Cloverdale Town Council – Special Meeting Minutes – Thursday, May 20, 2021
The Cloverdale Town Council met in Special Session at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2021 in the Town Hall; 154 S. Main Street; Cloverdale, IN 46120.
CALL TO ORDER: President Rick Dearwester called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
PLEDGE TO THE FLAG: The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
ROLL CALL: Present on Roll Call were Councilmembers Greg Jay, Gary Bennington and Rick Dearwester. Also present were Town Attorney Richard Shagley, Town Marshal Steve Hibler, Town Manager Jason Hartman and Clerk Treasurer Kelly Maners.
ADDITION OR DELETION TO AGENDA: Councilmember Bennington made a motion to approve the agenda as is. It was seconded by Councilmember Jay. The motion carried by unanimous vote.
NEW BUSINESS:
- PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING REPORT: Four Engineering Firms presented proposals to Council to prepare a Preliminary Engineering Report for the Town. The Engineering Firms present were Commonwealth Engineering, Beam-Longest-Neff (BLN), Curry and Associates Engineering and HWC Engineering. At the conclusion of the presentations, discussion ensued among the Councilmembers.
OLD BUSINESS:
- INSURANCE POLICIES: Andrew O’Hair and Noah Adams from Epic recommended we stay with the current Medova health insurance policy for Town Employees. Benefits vs cost was the main reason. They also wanted the Town to be aware that Medova is currently being investigated by the Department of Labor for misuse of funds. Epic is keeping an eye on the situation, but as of right now this should not affect coverage. In the meantime, they are actively looking for other options, should the need arise. They did recommend we go with Guardian for all the other insurance needs of the Town to get better coverage for the price and ease of use in dealing with one company for all the coverage. Councilmember Jay made a motion to “accept the current plan.” It was seconded by Councilmember Bennington. The motion carried by unanimous vote. A second motion was made by Councilmember Jay to “approve the Guardian proposal.” It was seconded by Councilmember Bennington. The motion carried by unanimous vote.
- NEW POLICE VEHICLE: Marshal Hibler asked Council to purchase a 2018 Chevy Tahoe, suitable for K-9 use. The vehicle is previously owned and has 56,000 miles on it. The cost is $36,795. The police Dept. would trade in the current K-9 vehicle which has a value of $11,500. Bringing the total cost to $25,295 plus some cost for transfer of equipment from the current K-9 unit to the new one. He proposed we purchase this on a 2-year lease which would be paid off next year, using funds from the Public Safety Fund not used in previous years. Clerk Treasurer Maners presented the Council with the financial standing of the Police Dept., which is currently over budget, and the projected financial status if this vehicle were to be purchased as proposed. There were two variables in the numbers: how much money the Police would have each year to spend from the Public Safety Fund and how much Comp time would be paid out. She recommended to Council, at current spending levels, the Police Dept was not in a financial position to purchase a new vehicle. Discussion ensued. Marshal Hibler stated if we purchased this vehicle, we would not need to purchase another new car until 2023. Councilmember Jay stated that Marshal Hibler would need to control comp time to justify buying the vehicle. President Dearwester added, “and no vehicle until 2023.” Councilmember Jay made a motion that “we go ahead and do the purchase, with Steve managing his budget and maintaining 0 comp time.” It was seconded by Councilmember Bennington. The motion carried by unanimous vote.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned by Council President Dearwester at 9:15 p.m.
REOPENING: The meeting was immediately reopened, and more discussion ensued about who Council would like to hire to do the Preliminary Engineering Report. Town Manager Hartman was directed to have each firm submit a sealed quote to be examined at the next Council meeting in June.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned by Council President Dearwester at 9:35 p.m.