[0:05] All this together

[0:12] and they blew glass. Oh wow.

[0:22] [clears throat]

[0:39] » Like a per >> do

[0:41] » sort [laughter] of. Yeah. And just certain areas you already got

[0:44] contractors identified that can bid in that area to do the work.

[0:48] » Exactly. SER's a regional provider. So they have crews and offices throughout

[0:55] Indiana and Midwest. >> How long they've been around?

[0:59] » Oh, 25 years. They were formerly called Maple Net.

[1:04] » It's out of Indiana. [laughter] >> Oh wow.

[1:07] » Where they primarily started. They're out of [laughter]

[1:11] » They're out of uh

[1:17] Elcart and Leaport where the two two main offices

[1:34] » Ho C WV our team

[1:40] » our team. >> So do you have a presentation or you

[1:45] just what we're going to talk about it? >> Yeah, it was pretty much just a um

[1:51] general conversation. Nothing to present.

[1:53] » Okay. >> So I'll bring that up, give an overview

[1:56] and then you want to expand >> answer any questions.

[2:01] » Okay.

[2:08] Did you say >> I spell your name again?

[2:16] » It's a funky name. So >> there you go.

[2:19] » Were you on the call today? >> I was. Yes.

[2:22] I didn't say

[2:36] » John >> John and Jordan.

[2:39] » Yes. >> Great to meet you.

[2:41] » Randy Dunny ally.

[2:51] So everybody

[3:15] [laughter]

[3:30] I took those

[3:36] » [laughter]

[3:41] » I'm going to call me

[3:50] [laughter]

[3:58] back.

[4:02] » [laughter]

[4:07] » down that road. >> I might follow

[4:10] [laughter]

[4:25] down.

[4:52] We're getting close. [laughter] How

[5:01] are you?

[5:05] [laughter]

[5:19] » They can't be that stable. I crash in that hurt.

[5:31] » [laughter]

[5:40] » pretty good. >> I guess

[5:47] that's crazy. [laughter]

[5:58] very much more.

[6:18] I have 7:00. Um, could you please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance?

[6:25] » I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[6:30] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[6:37] justice for all. >> If you would remain standing, if you

[6:40] would please remove your hats for a moment of silence. We'd like to honor

[6:44] Matthew my young man who lost his life last week in the floods. lives out at uh

[6:50] lived out at the golf course with his parents. So, please join me in a moment

[6:54] of science. [clears throat]

[7:06] » Thank you.

[7:11] [laughter] >> First item on the agenda is to approve

[7:15] the minutes from the August 10th, 2020 August 10th, 26th meeting.

[7:21] » I make a motion to approve the uh minutes.

[7:23] » I'll second. >> Have a motion by Randy, seconded by Jeff

[7:27] to approve the minutes as presented. All in favor say I.

[7:30] » I. >> I. Motion carries.

[7:33] Next item is the approval of docket for regular expenditures.

[7:36] » I'll make a motion. >> I'll second.

[7:39] » Have a motion by Jeff, seconded by John to approve the u docket for regular

[7:44] expenditures as presented. All in favor say I.

[7:47] » I. I motion carries.

[7:52] Old business. Um just to mention to the council that we have an appeal uh in the

[7:58] process um for the violation um on um ordinance for uh having poultry within

[8:06] the city limits. that will be going to the uh BCA uh in the next few weeks uh

[8:13] for the uh appeal for a variance. Uh Wildcat restroom uh materials are in.

[8:20] I think maybe it'll be starting some work maybe today this week. I saw the

[8:25] contractor down there this evening doing some things. So hopefully we'll see that

[8:29] start to break ground. Uh talked with um Superior Services today. uh the pickle

[8:36] ball court resurfaced, the weather hit them just like it did everybody else

[8:40] because you have to have so many days of dry weather and um they're hoping that

[8:45] they can start by the end of this week. Uh it'll be a 4-day process. Uh so when

[8:50] they let us know, we'll post that the courts will be closed for 4 days so that

[8:54] they can get those resurfaced. Uh we've also um come to an agreement on

[9:00] the sale of 613 North Broadway. the paperwork's been signed. Um the uh

[9:07] potential buyer is an ab budding land owner and she is out of town until the

[9:12] 29th of August. And when she signs her paperwork and presents us with the check

[9:17] for $3,500, uh our attorney will record that it over

[9:22] to her. Um we also Jerry, did they drop those three polls at

[9:28] » He dropped two of them. >> Okay. We have two poles that are down at

[9:31] the um park on First Street. Um so we'll be we have those in our possession now

[9:38] and hopefully we'll get those cameras installed. [clears throat]

[9:41] And then the only other thing I have for old business, the dumpster has been

[9:46] removed at the back of the AT&T building. Um Jane and I were on our way

[9:51] to Muny a week or so ago and I went by and it was still there. They had told us

[9:55] that they'd get it removed and I called Best Waste Management and an hour and 10

[10:01] minutes later on the phone they agreed that they would get it the following

[10:05] Tuesday. This was on a Thursday and she said, "But if I can get that

[10:10] moved up to tomorrow, would that make you happy?" And they did. They moved it

[10:14] up that Friday and they removed it. So, it's been gone now over a week. So, u

[10:19] and I don't think it'll be going back. I think they the neighbor there was just a

[10:24] dumping ground for people and there was an old mattress there. Did we get the

[10:27] other stuff picked up? Uh we picked up some of the stuff that was on the ground

[10:31] because the company only took their dumpster, but we got rid of them.

[10:36] » Randy, any old business? >> No.

