costs between $10,000 and $20,000 117 00:12:00,236 --> 00:12:05,664 - to put in a disc golf course. Not included in that is all your labor cost, right? And this is a big 118 00:12:05,664 --> 00:12:11,308 - cost, and it's something that we really need to consider. What I really want to drive home is that this 119 00:12:11,308 --> 00:12:16,953 - is a community-driven project. Like I said, I'm a member of the Bloomington Disc Golf Club. I have many 120 00:12:16,953 --> 00:12:19,070 - more members back there with me today. 121 00:12:19,746 --> 00:12:27,122 - One of our missions or our goals is to increase access to disc golf. We already have a full set of 18 122 00:12:27,122 --> 00:12:34,353 - baskets. We had fundraised for another local course and improved their baskets. We took the baskets 123 00:12:34,353 --> 00:12:41,802 - that we took out of the ground, and now we want to create another course. So that lets us avoid almost 124 00:12:41,802 --> 00:12:48,382 - 80% of the cost. In terms of labor, we have 1,100 members in our Facebook disc golf group. 125 00:12:48,610 --> 00:12:54,757 - I currently have over 50 signatures of people who are willing to help put in the labor to put this course 126 00:12:54,757 --> 00:13:00,672 - in place. And we already have experience doing this. We already do a lot of the maintenance work over 127 00:13:00,672 --> 00:13:06,587 - Edgewood Disc Golf Course and at Crestmont Park. So that leaves about $2,000 left. Usually what we do 128 00:13:06,587 --> 00:13:12,502 - is we do some sort of fundraiser where someone can sponsor a hole. So on that sign for the hole, just 129 00:13:12,502 --> 00:13:15,518 - underneath it, it would say sponsored by so and so. 130 00:13:16,130 --> 00:13:22,332 - We'd offer those for about $150, and that would cover the remaining cost. So to taxpayers, it wouldn't 131 00:13:22,332 --> 00:13:28,533 - cost a dime. Future projects. So if this project goes well and the town wants to invest in it, you can 132 00:13:28,533 --> 00:13:34,674 - always add more money into things. Sometimes, holes get busy, and you have to wait a little while, so 133 00:13:34,674 --> 00:13:40,876 - benches would be a really nice amenity. Some of the land back there gets a little rough, because there 134 00:13:40,876 --> 00:13:42,622 - is a creek going through it. 135 00:13:42,786 --> 00:13:49,090 - So adding a small bridge in the future would just help with accessibility. Trash cans strategically 136 00:13:49,090 --> 00:13:55,647 - placed throughout the course would just de-incentivize any sort of littering. Our group is usually very 137 00:13:55,647 --> 00:14:01,951 - well at picking that up, but it would help. Eventually we would upgrade the baskets, do kind of the 138 00:14:01,951 --> 00:14:08,382 - same thing. So we'd fundraise, replace the baskets, take the old baskets, try to create a new course. 139 00:14:08,546 --> 00:14:15,248 - And then, you can always get really fancy. You can always add things like retaining walls or elevated 140 00:14:15,248 --> 00:14:22,016 - baskets or different tricks to the course. So just takeaways, this is a prime location for a disc golf 141 00:14:22,016 --> 00:14:28,653 - course. It's 22 acres of woods that really can't be used for other things. It would offer a low-cost 142 00:14:28,653 --> 00:14:35,290 - social recreational activity for the community. It fits within the current plans for the park. There 143 00:14:35,290 --> 00:14:37,918 - would basically be no cost to the town. 144 00:14:38,466 --> 00:14:47,398 - and then it would significantly improve utilization of the park. I'd like to thank you for your time 145 00:14:47,398 --> 00:14:56,684 - and consideration in this project. Do you have any questions? Questions from council? I like it. I mean, 146 00:14:56,684 --> 00:15:05,528 - I'll comment that. So I don't really have a question. Do you want to weigh in? Well, I would say, I 147 00:15:05,528 --> 00:15:08,446 - had a warm up to it and it took, 148 00:15:08,578 --> 00:15:19,008 - meetings and we he Collins come over a couple three times and after looking at the proposal and thinking 149 00:15:19,008 --> 00:15:28,942 - about our mission to expand our parks and create new amenities that'll Get people out and recreate. 150 00:15:28,942 --> 00:15:36,094 - I think this is a good good proposal Again, I think it's a good idea if 151 00:15:36,194 --> 00:15:43,070 - as long as it's not costing taxpayers any money. But I'm not so sure this is something that's best directed 152 00:15:43,070 --> 00:15:49,756 - to the town council. It's probably better directed to the parks board than rather it is for the council. 