Meeting Minutes – March 23, 2021
The Churubusco Town Council met on March 23, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. in the Scout Building for a special meeting. The purpose of the meeting was for a hearing and adoption of Ordinance 2021-04. Members present were Council Members Mark Pepple, Devin Keener, and Nathan Van Horn; Town Attorney, Ron Felger; and Clerk-Treasurer, Madalyn Sade-Bartl. Also in attendance were Holly Miller, DLZ Engineering; Eric Walsh, Baker Tilly; Jim Kincaid; Amanda Van Horn; Rachael Rosfeld, KPC Media (via Zoom); Chelsie David, The Post & Mail (via Zoom); Robert Gray, Wastewater Plant Superintendent.
Council President, Nathan Van Horn, called the meeting to order and led the pledge. Roll was called by the Clerk. All members were present.
Prior to opening the public hearing, special presentations were made by both Ms. Miller and Mr. Walsh to illustrate the need for a rate increase. Ms. Miller presented first and stated the last major upgrade to the sewer plant occurred in 2006 and like all things, as the facility has aged, maintenance costs have increased. The town’s needs have also increased since the last update, so capacity needed to be increased for any future growth to occur. Other issues to be addressed were lift station upgrades and fixing infiltration.
Mr. Walsh presented and reviewed the attached handout. He reiterated that no tax dollars are used to fund utilities. Utilities were a business entity, and all costs associated with utility maintenance and operations were funded solely through user fees. Once Mr. Walsh was finished, President Van Horn opened the public hearing.
Public Hearing- Ordinance 2021-04: AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE SEWER AND STORMWATER RATES AND CHARGES FOR THE USE OF THE SERVICES RENDERED BY THE TOWN OF CHURUBUSCO: Jim Kincaid was present. He stated he had recently bought the car wash outside of town limits and the proposed increase was going to substantially impact his cost of doing business. He asked why rates were not being increased in steps. He also stated that once the bond was paid in twenty years, he doubted rates would go back down. Ms. Miller stated he was probably correct as the proposed project was not a “Cadillac” solution, but a “just get by” solution, but hoped this solution would allow for the town to grow and serve as solution for the next 15-20 years. Mr. Walsh answered Mr. Kincaid’s question concerning stepping in rates. He stated that was not a possibility due to the final rate needing to be adopted prior to bond issuance. President Van Horn was remorseful in Mr. Kincaid’s plight, but unfortunately past Councils had not increased rates to where they should be, and the lack of adequate funding had caused even regular maintenance items to not be addressed until absolutely necessary. He also stated that with the proposed developments that would need to be serviced by the sewer plant, we had to increase capacity for those developments to occur. Hearing no other public comments, President Van Horn closed the public hearing.
Old Business:
1. Ordinance 2021-04: AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE SEWER AND STORMWATER RATES AND CHARGES FOR THE USE OF THE SERVICES RENDERED BY THE TOWN OF CHURUBUSCO: Comments about the ordinance were made by the Council and Mr. Pepple stated he reluctantly supported the ordinance and made a motion to accept Ordinance 2021-04 as presented. Mr. Keener seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0.
Having no other business and after all proper papers were signed, President Van Horn adjourned the meeting.
___________________________
Council Member, Devin Keener
___________________________
Council Member, Mark Pepple
____________________________
Council President, Nathan Van Horn
ATTEST:
____________________________
Madalyn Sade-Bartl, Clerk-Treasurer