[0:00] for which it stands, one nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:05] justice for all.
[0:09] » Okay. First on the agenda is Ann. I
don't think she's here right now.
[0:13] » I'm not here yet.
>> So, we'll move on.
[0:17] Um, administrative matters.
I entertain a motion to approve June
[0:23] 9th, 2025 regular meeting.
>> I'll make that motion.
[0:30] Do I have a second?
>> Second.
[0:33] » Motion made by Jim and seconded by
Larry. Is there any further discussion?
[0:38] » All in favor signify by saying I. I.
>> Oppos. Same sign.
[0:44] Now approve claims
doc apparel
[0:49] number 12
13 voucher register batch July council
[0:56] meeting. We'll just entertain a motion
to approve all them together unless you
[1:00] want to do it separate.
Motion
[1:03] » have a motion made by Larry.
Do we have a second?
[1:08] » Seconded by Danielle.
Any discussion?
[1:13] All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I.
[1:17] » Um, superintendent reports. Jeremy,
>> uh, brush pickup's never ending, so
[1:24] that's always on there. Uh we did level
dirt and get the the sand ready for
[1:29] concrete at the colar cemetery. Um we
fire hidings. We did flush fire hiding
[1:35] this past month. Um with that we had a a
snafu up on Puddleston Road down there
[1:41] when we shot one of them. It slam shot
and end up with a leak. So we fixed that
[1:45] that night. Um mo weed eat the trail
changed a couple meters. Um bronze was
[1:51] ready for that while their um service
line to be charged up and get bacteria
[1:55] test off of it and they all they passed
so it's in service um locates as needed.
[2:00] We did pass some potholes, clean up what
fireworks at school we could get to. Um
[2:07] I don't know if you noticed but the tow
the tower is out of service went out of
[2:10] service last Monday. Um so we put on
some pressure relief valves to help with
[2:14] that and uh they came in today. Looks
like they're getting ready to start
[2:17] pressure washing. They got a bunch of
welding done last week and the week
[2:20] before that. So that's moving forward.
>> Anybody have any questions for Jeremy?
[2:26] I have one.
>> Yes.
[2:28] » If you go across the OE bridge and
headed to the park, the fire still got
[2:33] the hose laying out.
>> It's going to that's one of the pressure
[2:35] relief valves.
>> Okay.
[2:38] Um
can we go through three of our
[2:41] superintendents then you be up?
>> Oh yeah, absolutely.
[2:44] » Doug, everybody read his report.
[2:50] Jake.
>> Oh, sorry.
[2:53] » Um,
yeah, just saying
[2:58] try to get the back truck out some.
Working on labs. Um,
[3:04] had a couple issues in the plant. We
were able to get remedy to get fixed,
[3:08] get everything back operational
properly. Um,
[3:13] been checking those stations at park
full power the past. Obviously the same
[3:17] thing for the 4 shows. Um
everything seems to be
[3:23] smoothish.
>> Evate questions for Jake.
[3:30] Uh the month of June, the police
department fielded 264 call screens and
[3:34] drew 10 investigative cases,
investigated nine accidents, conducted
[3:38] 48 traffic stops, four arrests were
made, one driving offense, two driving
[3:43] offenses, and one operating while
intoxicated.
[3:47] Uh the guys conducted 27 business
checks. We did some funeral escorts.
[3:51] Handled some animal complaints.
I started
[3:56] the lexipole process of policies and
procedures going through and reviewing
[4:01] and editing. It's going to be close to
200 policies for the police department.
[4:05] And as the warmer weather came through,
uh myself and a couple of the other guys
[4:10] started using the bike for bike patrol.
[4:16] » Anybody have any questions for Branson?
>> I got I got a question, sir. Um, are all
[4:22] the police cars decaled?
>> I'm sorry, I didn't hear.
[4:27] » The car police cars, are they all
decaled?
[4:30] » No.
>> No. Why is that?
[4:32] » Uh, my car is not decaled. Um, but all
the cars that are on patrol are decal.
[4:36] Yes.
>> There a reason why you're not decal?
[4:42] » Um, I'm not really feeling many calls
for service. And as an administrative
[4:45] car, generally they're not they're not
fully marked cars.
[4:52] Um, I had something. I've had
compliments on the department doing
[4:58] good,
but I have one complaint, more than one,
[5:03] about the golf carts.