[10:39] » Uh Spencer is stuck at work. He's actually in Crawford'sville. Um talked

[10:44] to him a little bit ago and said that uh he has to spend the night. his uh job's

[10:49] going to keep him there tonight. Uh so we uh would have talked about the

[10:54] organizational sign uh the book box um with Northwest Bank and those

[10:59] surveillance cameras, but those will table to the next meeting.

[11:04] Jeff, uh community crossing grant. Yeah, [clears throat] we're starting to

[11:08] collect um the different roads that we need to look at for the community

[11:14] crossing grant. Uh again, that's a September submission. So Jerry, I'd say

[11:19] if you if you have any think any roads out there that you think need attention,

[11:23] let me know. Otherwise, we'll be driving out and around or anybody.

[11:27] » Same with the police department. >> Exactly. Yeah. If there's anything, you

[11:30] know, just let me know and we'll make sure we get that on our list

[11:35] because we don't want to miss out on that.

[11:38] » And the change on that this year, Jeeoff, is there it's only one

[11:42] submission, right? We used to have twice a year we could do that but state of

[11:45] Indiana has changed the submission to once per year. So [clears throat] this

[11:49] submission will be for road painting in 27.

[11:53] » And is it a 70 what's 8020 >> 8020 match? We the state pays 80% we pay

[12:00] 20 of what uh of what the proposed uh would be.

[12:08] » Anything else Jeff? >> That's it. John,

[12:11] » uh, nothing. >> Joyce,

[12:14] » nothing. [clears throat]

[12:17] » Jerry, >> uh, they have started moving the water

[12:21] line down there at, uh, the coffee shop. They did get the the temporary, uh, line

[12:28] up and running and I checked at Dollar Tree and they hand water, so they're

[12:35] good to go. They shut the line down now. And we did remove our meter pit that we

[12:40] installed in March. >> Okay.

[12:42] » So, good. That's all I got.

[12:45] » Okay. Anything from the police department?

[12:51] » New business. Um, we have Surf Internet here tonight. They are an internet

[12:56] provider uh for fiber optic um internet service. uh they are um approaching the

[13:04] town wanting uh to get permission to put fiber optics uh throughout town and then

[13:11] uh if we would do that individual patrons would have the opportunity to

[13:15] sign up if you wanted theirs or you could keep who you have. We

[13:20] [clears throat] have two representatives there. They uh provided us today um and

[13:25] this is up here for anybody would like to see it with three different sections.

[13:29] it would include the entire town except for the golf course uh because it's not

[13:34] a continuous line that they can do. And um they um we our understanding is that

[13:42] their main hub would be at the corner of Second and Washington Street, which is

[13:49] uh straight down from the school into that second block. And there would be

[13:52] about a 5-ft box there, which is what everything would work out of. And then

[13:58] as they go through town, they would use the rideaways to put I think what you

[14:02] guys called handhelds. >> Yeah, handholds.

[14:05] » Hand holds. I'm sorry. >> No, that's close enough.

[14:07] » And they would look very much like a manhole cover where they run the optics.

[14:12] Um they uh we had quite a discussion on the phone last a little over an hour

[14:18] today. We still will be presenting information if we decide to move forward

[14:22] with this to our attorney for uh the legal um things that we would be

[14:29] concerned about restoration of property uh a bond possibly if the work didn't

[14:34] get completed. Um and then u making sure that if there are places where there is

[14:41] not a right away for where they need to go that they would be in discussions

[14:46] with those property owners or they will avoid that area and come back in a

[14:50] different way. So correct. >> Um we have Jordan and John. Anything you

[14:55] want to add to this? Uh we're we still um have lots of questions and that's why

[15:00] we want our attorney to look at it. Um, but they're indicating it would just be

[15:05] another option for our patrons uh if you chose that as your service provider. So,

[15:13] » you might talk a little bit about your company or a little bit about you wanted

[15:17] to start with >> the engineering side.

[15:20] » Nothing particular. I heard you mentioned the golf course isn't included

[15:22] at this point. That doesn't mean it can't be in the future. It just wasn't

[15:26] in our initial plans when we approached the town, but if there's enough

[15:30] interest, it absolutely can be completed. So,

[15:32] » okay. >> Okay.

[15:34] » Yeah. I don't have anything. >> I'll attach kind of on top of that when

[15:37] we come to a new market or new town, too. We are somewhat conservative a

[15:41] little bit, too. So, it take us um quite a bit more money to get out to the golf

[15:45] course. If we see that, you know, things are going pretty well. If you're closer

[15:49] in town, that's that just kind of speeds up that process a little bit, too. It's

[15:52] like, okay, you know, we're good patients. So um we are actually based

[15:56] out of Elcart, Indiana. Uh we have been in business with internet for over 27

[16:01] years but pretty heavily into fiber. Um the last eight years or so, but

[16:08] previously before that we would provide wireless internet. So sometimes you

[16:11] would see a satellite on like a grain silo or a water tower and it would be to

[16:15] someone's house. Um that's years ago before you know your likes of cable

[16:20] internet got popular um some years ago. So that's kind of a little bit of older

[16:24] technology. We still have some customers on wireless, but it's very little. So

[16:28] our primary business is uh fiber. We are again located out of Elcart. Our

[16:33] customer care is in the port of Indiana. So anytime a resident would have a need

[16:37] to call into our customer care or technical support, [clears throat]

[16:39] you're going to speak to someone that lives in Indiana. Um we have a couple

[16:43] people that are remote out of like Tennessee or something. So they may get

[16:46] a little bit of a southern accent, but they were kind of grandfathered in

[16:49] employees. Uh so we we are what we consider a regional uh internet company.

