Ferdinand Town Council: Ordinance added at election night meeting

Election night also happened to be Ferdinand Town Council’s meeting night.

And, while much of the country watched the returns, the council went on an ordinance binge.

Neither remonstrators nor students were present, which kept things moving at a rapid pace, even though the agenda was lengthy and various other items had to be tended to as well.

For instance Dennis Voegerl and his wife were present with a request. The developer/builder provided two lots as surety for the street in Kimberly Court as he was waiting for completion of all the homes before building the road. Someone is interested in purchasing one of the lots, so he wanted to switch the surety to a cash performance bond.

Attorney Sharon Bohnenkemper, who was not present, is awaiting a third quote for what it would cost to pave the street to determine the bond amount.

The council held a lengthy discussion with the Voegerls and attorney Bill Shaneyfelt suggested completing the street and getting it into Ferdinand’s inventory. Voegerl said he had been waiting as heavy construction trucks would damage the road.

Nothing was set in stone but by the end of the discussion it appeared Voegerl might go ahead with the road next spring.

Also at the meeting, the Knu Design Center LLC Tax Abatement hearing went lickety split, as no one was present except Knu representative Steve Wahl. Resolution TA 16-2C was approved with little fanfare. The Resolution designates an economic revitalization area on land adjacent to Fire Station No. 2 along the Industrial Bypass where the Center will be built.

On the phosphorous project, council members learned Rural Development, the agency tapped for funding, wants assurance the town will cover the 5% contingency needed in the event of overages. Council members agreed to borrow $89,000 from the town’s electric utility to cover the $88,893.90 needed. They also learned RD engineers had approved the bids sans the contingency. As another step in the project, Council President Ken Sicard and Town Manager Chris James were given authorization to sign off on a required Bond Bank application.

Three potential annexations are in process, according to Shaneyfelt. One is the Randy Begle property where he built a new house for himself, the other involves the Knu property and the third is a parcel owned by Möbel near the Knu property. The council authorized Sicard and Clerk-Treasurer Bev Schulthise to sign off on an annexation petition to move the process along.

One item can be removed from future agendas. Sicard announced that Brian Schipp his been appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals to complete Delores Boeglin’s term. She could not serve on two boards and chose to remain on the Park Board. Her term was set to end in December so the council also approved his four year appointment starting in January and ending December 31, 2020.

Councilwoman Debbie Johnson heads up the insurance committee and reported the town will switch to IPEP as the provider for 2017. The new plan will be similar to the existing plan, although the cost share for town employees will increase slightly. The IPEP plan is 12% higher but still less than the cost would have been to stay with the current provider. The council knew there would be an increase and had budgeted for 29%.

Residents can expect an increase in their wastewater bills starting with the statement arriving in late December. The town has held rates for eight years, but with the phosphorous abatement project and other costs, a rate increase was necessary. John Siever and Jessica Eckerle from HJ Unbaugh, the firm hired to complete a rate study, were present to answer questions about the increase. Based on the request of council members, Umbaugh held the increase at 31% which translates to roughly about $16 per month based on usage of 4,000 gallons of water per month. The company originally advocated for a larger increase.

Ordinance 2016-22 was adopted to established an Internal Controls policy and training was set for all town employees (as required by law) for November 15 at 9 a.m. They must fill out paperwork to be scanned and sent to Indianapolis following the training. The police department already went through the training and fire department members will hold its own session during their regular monthly meeting.

Council members also amended Ferdinand Zoning Ordinance 2016-23 as prepared by the Plan Commission, dealing with subdivisions, earthen ponds and lakes, frontage requirements and family farm exceptions.

An Additional Appropriations Ordinance (2016- 24) was adopted to move $196,817 from the Rainy Day Fund and $165,403.02 from the LOIT Fund into a special Community Crossings Grant Fund. Grant monies will be added to this for a total of $724,439.27 to cover the costs for all the street paving and road improvement projects delineated in the Community Crossings grant award.

The Council also:

• Learned they were invited to a special Town Hall program by third grade teacher Kathy James and her class at Ferdinand Elementary on November 22 at 1 p.m. The class created a book, The ABCs of Ferdinand, dedicated to the Sisters of St. Benedict.
• Heard updates from all department heads and approved attendance at special events and, in the case of the wastewater department, a trip to an Indiana Rural Water Association training session in Columbus December 5 and 6.
• Will meet again on December 13 at 7:30 p.m., following the Economic Development Commission meeting at 6 p.m.