Meeting Minutes- March 5, 2025

by Madalyn Sade-Bartl on March 17, 2025 in Meetings, Minutes, Town Council Updates

Meeting Minutes – March 5, 2025

The Churubusco Town Council held a meeting at 6:00 p.m. on March 5, 2025, at the Town Hall, 215 Home Avenue, Churubusco, Indiana. The meeting was called to order by the President with roll being called by the Clerk-Treasurer. The Council members were present or absent as follows:
Present: Nathan Van Horn, Devin Keener, Mark Pepple
Absent:

Mr. Andrew Boxberger, counsel to the Council, and Madalyn Sade-Bartl, Clerk-Treasurer, were also present.
Easement Encroachment Hearing for 938 Caroline Court: Mr. Van Horn opened the easement encroachment hearing for 938 Caroline Court. Mr. Keener made a motion to approve the easement encroachment for 938 Caroline Court, which is seconded by Mr. Pepple and approved unanimously.
Approval of Meeting Minutes February 5 & 19: Mr. Keener made a motion to approve meeting minutes from February 5 and 19. Mr. Van Horn seconded. February 5 minutes were approved 2-0 with Mr. Van Horn abstaining. February 19 minutes were approved 2-0 with Mr. Pepple abstaining.
Approval of Claims: Claims and payroll vouchers in the amount of $219,804.93 were approved and signed.
Public Comments: There were no public comments.
Old Business: There was no old business.
New Business:
1. Sewer Project and Fine Screen Discussion: Holly Miller, DLZ Engineering, discussed the sewer project, including the need for a fine screen at the wastewater treatment plant. She stated the cost of the fine screen and its installation is approximately $173,000, with additional charges from Crosby’s electrical subcontractor. This will require an addendum to the preliminary engineering report to notify the public about the SRF loan. Ms. Miller stated the existing loan contingency funds should cover the project, and new brushes for the screen have already been delivered.
2. Approval of Project C and D Pay Apps: Ms. Bartl presented and reviewed a pay app for Projects C and D. The total work for the period was $155,577.12, with the application amount being $144,948.27, and the project is 95% complete. Mr. Keener made a motion to approve the pay app, which was seconded by Mr. Van Horn and approved unanimously.
3. Approval of Change Orders for Project B: Ms. Bartl discussed the change order for Project B, which included pump station upgrades. She stated the project was over the contract amount by $16,131.88 over the original contract amount due to changes made to the project primarily due to utility relocation costs and additional fencing. However, she stated Projects C & D’s costs would be under budget, so it would basically be a wash between the two projects. Mr. Pepple made a motion to approve the change order, which was seconded by Mr. Keener and approved unanimously.
4. Blue River Easement Agreement: Ms. Bartl introduced an easement agreement between Blue River Apartments and the Town. She explained about five feet of the new generator was installed onto Blue River’s property and instead of moving the generator, the Town instead sought an easement as relocation would require utilities to be moved. Mr. Van Horn made a motion to approve the easement agreement. Mr. Keener seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. Ms. Bartl also stated she and Adam from API were meeting with NIPSCO the following day to discuss NIPSCO’s insistence that another easement was needed. She hoped that having NIPSCO see the property and the installed generator, they could come up with a solution that would not involve a larger easement.
5. Legal Fees Reimbursement Agreement: Town Attorney, Andy Boxberger, explained the need for a legal fees reimbursement agreement for the Turtle Meadows project. The agreement confirmed that the town will not be responsible for paying any legal fees, as they are covered by Kevan Biggs. Mr. Keener made a motion to approve the reimbursement agreement, which was seconded by Mr. Pepple and approved unanimously.
6. Introduction of Ordinance 2025-04: Ms. Bartl presented Ordinance 2025-04: Right-of-Way permitting process. She stated it was something that had been discussed in late-2023 but nothing was done at that time. Mr. Pepple made a motion to introduce the ordinance, which was seconded by Mr. Keener and approved unanimously. Mr. Boxberger confirmed the next steps, including setting up a public hearing for the ordinance.
7. Frontier Fiber Project Presentation: Ms. Bartl introduced Michael, the Vice President of External Affairs, and Todd Payne, the Senior Manager of Construction for Frontier. The Frontier fiber project will aim to replace the aging copper network with a state-of-the-art fiber optic network and will cover 1300 customer locations. They presented the attached presentation and answered questions asked by the Council.
Department Reports
• Water/Street Superintendent, Jeremy Hart, emailed the attached report.
• Ms. Bartl stated the sewer project was moving along and seemed to be on schedule so no further extensions would be needed.
• Ms. Bartl reported that the new officer started with the police department the previous week, but the PD was still short staffed due to an officer being on medical leave.
• Park Director, Rick Krider, stated numerous upgrades had been made and were being made to various buildings. Ms. Bartl stated new floors would be installed in the Scout Building restrooms and kitchen the following week.
Council Reports: The Council had nothing to report.
Chief of Staff/Clerk-Treasurer Report: Ms. Bartl confirmed the completion of the Turtle Meadows bond document. She also stated she and Natalie had a training session for the new Town app that will soon roll out to the public. She stated that once the app was live, she would focus on updating/redesigning the Town website.
There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was thereupon adjourned.