[16:55] Michigan, Indiana, Illinois. Uh we have almost 100,000 customers. We're not

[17:01] quite there yet. Real close. Um and we provide service to over 300,000 homes

[17:06] and businesses among those three states. Uh we happened to be doing some work uh

[17:11] in Muny in Yorktown and we're actually have an office on Kilgore that we just

[17:16] opened up and started to kind of look out and expand from there. So we're

[17:21] working with Red Key and a couple other local uh communities and noticed that Al

[17:26] didn't have uh fiber. We are 100% funding the project. So we're not going

[17:31] to ask um for any money from you guys. And it's very important that we do good

[17:36] work and good restoration. We are pretty much primarily underground and we will

[17:40] be going through, you know, residents yards. It's technically the rideway, not

[17:45] their private property. We'd like to stay right in the rideway. Uh, and there

[17:49] will be some disruptions, but it's important for us to restore service

[17:53] because if we're not going to be good stewards, we're probably not going to

[17:55] get too many people sign up and we uh that that's not why we're here, right?

[18:00] Yeah, we are a for-profit business, but ultimately um the upgrade to fiber

[18:05] internet provides a huge advantage to the town. Um if you can think years ago

[18:10] when we we got past dialup, the next transition was was DSL and you consider

[18:16] that like a four-lane highway. Well, then your likes of Comcast Exfinity came

[18:20] in and made that highway into 25 lanes. Really what fiber does is come in and

[18:26] now expand that highway to about a 100 lanes across. So, it's and the the um

[18:31] what I say the kind of future of it and what can be done with fiber is kind of

[18:35] uh it's still not there. They don't know the limit of it yet. We're only using a

[18:39] few strands in there with multiple streams available for who knows what

[18:44] down the road. So, we'll provide um I would I would assume 8 gigabit service

[18:50] up to 8 gigabit. That's not a very common uh household speed. Yeah, but we

[18:54] we will it will be available. Uh, and our plans start off at $30 a month. Kind

[19:00] of go into our plans. Everything's no contract. Um, customers won't pay for

[19:05] installation. There's some businesses. Sometimes it'll take a unique situation.

[19:09] There may be some installation costs, but primarily no. Um, and our price is a

[19:14] regular price. It doesn't go up four years or two years or one year or

[19:19] whatever. Um, it stays that price. And we basically

[19:24] we just want to be easy to do business with. Again, we want to get a good ROI

[19:27] on our on our bill. So, >> we also talked today on the phone that

[19:32] the town will need some assurances that if the work's not done or if there's

[19:37] litigation that should happen down the way that we would be involved in that we

[19:40] would not have the expense of that. Um, and that let's say for example, if a

[19:46] water line gets hit, [clears throat] it would be your responsibility to pay

[19:50] to have that done. Our workers may do it because they know where it is, but then

[19:53] you would get build for that. Those are the things that we want to to tie up

[19:59] loose ends on. There may be some other things. So, anything that you can

[20:03] provide us along those lines in writing that we could present to our attorney

[20:07] would be helpful up front. Um, and I think you were going to work on

[20:11] something. >> We're working on it already.

[20:13] Yeah, we talked about that today, but I just wanted our patrons to know that

[20:17] [laughter] not only do we want it to be a good

[20:20] service, we want it to be one that the town and the citizens of the town are

[20:24] protected. So, um, we appreciate that. Any questions? U hang on. Not for the

[20:32] audience, for the council. >> Okay. There's a place at the end for

[20:38] public company. >> Um, how would it hook up? Like you'd run

[20:41] it in said rightway. So utility would be like a water line, a gas line. Would you

[20:46] follow that in and then up into the house?

[20:49] » Yeah. So down in the rideway, we do contend Yeah. with water lines, sewer

[20:54] lines. So that's where it's um really crucial that we do good work in the

[20:58] rightway to not run into anything because we don't want to hit anything

[21:01] either and have to pay for something. Accidents do happen. Um it does happen

[21:06] from time to time. If we sit down and say we're not going to say anything,

[21:10] it's probably we not be telling the truth. I mean, something's going to

[21:13] happen probably. But again, the town being protected to know that we're here

[21:18] to uh fix it and stay behind our business. [clears throat]

[21:21] » So, the fiber optics, would it plug into your TV or

[21:24] » Yeah. So, good question. So, when we get when we get done putting the

[21:27] infrastructure in, there's about there's a handful about every two to three

[21:31] homes. >> And let's say you want to go ahead and

[21:33] order service. So, what we do is then come in, tap into that handhole. It

[21:37] could be in your neighbor's yard. It could be in your yard. Um, it and then

[21:41] we run it to your up to your home and come in traditionally just like a cable

[21:45] provider would. Then goes into a modem um and wireless router, which we

[21:51] actually give those for free included with the service. Uh, so that's again

[21:55] trying to make it easy to do business with. Uh, and then that line will stay

[21:58] out in the lawn lawn for anywhere from 14 to 20 days or so. we'll come back and

[22:03] bury it. So, we don't bury it on the spot. A lot of times that helps if there

[22:07] is a connection issues. We're not ripping fiber back out. We usually will

[22:11] know within a couple weeks if something's not right with that fiber

[22:14] line and we need to replace it or do something. Um, but ultimately we know

[22:18] right away at the install, but every, you know, every once in a while. Um, we

[22:23] do leave some slack so people can pick it up to mow their lawn and, you know,

[22:26] dogs won't trip over or kids. Um

[22:31] do you provide like television and and packages like that?

[22:34] » We provide internet and home phone. >> We can suggest uh television providers

[22:40] uh but not really affiliated with >> mostly internet for like streaming.

[22:43] » Correct. Yeah. We we would uh we're big we'd be big fans of like a YouTube or

[22:48] Direct TV stream, a Hulu, live TV, things of that nature.