The guys shouldn't be afraid to stop
[5:08] them.
>> Well, my guys, I'll tell you, my guys
[5:11] are not afraid to stop them. They've
just got to see it.
[5:14] » Well, they're driving around town all
the time. But it says right in our Glock
[5:18] ordinance, you have to have a driver's
license.
[5:20] » Correct.
>> Well, in the last two weeks, I know six
[5:25] or eight times I've been riding around
town with my sister as a school teacher,
[5:29] and she said, "Well, that's one of my
seventh graders driving that one." Well,
[5:32] that's one of my eighth graders driving
that one every day.
[5:36] » Well, if that happens, I would encourage
these people obviously to reach out to
[5:39] the police department and let us know if
they knew who it is. Uh because we'll be
[5:42] more than happy to address it. And
obviously if my guys see it, they're
[5:45] going to address it.
>> Yeah, but your guys don't know the
[5:47] people. But you know, when it's a young
kid,
[5:50] I mean, is it going to hurt anything to
stop them and say, "Hey, can I see your
[5:55] driver license?"
>> No. But again, I assure you if they see
[5:57] it, they will
>> because like and I know they overlook
[6:02] things sometimes,
the sheriff's department and the town
[6:06] police. Like when we had our county fair
parade,
[6:10] everybody's in the parade going and
here's a young girl. She could have been
[6:14] over
9 or 10 years old, maybe driving a golf
[6:18] cart, following a bunch of people that
was walking.
[6:22] One something would happen. She didn't
have a driver's license. I know it was
[6:26] in the parade. They kind of got
overlooked things, but personally, I
[6:29] didn't think that was very smart on the
parents part. I would agree. And you
[6:34] know, the parents,
they should know when they get their
[6:37] sticker for the golf cart. But what all
it requires, you got to have a license.
[6:43] So, I'm just saying. Could we start
checking on them,
[6:46] » sir? Thank you,
Amber.
[6:51] » Hello.
>> You're up.
[6:53] » Okay. Hi everyone. Good to see you
again. It's been a while. Um, you should
[6:58] have a memo in front of you.
Um, so we, well, I think it was Eric
[7:06] because I had another meeting that
night. Um, Eric was here
[7:10] maybe in March or April with the annual
utility reports. um at that point in
[7:16] time um you know if you read through the
memo which the memo kind of summarizes
[7:22] those reports and um just gives you a a
refresher of what those kind of told us
[7:28] and what Eric presented. Um but if you
recall for sewer um in one of our
[7:34] recommendations for the uh the sewer
utility in that report was um a rate
[7:39] increase. Um so we the memo kind of
breaks down both water and sewer. Um
[7:46] water if you you can kind of skim
through you know all the the top bullet
[7:50] points which are straight from the
utility reports we presented. But if you
[7:54] jump to the recommendation you know
water with you know how it's been
[7:58] financially performing the past few
years. It's um come in over budget on
[8:03] receipts and underbudget on operating
expenses. Both really well. And then
[8:07] didn't have any, you know, capital
improvements plan that we would so
[8:11] unless anything has changed. So
interrupt me please if so. Um it didn't
[8:15] have any capital improvements plan that
would really uh you know have us say you
[8:19] should probably consider rates there. Um
so water's all good. We're not
[8:23] recommending a rate increase at this
time. however sewer um mainly due to the
[8:27] capital improvements it has planned over
the next five years. Um and again if
[8:31] anything's changed let me know. Um we we
did uh recommend a 12% rate increase or
[8:38] sorry 21% got my numbers flipped 21%
rate increase for sewer at that time and
[8:44] we did recommend if you do move forward
with that increase um phasing it in two
[8:48] phases. So phase one effected January 1,
2026 and phase two effected January 1,
[8:55] 2027. So both a year apart. Um so that's
in the sewer and the sewer half the
[9:00] recommendation. And that 21% increase
would raise the monthly wastewater bill
[9:06] for a 4,000galon residential user by
about 12 bucks. And that would be you
[9:11] know the that would be after the second
phase. So January 1, 2027.