153 00:15:49,756 --> 00:15:56,378 - I agree with that. And I would say that I'm prepared to utilize some of our equipment for clearing when 154 00:15:56,378 --> 00:16:01,726 - this, if this takes off and I, you know, if we're going to have a golf course here, 155 00:16:02,114 --> 00:16:09,456 - Again, I don't think any of the three of us and I speak for my colleagues have an issue with this Just 156 00:16:09,456 --> 00:16:16,870 - what's the appropriate venue for and what are the the liabilities that we have to make sure that we're? 157 00:16:16,870 --> 00:16:23,998 - Come here first and sure in Fill you out take your temperature and you need a vote from a star list 158 00:16:23,998 --> 00:16:25,566 - specifically I do not 159 00:16:25,762 --> 00:16:31,409 - It's going to go before the Parks Board. I think consensus of the councils, we are completely good with 160 00:16:31,409 --> 00:16:37,057 - it. Right. We can get it to the Parks Board. Collin came to the Parks Board about a year ago, two years 161 00:16:37,057 --> 00:16:42,595 - down, and we indicated that we were in favor of that. I think we're probably gonna need a little more 162 00:16:42,595 --> 00:16:48,242 - formal from you guys at this point to make it happen. Well, we'll be meeting the sixth, so. Okay. Okay. 163 00:16:48,242 --> 00:16:50,686 - Thank you so much. There are no other items. 164 00:16:53,922 --> 00:17:00,348 - There are no other items on the agenda, so now we'll move to privilege of the floor and having business 165 00:17:00,348 --> 00:17:06,588 - for council that's not part of the normal agenda. Seeing no one in chambers and no one online, we'll 166 00:17:06,588 --> 00:17:13,076 - now move to supervisor comments with the town manager being first. Okay, I just want to remind everybody 167 00:17:13,076 --> 00:17:19,440 - we're gonna have a public hearing on Monday, October 5th to introduce the budget and there'll be first 168 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,518 - reading and then on October 19th will be the adoption meeting and 169 00:17:23,682 --> 00:17:34,077 - that both meetings are at 6.30. There are special meetings too, by the way. I'm sorry, anything else? 170 00:17:34,077 --> 00:17:44,269 - No. Chief? I'd like to take a moment to recognize I got to work the Peden Family Farm Festival this 171 00:17:44,269 --> 00:17:50,078 - year. Trevor was there as well. And the fire department. 172 00:17:50,498 --> 00:17:57,622 - A lot of people was representative, but it's their 72nd year of having that festival for a bunch of 173 00:17:57,622 --> 00:18:05,245 - second and third graders. I just, Joyce and Joe and their family have done that for 72 years and I thought 174 00:18:05,245 --> 00:18:11,870 - it was worth mentioning. The thing I'd like to mention too is I'm not sure who has more fun. 175 00:18:12,418 --> 00:18:20,217 - if the peons have more fun or the kids have more fun, particularly Joe. I'm not sure. And there's a 176 00:18:20,217 --> 00:18:28,173 - lot of older gentlemen and ladies that come and volunteer. Everything out there is volunteer. There's 177 00:18:28,173 --> 00:18:36,362 - no charge. It's just America at its best. I agree. Chief? We should be taking delivery of our new engine 178 00:18:36,362 --> 00:18:41,822 - tomorrow or Wednesday. And yes, it's blue. And one could always hope. 179 00:18:42,466 --> 00:18:49,767 - The goal is maybe the next council meeting will have it come up here But we're hoping that it'll be 180 00:18:49,767 --> 00:18:57,141 - in service middle of October by the time we get all of our equipment and the radios and stuff put in 181 00:18:57,141 --> 00:19:04,588 - it and which Which unit is it replacing? It's replacing the station engine that's here in town So the 182 00:19:04,588 --> 00:19:12,254 - current engine will go to a backup position Anything else that's all I've got. Thank you. I have nothing 183 00:19:13,602 --> 00:19:23,068 - So I wanted to thank Elena Allen of Blackwell Construction. She coordinated a house they were going 184 00:19:23,068 --> 00:19:32,533 - to demolish to be used by local law enforcement and their canine partners for practice and they had 185 00:19:32,533 --> 00:19:40,958 - use of it for about three weeks. So I just wanted to thank them for doing that. No, sir. 186 00:19:42,818 --> 00:19:44,382 - Seeing no further business, we're adjourned.