[22:53] » Okay, >> Jeff or Okay. Well, once we receive

[22:58] those documents and we can get those to our um we're not going to take action

[23:03] tonight because we still have those unanswered questions, but um once we get

[23:08] those then we'll make a better informed decision and uh we'll let you know when

[23:12] that's going to happen. So, we I think we have their contact information

[23:18] » um so we can get back to you. But we appreciate your coming and trying to

[23:22] answer questions for us. So, um >> and don't hesitate to reach out. So, I'm

[23:26] gonna ask, do you plan to stay through the rest of the meeting? If not, I'm

[23:29] gonna let him ask his question. Otherwise, we wait till later in the

[23:33] meeting for the public to >> stay. Yeah, I usually

[23:38] Okay. Thank you. Um, next two items. Um, we have two new ordinances are in

[23:44] effect. Give the public a chance to speak to those if they want to at the

[23:48] public, uh, portion of the meeting. But ordinance um 26-5

[23:55] was the weeds nuisance ordinance and basically those increase the fines for

[24:00] multiple offenses if we have to mow or take care of somebody's property uh over

[24:05] and over and over um in the past and and I had an attorney uh who owns a property

[24:11] here in town told me it's cheaper to let us do it than for him to have to hire

[24:15] somebody. So he basically lets it go to the point of where they're cighted and

[24:20] we mow it and it was a $100 fine. Well, it's cheaper for him to have us do it

[24:26] than for them to mow it every week because it usually takes a month before

[24:29] you get to that point. So, our new ordinance calls for a $100 fine the

[24:35] first time, up to $300 the second time, and up to $500 the third time because

[24:40] there was no penalty there that basically we became their lawn care

[24:46] people. So, that's in effect. And um the u those also include things like keeping

[24:52] livestock and other things in in town. Those are considered nuisance and would

[24:57] fall under that weed nuisance ordinance. The other one is um on the um use of

[25:04] scooters, ebikes and those kinds of things on certain portions of sidewalks

[25:09] here in town and on certain streets and we'll cover that. That was ordinance 20

[25:14] 6-6. This is a modification [clears throat]

[25:17] of an ordinance that's been on the books since 2005.

[25:21] This is not a new ordinance. It is an expansion of an existing ordinance. The

[25:27] previous ordinance did not allow any um uh bicycles uh anything other than foot

[25:33] traffic between Delaware Street and Water Street and then some on side

[25:40] streets like Cedar and Maine. Um so this is basically an ordinance that is only

[25:47] intended because of all the use of electric scooters and ebikes that we're

[25:51] seeing on our sidewalks and the complaints that we've been getting. So,

[25:54] those ordinance were put into effect and we'll let people respond to those, but

[25:58] it's been here since 2005. So, um we want to thank um Landon,

[26:06] excuse me, Fryberger. Uh his last day was this past Friday. Uh he's been

[26:10] admitted to the doctoral program at Ball State, so he is now full-time student

[26:15] again. So, uh we appreciate that. And council will have to decide what we want

[26:20] to do with that position. Um, if you have thoughts, uh, please come to me and

[26:26] we'll put this on the agenda for the ne and Jerry and Rick can respond. But

[26:30] we'll, um, we'll put this on the agenda for whether what action we want to take

[26:35] at our next meeting. So >> Randy, [clears throat]

[26:40] » any new business? >> No.

[26:43] » Spencer's not here. Jeff, >> no.

[26:45] » John, >> no.

[26:47] » Joyce, do we have a resolution? >> Yeah. Um, I want to present to the

[26:52] council resolution 2026-7, uh, resolution on writing off delinquent

[26:57] non-collectible utility accounts. This would be for the property that, uh, the

[27:02] town acquired, 613 North Broadway. And um the uh since it's it's ours and um

[27:13] that was part of the agreement that we made with the owner uh when we acquired

[27:18] the property. Uh so the amount to be written off would be 1,027

[27:24] um on water 1737 in sewage trash would be 522 storm water 520 and um other

[27:33] charges which would have been like mowing $40 total would be $3,848.77.

[27:43] this was the previous owner of that property, not the person who's making

[27:48] the the purchase price. Um, they agreed to deed that over to the county and then

[27:54] the county deed it to us. If we would um [clears throat] wave our fees, that was

[27:59] this is the house that was burned out up on North Broadway that we've been trying

[28:03] for like three years to uh to grab that property so that we could have it

[28:08] demolished. It's been demolished and we have the buyer. So, I would recommend

[28:12] that we uh uh sign off on the resolution 26-7 to write off that debt of $3,848.7.

[28:23] Any discussion? >> I make a motion then. There's no

[28:27] discussion. >> I'll second.

[28:29] » Can we do the whole thing tonight? Okay. I have a tell me the motion and second

[28:34] again. I make a motion to um adopt resolution 2026-7

[28:40] to write off debt from 613 North Broadway. Okay.

[28:43] » Of $3,848.77.

[28:47] » And a second by Jeff. I have a motion by Randy, second by Jeff to approve

[28:53] resolution 2026-7 uh writing off that debt in the amount

[28:57] of 384870. All in favor say I.

[29:01] » Motion carries. Anything else, Choice?

[29:06] » Uh, no. You can pass that down. Everyone can sign that resolution.

[29:11] » Okay. Thank you.

[29:20] » While they're doing that, Jerry, any old business?

[29:24] Be new business. >> New business. I'm sorry. The

[29:27] » Just let you guys know, the mowing contractor called me three times last

[29:31] week worried about mowing And I told him the part was underwater

[29:36] still to hold off. Well, he said that he's definitely coming this week to mow

[29:42] what he could mow. And I told him last week, I said there's no sense. Three out

[29:47] of the the ones you mow are underwater still and

[29:53] not to not to drive clear down here, just to mow a couple of the parks and

[29:57] stuff for that. So, >> okay. So, he said he'd definitely be

[30:01] down uh he called me, matter of fact, over the weekend and said that he would

[30:06] definitely be down Wednesday and >> good. Well, their communication, I

[30:12] think, has been great. I mean, they've tried all year to make sure that we're

[30:15] aware of every little hitch that's come along and uh the work's been excellent.