[9:16] Um, again, that rate increase really
just um is driven by capital
[9:22] improvements. So, in in order for sewer
to be able to complete those
[9:25] improvements that um you know, Brad has
on the outlook, uh we would recommend
[9:30] that rate increase. So, I'm here tonight
just to refresh you. Um you know, reopen
[9:36] the topic, talk about any questions or
concerns you have, and then if you all
[9:41] want to move forward, um again, you can
make it effective. sooner than January
[9:47] 1, 2026, but in our reports, that's kind
of what we would recommend. So, you
[9:51] don't necessarily have to. So, we have a
little bit of time. Um, but if you want
[9:55] to move forward with that, we can
discuss that, what that looks like,
[9:58] discuss the timeline with Justin, and
um, get that ball rolling. So, any
[10:03] thoughts, questions, concerns?
>> I think we already got the camera van. I
[10:09] think
>> I'm sorry.
[10:11] » The camera van didn't purchase that. Is
that not the camera van or
[10:17] » it's a camera van?
>> It's the van, not the camera.
[10:19] » Not the camera.
>> The van is considerably less.
[10:24] » Okay.
>> And that was in 25
[10:27] » already. Yeah. So those hardships are
already happening and we know um under
[10:32] the outlook bullet um there was just
some big items in 25 and 26 that um this
[10:39] rate increase would help not only afford
that but then recoup afterwards um and
[10:43] afford future capital improvement.
>> So we need a new camera. Is that what
[10:47] you're saying?
>> Yeah.
[10:48] » Okay.
>> June 2002.
[10:54] » Okay. that we always got.
>> They don't have parts to repair it
[10:58] anymore.
>> Unless you find somebody
[11:01] » camera van and
>> Oh, I'm sorry.
[11:04] » Purchased.
>> We probably titled it.
[11:05] » Yeah.
>> No, that's fine. Report.
[11:08] » When we were initially looking at it and
putting it in there, we thought of it as
[11:12] a one single unit as a camera van.
>> Not as a combination, but maybe we could
[11:17] piece the two together, but that's why
it's linked together. Now, how often,
[11:21] Jake, do you go out and camera for other
entities other than the town? Do you do
[11:26] that very often?
>> Other entities outside of the town?
[11:30] » Yeah. I mean, for for somebody other
than for the towel,
[11:33] » not a ton. Um, currently, we really
don't have
[11:37] capabilities like for individual sewer
lines are much smaller. I don't have the
[11:41] ability to do many of those,
>> but we have it in our rate thing. If we
[11:45] go to camera for somebody, right?
>> Okay.
[11:51] There's there's not many calls for that.
>> I was just curious.
[11:56] » So, the other page you should have with
the memo is, you know, you all do move
[12:02] forward with a suggested rate increase,
what that kind of rate structure would
[12:06] look like. So, um, this page compares
your current rates, which if you look at
[12:12] footnote one, you guys have not changed
sewer rates since 2016.
[12:16] Um so that's about a decade which is
quite a long time. Um we typically
[12:21] recommend you know three to five years.
I mean we review your financials every
[12:26] year of course. Um so that's you know
awesome that you guys have you know
[12:30] gotten this far
with us reviewing everything every year
[12:34] that we would have recommended something
sooner. But 10 years is pretty long
[12:38] time. um you know so to think of the
costs today compared to what your they
[12:43] were in 2016 when your rates you know
were changed or obviously things are
[12:48] very different. Um so then the proposed
rates phase one would be the set of
[12:53] rates effective January 126 and then the
proposed rates phase two would be
[12:58] effective January 127. And of course if
you want to change those phases make
[13:03] them you know less spread apart you
certainly could. That's up to you all.
[13:08] But um that is what we had in our report
and it we thought it was sufficient to
[13:13] to proceed with those phases if you
fish.
[13:17] » Well, I'm thinking maybe we ought to
phase it in a little less percentage
[13:23] more often. You know what I mean? Maybe
every six months boost it a little bit
[13:28] rather than going full 12% at one time.
>> Yeah, you certainly could. I thought you
[13:33] said that 12% but in two phases. 6% 6%.
>> Sorry, it was I mixed my numbers up. It
[13:40] was 21%
over two phases. It was a $12 increase
[13:45] to the sewer bill for a 4,000galon user.
But we could
[13:50] » kind of restructure the phases to
instead of doing, you know, just two
[13:55] phases annually, do like four every six
months or something.