[30:21] So, I appreciate their contacting me. >> He was concerned and

[30:26] he almost came down Friday and I tried him not to. I said, "You're not going to

[30:32] the yards that you do mow and just hold off."

[30:35] » Okay. One other item while Jerry has the floor here. We uh had to repair the

[30:41] overhead doors over here at the uh garage. We had a spring break. Uh I

[30:47] think it was just spring, wasn't it? >> Cable broke first, which caused the

[30:51] spring to break. And >> and Jerry Jerry called me on a Friday

[30:54] and the um company came on Saturday and fixed it. So, but we had to do that so

[31:00] we could get in the into the barn. So, just so you're aware if you see those

[31:05] claims. So, anything else, Jerry? >> No.

[31:08] » Anything from the police? Corey, anything? Okay. Uh, this would be the

[31:13] time uh if you are in the public, you'd like to address the council, any

[31:17] concerns, issues you might have. We ask tonight because we're having a little

[31:20] trouble with our live streaming that if you're going to address the council that

[31:23] you come up to the corner of the table here to speak to us so we can make sure

[31:28] [clears throat] that we get you on the camera and we uh get you recorded.

[31:32] Sometimes back when you're this far, we can't it doesn't pick you up. Well, so

[31:36] anyone sir, state your name when you come and

[31:40] then tell us. >> Can I bring up the box?

[31:43] » Sure.

[31:48] Hello, I am Dustin G. I suffer from several mental health

[31:54] issues. Post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder,

[31:58] autistic, and ADHD. I cycle for mental health reasons. This box of destruction

[32:04] is what it takes to ride at the speed limit of State Street. I've went through

[32:09] two sets of cranks, two bottom brackets, and a blown out headset. This year, I've

[32:13] almost pushed one of the pedals out of the crank arms, the forged aluminum.

[32:18] [clears throat and cough] I understand that we don't want the electric driven

[32:21] stuff on the sidewalks, but I read the thing and the way it is written, it has

[32:25] banned kids from every sidewalk in this town, on bikes, skateboards, and

[32:30] everything. And I'm worried that this is setting the town up for a wrongful death

[32:34] lawsuit that will cost us taxpayers millions.

[32:40] There's no safe lanes for bicycles through downtown for us to ride. I did a

[32:45] small protest ride today on a Tik Tok live stream. I was passed over 50 times

[32:50] illegally and almost hit over 10. We're expecting children who do not know the

[32:56] laws of the street to navigate this.

[33:02] I don't want to see a kid on an electric bike doing 20 miles an hour and a door

[33:06] open and they get door. >> Okay,

[33:10] » that's but you are aware as I said earlier this

[33:14] law has been on the books since 2005. We only included the ebike material. Let me

[33:20] finish >> because of the complaints that we've

[33:23] been receiving from people who are trying to walk out of a business

[33:26] downtown or on a sidewalk. Spencer, who is not here, lives on the main street.

[33:32] He reported at our last meeting that [clears throat] at least four times he

[33:35] has had to dodge somebody on an electric bike. I asked uh police officer Holesma,

[33:42] Sergeant Hollesma today, how fast those bikes go and you said they cannot go up

[33:47] to any ones can go between 40 and 60

[33:52] » 40 and 60 miles an hour. >> I don't believe they belong on the road

[33:55] the sidewalks either. Well, but we don't have a way to prevent those unless we

[33:59] have an ordinance that prevents them. You're you're saying you don't want a

[34:03] child who doesn't understand the laws. Their parents understand the laws and

[34:06] their parents need to be responsible for where their children are at and what

[34:10] they're doing. We're seeing kids all over town, Dustin, who ignore stop

[34:14] signs. They ignore the traffic laws. >> They're going down those sidewalks at

[34:20] 30, 40 miles an hour. I live on the main street. I've witnessed it. I've seen

[34:24] them. One Sunday evening, I saw six kids racing down the streets and it's unsafe.

[34:32] There is a there is no win in this for the town. We are either going to make

[34:37] somebody mad who owns an ebike or a scooter or we're going to have a

[34:41] pedestrian going into a barber shop or into the hardware store or somewhere

[34:46] else coming out with packaging and getting ran over. So, we made the

[34:51] decision that they are sidewalks by definition meaning walk. And we know

[34:58] that that upsets some people, but our feeling is that the safety of our

[35:02] citizens are just as much in jeopardy when we have people who are recklessly

[35:07] using those sidewalks. So, all we're doing is enforcing something that's been

[35:12] there since 2005. I asked you a little bit ago when you were sitting here what

[35:17] year you graduated from high school. You said 2012, you were a fifth grader when

[35:22] this order was first implemented. We're just enforcing it.

[35:28] » I just think that we need to add a bike lane or something so that there is a

[35:32] safe way for people to go up and down through downtown

[35:37] » off the sidewalk. >> We might not disagree with you on that,

[35:40] but that is not our highway. We do not have the control over that highway. That

[35:44] is the state. >> Can we move one side of the parking

[35:49] NDOT set those they set up all the parking. They set up all of the U

[35:54] sidewalks. They they required that those sidewalks be a certain width for uh

[35:59] people in uh wheelchairs, handicap accessible. Um we have no control over

[36:05] those sidewalks or those streets downtown except we can prevent the

[36:09] traffic on them. >> Okay.

[36:12] » I just don't want to see a kid get hurt and I understand and your guys' concern

[36:17] too. Yeah, we don't either. I mean that that's as I said, there's not we we

[36:21] don't come out of this a winter either way, but we're just trying to look at

[36:24] the general safety of it and we want people who visit our downtown businesses

[36:29] to feel that they can walk in and out of a business safely.

[36:33] So, but I do appreciate your comments and if there if there ever if you know

[36:38] of a good way for us to have a different solution, we'll we'll listen.

[36:43] I if there's a possibility of adding some sort of bike lane, I understand we

[36:48] can't do it like just immediately, but maybe getting in contact with the

[36:52] highway department addressing the concern the fact that it could lead to a

[36:56] massive lawsuit for this town down the road, which I don't want to see the

[37:00] water bills go up higher. >> They wouldn't because of that's a

[37:04] separate fund, but I understand you're saying you don't want to see anybody get

[37:08] sued. Yeah. >> Okay. Anyone else, sir?

[37:16] My name is Jonathan. Um, >> last name

[37:18] » Presman. Okay. >> Like, so I want to understand more

[37:22] because you're saying I I completely agree with ebikes and scooters, which

[37:29] some, yes, can go up to 40 miles an hour. The other ones that go 20 to 30

[37:34] miles an hour. Either way, they don't need to be on sidewalks. I agree on that

[37:38] part. But I just I just want to know if you're going to try and

[37:44] you know I more direct towards the police department on this one. Is a

[37:49] little kid riding that riding their scooter like their normal scooter,

[37:52] normal bicycle, you know, and is it just that street

[37:57] that you're going to be enforcing it or is it multiple streets here in town?

[38:01] » I believe that it says on sidewalks anywhere in town.

[38:04] » Okay, so here's here's what I'm going to say here though. Last summer, my nephew

[38:11] was riding his bicycle in the street because some something was blocking the

[38:16] sidewalk and a cop stopped him. I don't I don't

[38:20] remember which cop, uh, but he made him call his mom, took the phone from him,

[38:27] and explained to his mom how dangerous it is for him to be riding his bicycle

[38:30] on the road. This that right there contradicts what

[38:35] y'all are trying to do right now. I understand the ebikes and e- scooters,

[38:38] but the bicycles, if a cop is going to stop and

[38:42] [clears throat] say the whole thing of it's, you know, lecture about how

[38:48] dangerous it is for you to ride your bicycle or scooter or

[38:53] because I I'll be honest, I I skateboard sometimes.

[38:56] » I understand. And you know, so I will take my skateboard in the street, but

[39:00] that's because I understand what I can do and I understand how what I do

[39:06] affects other things. And you can't expect the fouryear-old who is or not

[39:12] four-year-old, a six-year-old I should say, who is riding their up and down the

[39:18] like the sidewalk. You can't expect them as they're riding

[39:22] down say say they are forced to go in the street. can't expect them to

[39:27] constantly be thinking, "Okay, is that stop sign there? Somebody going to blow

[39:31] through it and hit me?" Because I've seen people blow through stop signs in

[39:34] this town multiple times, right? >> And the Now, I will say some cops are

[39:40] good at doing it. They patrol, but others, they just sit in one spot the

[39:45] whole day. I I will say that. And it's even worse

[39:50] at night whenever it comes to patrolling. Sometimes they just sit

[39:55] either gas station or the little buildings that are over here down uh the

[40:00] main road. Uh you know where is that 67 or 28? That's over here.

[40:06] » 67. >> All right. You know those buildings that

[40:08] are over here on the 67? >> I think I know which one.

[40:12] » Sitting there in the dark and all that. I understand they're trying to catch the

[40:16] but [clears throat] it's just

[40:19] the more that happens at night. Most of the time it happens more at night.

[40:24] » Well, let me add I don't think they're just there to catchers during those

[40:29] hours. >> Oh yeah.

[40:30] » The businesses that we have open late at night are along that corridor. So, they

[40:35] are closer to being able if they're needed at one of those spots.

[40:38] » Yeah. And um I will say because I heard y'all mention something earlier about

[40:44] security cameras being put up places. Uh I didn't quite hear what places they are

[40:49] that >> we're looking at. We are looking at the

[40:53] park on First Street >> because we've had a tremendous amount of

[40:56] vandalism over the years and we're looking at some cameras that would be

[41:01] out here in front and one in the new Wildcat Park.

[41:05] » Yeah. You know, I I I will say >> those are way overdue for it because I

[41:09] can't tell you the amount of >> kids I've seen late at night doing

[41:15] things that they shouldn't be doing and all that. And I will add on top of that,

[41:19] as somebody who used to bike and ride a moped,

[41:23] back and forth from work, um I am a pretty bigger guy. If a vehicle

[41:30] doesn't see me, they're not going to see a kid,

[41:34] » you know. >> Well,

[41:35] We >> I I

[41:36] » I get that. Um I think to go back to responding to your first Yeah.

[41:42] » part of your concern,

[41:45] » our policemen always have discretionary authority. If they see a fouryear-old or

[41:50] a 5-year-old riding a bike on the sidewalk on the side street, I doubt

[41:54] that they're going to sight them. I think they would first uh if if you've

[41:58] read the ordinance the first contact uh first violation is they just want the

[42:03] parent to be aware the second one is again contacting the parent and if it is

[42:09] situation where they feel like they have to do it a third time then they will

[42:13] issue concern so they it won't be something

[42:16] that's just [clears throat] happening >> without some type of preparation

[42:20] » and I'm I'm I wasn't saying that it's going to happen some type of you know

[42:24] system being because I've read it. I went through it. I've read it. I just I

[42:28] wanted to try and understand more of what's going to be more like because I

[42:34] understand a law has to be held. But if there's anyone who's like under the

[42:41] age of like 10 and under and they're on the sidewalk and they're not causing no

[42:45] harm. But I'm not saying on e- scooter because I will say this, if a kid is on

[42:50] a e- scooter and they are under the age of 13 that one that's breaking the rules

[42:57] that the manufacturer has done. There are a lot of kids riding these

[43:01] electric scooters that are under 13. >> And

[43:05] if that is such an issue, then isn't there

[43:10] and I I could be wrong, but because I used to I'm from different places.