[13:58] » I would like to see that personally just
the 12% increase of one shot.
[14:04] » Yeah,
>> that's my thought.
[14:06] » I don't disagree.
>> I think it's something Let's start
[14:09] before January one
>> do phase like 6% every six months.
[14:16] » No, can we vote on that now? We can't
vote on now. Okay. You have anything
[14:23] else, Amber?
>> Um,
[14:28] » when you're ready to move forward, we
can um provide the rates to Justin
[14:33] within those phases or um provide them
to you with the different phases
[14:38] structure. Is that kind of what you want
from me is just the um this page but
[14:44] phased out into four phases.
>> That's my thought.
[14:47] » Okay.
>> Everybody agreeable with that? Sounds
[14:50] good to me too.
>> Okay. I can send that over and um yeah
[14:55] when and if you're ready to proceed just
let me know and I'll work with Justin
[14:58] and we can get that ball rolling.
[15:03] Okay,
>> Brad.
[15:07] » Okay,
everybody got to see the civarian
[15:13] cemetery McFarland.
So that was set last week.
[15:20] Um, we have ordinance 14 and 2025
and that is amending the fee schedule.
[15:29] Where did we drop that from, Kendra?
>> It was at 1250.
[15:33] » It was at 1250 to 900 for space.
[15:40] » Why did we drop?
>> Uh, based off of other communities and
[15:47] recommendations,
if if you add up, there's 40 spaces now.
[15:54] So, if you add that
[15:57] one each all those spaces will be added.
Um it'll more than cover it. Plus the
[16:03] other ones the concrete's already done.
So that cost for those will be
[16:09] less yet.
>> So that will cover the cost of the
[16:12] calarium though.
>> Oh yeah.
[16:14] » With probably what 15 20%.
[16:20] And
the other part of this would be the um
[16:27] maintenance would go from down to 250
>> just
[16:33] » instead of in for those spaces instead
of the 500
[16:36] » that's on the color bearing.
>> Yes. On those spaces the maintenance fee
[16:40] would be less.
I would entertain a motion
[16:46] for ordinance number 14 of 2025.
>> Have a motion made by Alva. Do I have a
[16:53] second?
>> Second.
[16:54] » Seconded by Jim. Is there any more
discussion on it?
[17:01] All those in favor signify by saying I.
>> I.
[17:04] » Oppos. Same sign.
>> Ordinance number 15 on the generator.
[17:10] » Okay. what that is for. They would like
half of that up
[17:16] when they order it. So with way we're
not able to do that with passing this
[17:22] ordinance. If somebody has a larger
ticket item, we can go ahead and pay for
[17:27] half of it.
>> But that would be on anything, not just
[17:30] on a generator.
>> Yes. Yes.
[17:32] » Okay. And which I don't think that's a
bad idea anyhow personally.
[17:37] » No, it's not in today's. So I'd
entertain a motion for order number 15
[17:42] of 2025.
So
[17:45] » moved. Have
>> a motion made by Larry. Do I have a
[17:48] second?
>> Second.
[17:50] » Seconded by Jim. Is there any more
discussion on that?
[17:54] All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I.
[17:57] » Oppos. Same sign.
[18:01] » The fire territory. I don't you know
we're not moving forward with that.
[18:07] Um,
what do you guys want to do with that?
[18:13] » You're having a hard time getting people
together, aren't you?
[18:17] » I had some um
McKenzie
[18:23] and Mick from Franklin Township. They
were able to be on with
[18:27] Bigger Tilly when we had a team meeting.
[18:34] It's not sounding favorable, though.
[18:39] Oh, they expect us to pay for a new fire
truck.
[18:43] » Well, and this from Baker Tilly is the
study of what the townships.
[18:53] It shows
the fire contracts
[18:57] currently on page two.
[19:01] the and it also shows the townships that
have to pay fire contracts to other
[19:07] entities.
That's on the second column.
[19:12] The third column is the total payments
that each township makes
[19:20] and the
estimated re revenues that each township
[19:26] is going to get.
So it shows that
[19:31] half of the townships that we work with
are already spending more than what they
[19:35] bring in in revenue for fire protection.
[19:42] So, a rate if we increase fire contracts
[19:48] and they can either pay them or not pay
them, but
[19:52] they're going to be over budget
[19:57] on their ends.