[43:16] Isn't there laws stating that certain things like that is

[43:21] not allowed for kids like for people under a certain age? I'm I'm not going

[43:26] to try and cite the law to you because I don't know, but I that would be

[43:29] something that I would have to yield to our police officers or our payment

[43:33] attorney because I don't know those offic I'm I'm not saying for you to site

[43:37] it right now because yeah, >> like I said, I don't even know the exact

[43:41] law around here of that. Um I was just like I said trying to understand the

[43:47] whole because like I said >> I think anytime we create a new

[43:51] ordinance or we implement a new law there is some growing pains that go

[43:56] along with that and if we find that we need to come back and tweak something or

[44:00] change something we have the option of doing that but this ordinance was drawn

[44:04] up by our attorney felt it was consistent with Indiana law and again we

[44:11] want it to be a safe environment. for everyone.

[44:13] » Oh yeah. >> So they they are in effect uh currently

[44:18] and we'll monitor and we'll see what kind it's no different than sometimes we

[44:21] change the speed limit in a certain area um

[44:26] » from we we just did it here on the west end of town. It used to be 55 all the

[44:31] way in. Now you see signs out there that say speed limit ahead 35. That used to

[44:36] come 55 used to come on in farther. But with the development out there we've

[44:40] lowered that. If we feel like there are things here that we need to tweak, we

[44:45] certainly will take a look at that and we will rely on our our police

[44:48] departments to tell us if something needs to be tightened or no, this is too

[44:53] tight, we could loosen, but we can always take a look at that.

[44:56] » You know, I I just because I'm I'm I'm going to put this there.

[45:02] The kids around here, they sometimes are in a lot like they're sometimes a lot to

[45:08] do deal with. I mean, they're a lot to handle with some things and

[45:15] they cause a lot of disturbance on a lot of things. And I'll be honest with you,

[45:19] yes, e- scooters and ebikes are one of them.

[45:24] But normal bicycles like uh skateboards,

[45:31] » rollerblades, inline skates. Okay, rollerblades and inline skates, they can

[45:36] be done on the street if you know what you're doing. Same with a skateboard.

[45:42] But if it's like a if it's one of these roads over here that don't have a

[45:47] business on it that has a lot of foot traffic in

[45:52] and out of it. I don't see a issue with somebody using the sidewalk to do

[45:58] [clears throat] any of that. >> Um I would like to read this because a

[46:03] lot of people that might be looking uh watching this live stream I want them to

[46:08] know what we're talking about. Is that okay?

[46:10] » Sure. Okay. So, um we've said that the town believes that

[46:17] the use of certain modes of transportation

[46:21] uh could pose a threat to the citizens and visitors that use the sidewalks. So,

[46:26] we amended in its entirety to read as follows.

[46:30] prohibited use of electric bicycles, electric scooters, and similar modes of

[46:35] transportation are prohibited on all public sidewalks

[46:39] in the town of Albany. Skateboards, scooters, roller skates, inline skates,

[46:45] rollerblades, bicycles, and similar modes of transportation are prohibited

[46:51] on all sidewalks on State Street in the town of Albany.

[46:55] And then the uh offenses, first offense would be verbal warning and parental

[47:00] verbal warning to anyone under 18. Second offense, written warning and

[47:05] parental notification under for someone under 18. Third offense and subsequent

[47:10] offenses offenses up to $50 plus court costs. So

[47:14] » So the ebikes and and e scooters, those things are on all sidewalks. Yes. The

[47:21] others are just on State Street. And I was I was just trying to

[47:26] get the understanding of that right there of which one is

[47:30] » going to be more for more restrictive are

[47:33] » more restricted everywhere compared to just down here,

[47:37] » right? >> Because

[47:38] » and we have an awful lot of people now walking State Street since they've all

[47:41] been improved and the sidewalks have been improved. We have we have people

[47:45] that walk elderly people who walk to the store because they don't have other

[47:49] modes of transportation. Um, we have people walk to work to McDonald's and

[47:53] use those. So, we we're really just concerned about um the high-speed bikes

[48:00] on, >> you know, I'm I'm going to give another

[48:02] example of something of >> this light right here. I'll give an

[48:06] example of this. >> I was sitting I was on my moped whenever

[48:10] I had it. I was sitting where this person could see me. I was in a I was in

[48:13] something that was bright and they went over the line a little bit. They backed

[48:17] right up into me. Okay. Like what what's keeping them from

[48:23] exam? Like like I said, I I'm pretty big guy. If you can't see

[48:28] me, you're not gonna see a little kid. you. And at that point, if you're if

[48:32] you're G if you're coming through here and there's a little kid in the road on

[48:36] their bike or something like that, like if it's a normal bike and they're as far

[48:41] over as they get without touching a vehicle that's parked

[48:46] and you blow past them, at least slow down a little.

[48:50] » And I I I will say like if they don't slow down and get over because I don't

[48:54] know if that's a law here of stuff like that. No, [clears throat] but to be very

[48:59] honest with you and just being upfront, I would hope that we're not seeing

[49:03] little kids riding in the downtown area on the streets. We have side streets on

[49:08] both sides. We have parallel streets on both sides of State Street that they

[49:13] could make those same uh patterns and keep them out of that hightra area or

[49:19] higher speed area. So, well, I thank you for your comments and we appreciate the

[49:25] the uh concern and obviously as I said, it's a work in progress for us. So,

[49:30] » thank y >> anybody else?

[49:36] » All right. Well, we >> after I did my ride protest and I was

[49:42] walking home because there were some people in town that were rather upset

[49:45] that I was riding on the sides of the road for an hour and a half straight

[49:48] going up and down State Street. I I would differ with you. I watched you.

[49:52] You were riding down the middle of the road.

[49:54] » I tried to get over for cars though when I could.

[49:57] » Come up behind me. >> No, you didn't.

[50:00] » You did not. >> I apologize.

[50:05] » And I I witnessed that as well, Dustin. Okay.

[50:08] » Well, on my walk home, I watched that kid on this road on his scooter. A car

[50:13] honked at him and he almost wrecked directly into them.

[50:18] Well, we wouldn't want them doing that either, but um and those are things that

[50:22] if we can notify our police and let them know that, but [clears throat] Okay,

[50:29] » can I just say something from a police standpoint?

[50:31] » Can you stand up, please? >> Yeah.

[50:32] » Thank you. >> And we'll have you come up just like we

[50:35] do everybody else. Thank [laughter] you. While I completely understand you guys'

[50:41] complaints and you and I talked earlier, like he said, this is something that has

[50:45] been in place for a very long time. Okay? They updated it. They didn't

[50:49] change it. They updated some new technology to that same ordinance. Okay?

[50:56] While we don't want kids getting hurt, it is the parents job to educate their

[51:01] children of what they're doing. And that is something that we do lack is parental

[51:06] judgment and making sure that their kids are doing what they're supposed to.

[51:09] Hence a lot of our juvenile issues that we have here in town. So a lot of this

[51:13] issue is not the fact that the town has made a new ordinance or updated the

[51:17] ordinance. Problem is the kids are doing things they're not supposed to in an

[51:22] unsafe manner. So for the parents out there that are watching this and

[51:26] everybody else, educate your kids on what they need to be doing. Don't be mad

[51:31] at the police. Don't be mad at the town board. Don't be mad at people who are

[51:34] trying to drive down the road. If you're in the middle of the road, you're

[51:39] blocking traffic. Guess what? You have to follow the same

[51:44] road rules and you can't impede traffic. So, that's that's kind of where we stand

[51:48] from a law enforcement standpoint. Thank you.

[51:52] » Okay. If there anybody else want to address the council on any topic? Okay.

[51:58] Well, I think we uh are near adjournment. I want to talk about

[52:02] upcoming meetings. We have mobile market uh tomorrow uh down at the school from 4

[52:08] to 6. So again, if uh you know if someone needs assistance, needs uh food

[52:13] assistance, that is a [clears throat] great way to come and shop. Uh they

[52:17] typically can pick from 18 to 20 different items uh in lots of different

[52:22] categories. And um we appreciate um Second Harvest Food Bank providing that

[52:28] for us and our 8 to 10 volunteers that show up every month to help distribute

[52:32] that. Uh also the Heritage Day Festival is September the 12th. Uh remember we

[52:38] have bands, food trucks, vendors. Um and then we're going to have some um um

[52:44] [snorts] personal presentations. Uh Ryan Gil between bands is going to do a

[52:50] presentation on Albany Glass. uh under the we have a big white tent. He'll be

[52:54] doing that then. And uh Doug Cross is going to do an Albany history uh

[52:59] presentation uh during one of the other breaks between the bands. And we may

[53:04] have some other things coming on. There are balloon houses uh for the younger

[53:09] kids from four to six. Um and uh we just invite everybody to come down and have a

[53:14] good day and hopefully the all of these pictures will be on display. Uh we take

[53:19] those down and put them around the pickle ball courts. But for a lot of

[53:22] people who never come to our town council meetings, [clears throat] the

[53:25] pictures go clear back to u I think like 1932.

[53:29] » Oh, 20s >> in the twi right around that date. And

[53:33] we just uh uncovered two new classes like the class and I can't tell you the

[53:39] exact year. Joyce has taken the pictures over to um Hobby Lobby uh to be framed.

[53:46] Um my wife and I were going through an old shed that belonged to her

[53:50] grandfather that uh we had demolished and before we demolished it, we went

[53:54] through and found a tote and we found this tote buried under some things that

[53:58] had two of the class pictures in it. So that added So it's always good to check

[54:03] those things. Joyce was taking them and and getting them fixed up, but they were

[54:08] the classes of like 32 and >> a couple were in the 20s.

[54:12] » Yeah. So they were pretty old. Um but um just by luck we we got them. So um and

[54:19] then u but those will be down there for people to come and look at. And uh we

[54:24] are open uh we need some volunteers to help with the balloon houses from 4 to

[54:29] 6. Uh we're open if you have ideas on how we might grow our festival. Uh this

[54:34] will just be our second year and last year was pretty much a wash out. So I

[54:39] feel like we're starting over again for the first year. Uh we may have uh we do

[54:43] have a um uh potential and I haven't talked to Chief Fritz. He's the one he

[54:47] and his wife are chairing the committee. Uh we do have a uh refurbished wagon

[54:53] that we have been working on to get wagon runs around and hit historical

[54:59] spots here in town. So and then a brief presentation at those spots. So uh it's

[55:05] it's in the beginning stages. It's a work in progress and uh if you would

[55:09] like to be involved in that let us know. So nothing else I would entertain a

[55:13] motion for adjournment. I'll make a motion to adjurnn. I'll

[55:16] » second. Have a motion by Randy, seconded by John to adjurnn. All in favor? I.

[55:21] » We are journed.

08.24.26 Council Meeting

Transcript