>> So, could the townships start a fire
[20:02] accum?
>> That would be on them. And the
[20:06] cumulative fire funds from my
understanding are for
[20:11] equipment only. Am I correct?
>> So
[20:18] we sure don't want to deny fire
protection.
[20:22] But if we raise our rates and they and
they can't pay it. So then what happens?
[20:28] » That's the predicament we're in.
>> They need to restructure their budget
[20:31] then, don't they?
>> Well, they get certain money for
[20:36] That's all I get in fire protection. I
get it from property taxes and that's
[20:42] all I have to pay off.
>> And starting in 2027,
[20:45] everything's changed
as far as
[20:50] revenue level.
[20:57] Well, so I guess we need to decide if we
want to We've been dragging our feet on
[21:03] this for two years,
>> probably.
[21:09] » We either need to do something or dump
the pot.
[21:12] » Yep.
>> What's the council's concerns?
[21:18] » My concern is if we go to the fire
territory, we're going to increase
[21:22] taxes. We're talking about an increased
rate the sewer
[21:30] be an increased tax rate if I'm correct
on
[21:37] my township would be willing to sit down
with all of you if we can have a work
[21:41] session so the cube fund is an option
for us um that being said I know we
[21:47] would not want to take it out at its
highest highest rate which is 0333
[21:52] but maybe if we could work something out
amongst ourselves that we, you know,
[21:57] which obviously my board has to agree if
we could do half that rate, we could
[22:01] generate a little bit of money.
Um, the problem is, you know, Senate
[22:05] Bill Whim has kind of messed all of our
funds up. I mean, it's we're going to
[22:09] lower property taxes, but then, you
know, you guys are going to have to put
[22:12] a lid on for income taxes.
>> It's not up to us. what's up to the
[22:16] county, but then you know the township
sure heck doesn't want to put on a
[22:21] cumulative fund on property taxes when
they just got lower for everybody.
[22:27] » So
>> it's a mess.
[22:29] » Yeah.
>> A rock in a hard spot.
[22:33] » Well, it doesn't appear that the fire
territory is going to fly. So might as
[22:37] well just forget.
Is
[22:39] » everybody agreeing to
trash the fire territory thoughts?
[22:46] Jim.
>> Yeah,
[22:47] » Larry.
>> I can't vote on that. I can't say.
[22:50] » Oh, yeah.
>> Yeah,
[22:52] » I agree.
>> Not not going to happen.
[22:56] » So, I guess our territory things out the
door.
[23:00] » But I do like the idea of what Ken said,
meeting with their board and seeing what
[23:06] we can work with.
Maybe we can do that with Franklin
[23:10] Township, Harrison Township, and all the
other ones we work with
[23:16] or cover
>> if you ever can get them all together.
[23:25] » Brad, downtown sidewalks.
>> Downtown sidewalks. Um,
[23:30] this Wednesday we've got a meeting, the
original engineer that drew the plans
[23:38] and the engineer group that was the
inspection group. We're all going to
[23:42] meet out there and we're going to figure
the two areas that are not ADA compliant
[23:48] whose issue it is to fix.
It's got to be on one of them. So, um
[23:55] 10:00 we're going to get that
accomplished. Hopefully, the contractor
[23:59] was supposed to be back to start fixing
things. They haven't. So, we should have
[24:05] an answer for that Wednesday, too.
So, no more Wednesday.
[24:13] Sent a bunch of mowing nuisance letters
out whether it's yards or grass tall.
[24:21] So, we should be going.
>> What about junk pile?
[24:25] » That's a nuisance part. Yeah.
Um,
[24:31] Solar Park is online,
so it's putting power back on. But they
[24:37] you guys went out and last
>> Was it just last day?
[24:42] » Yeah. So, it's putting power back on the
grid, I guess. I haven't heard from
[24:47] anybody on how much or what, but if you
watch, they obviously are following the
[24:52] sun now. It's kind of neat.
[24:56] Um,
[25:00] You know, I see there's a little scuttle
about the cemetery, the mowing.
[25:06] Um,
go out and look at it. The buckorn's
[25:11] really tall. It grows really fast.
>> That comes with dry weather.
[25:16] » Um,
they're coming tomorrow to mow it.
[25:22] Uh, there's spots that don't need
anything. There's spots that
[25:28] It will be here. Sorry.
[Music]
[25:34] » If you got any questions about that, I
guess
[25:43] that's all I have.
>> Kendra,
[25:48] I've got ordinance 13 of 2025,
which um just lays out how the seed
[25:55] money
is intended to be spent in 2026 and
[26:00] through 2027 and then we don't have to
worry about it again.
[26:08] It hasn't changed from except for the
numbers hasn't changed from the last one
[26:15] we had it earmarked for the same thing.
>> Well, this ordinance is already in
[26:20] effect so we didn't need to really do
anything on it.
[26:23] this one
>> or number 13's already in effect.
[26:27] » We have to redo it every two years.
>> Is this the third year for it?
[26:32] » Yes. It's every other year we have to do
it.
[26:37] » That's every two years.
>> Every two years.
[26:40] » Yes. This is this is to pass it for 2026
and 2027.
[26:46] » Okay.
>> Did I say two?
[26:48] » You said three years. So, I'd entertain
a motion to approve ordinance number 13
[26:54] of 2025.
>> I'll make that motion.
[26:58] » Motion made by Larry. Do we have a
second?
[27:02] » Second.
>> Seconded by Danielle. Is there any more
[27:05] discussion on it?
[27:09] All in favor signify by saying I.
>> I. Same sign.
[27:15] » Okay. The last one that you have is
um
[27:20] voice club. Um, we use Q7 software for
all of the financials in the town office
[27:29] and they are offering a cloud version.
[27:35] This is just uh numbers
on implementation.
[27:43] If we decide to go forward with it
relatively soon, it takes off the
[27:49] underneath professional services on the
second page.
[27:55] We will take off that migration fee.
[28:03] what
>> the migration fee to move all of our
[28:05] data that we have.
[28:12] » Um I'm not asking to do it tonight. I
wanted to give you guys some information
[28:18] and then if you guys have questions,
concerns,
[28:22] » what will this do to benefit you guys at
the office?
[28:27] Um, they have their own system where
we'll be able to take credit cards
[28:35] through the office,
>> not have to charge a 3% fee.
[28:38] » Not have to charge a 3% fee. Um,
it's all in real time. So,
[28:43] » yeah, it's all in real time.
>> Right now, when the girls cash post
[28:46] payments up front, you can't even see
them until you update that evening.
[28:51] Well, it'll all be in real time. So some
we have a lot of people who make a
[28:54] partial payment and come back two hours
later make the other payment. You can't
[28:57] see their first payment. This is it'll
all be real time. It'll update
[29:01] automatically.
I think it's supposed to be also give
[29:05] our customers um ways to get on there.
They can see their usage, their bills,
[29:12] everything. All we wouldn't have a
separate module like invoice cloud like
[29:15] we have now. It's all done through key.
All building would be done through and
[29:19] people could come in and pay for a golf
cart permit and their utility bill.
[29:25] » Well, this is a
>> and it won't be separate transactions
[29:28] like they are now.
>> This is a pretty big expense that we got
[29:30] to try to absorb.
>> It is.
[29:35] » How we going to do that?
You're looking at $65,000.
[29:42] What do you get back from the
box?
[29:46] » What do you get back?
>> So, you got third of it back there.
[29:50] » Well, and we pay every year now for
updates for Keystone.
[29:54] » Yeah.
>> How all the members?
[29:59] Um, we pay $15,000 a year annually for
updates for all the software. We pay
[30:06] $800 for Carbonite for backups. Um,
server replacement, which we're going to
[30:12] need here soon, is going to be another
$3,000.
[30:15] And those are all expenses that we
wouldn't have
[30:20] through the voice cloud because it's not
going to need updated because it's all
[30:23] in real time.
And we won't need the backups for the
[30:28] server that we do because we won't have
all our software on the server.
[30:34] » I guess my question is
where do we have funds to do this with?
[30:40] We're uh
>> it'd be shared office 80% electric.
[30:45] » It's shared.
[30:51] » Well, that's something we need to think
about pretty good.
[30:56] » And that's all I have.
>> I have any old business?
[31:02] Have any new business?
[31:08] Do I have a motion to adjurnn?
Jim made a motion to adjurnn.
[31:16] » Thank you everybody.
Branson, do you want this
[31:21] top of the golf course?