The Town Council of Winona Lake, Indiana met in a regular session on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 in the Town Hall at 7:00 a.m.
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Joy Lohse, Sue Gooding, Jim Lancaster and Terry Howie
ABSENT: Randy Swanson, Larry Long and Jim Walmer
OTHERS PRESENT: Craig Allebach, Pete O’Connell, Paul Schmitt
Opening - Jim Lancaster opened the meeting with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of minutes – Joy Lohse motioned to accept minutes; motion was seconded by Jim Lancaster. Minutes were approved as written.
August 26 – Day of Caring
September 1 – Grace College Classes Begin
September 11 – Shop Hop
September 19 – Adventure Race
Floor Topics: Dave Wolkins referred to his letter to the editor regarding the 250 East project. He has talked with the State and County and he has received lots of different stories. The bottom line is the project did not work out the way it should have. Somebody made a mistake and he is encouraging the Council to find out who made the mistake, and proceed. He does not think the residents in Winona Lake should have to pay another $60,000 to fix that problem. He took a look at the contract and there is no question that it is not the contractor, the construction was done properly. The plans did not work and he doesn’t know the information they had. The soil scientist is probably where the fault would lie. He wouldn’t go into all the things that were said, other than the fact that the engineering firm’s plans were not correct. Several people had offered suggestions and the engineering firm was not open to them. The perception he got was they were the engineers and they knew what they were doing – they were going to do it the way they wanted to do it. What he think it is going to boil down to is if the Council tries to pinpoint who is responsible, it will come down to who did the soil testing. You look at the actual contract and the engineering firm is the one who hired the soil scientist and they are the ones who are ultimately responsible for this assessment. You are going to have a hard time convincing anyone you have a successful project. In the liability disclaimers of the contract they state they are not responsible for flaws unless there was something they should have known. “I am of the opinion that they should have known about the soil conditions because everybody else in the community did.” Back in the fifties that was a very steep hill and the County came in to fix it. Every time they put dirt in, both sides of the road heaved up. There is probably 12 to 15 feet on each side of muck. It is totally unstable soil. County knew it was unstable soil because they had to go in there every time stuff was torn out. Every few years they have to go in because the road settles. I think they should have known there was a problem because of the soil there. I believe in accountability. Everybody makes mistakes, I think they need to admit it and accept some responsibility. I asked the State what their responsibility was: they said their responsibility was only to see that the conditions of the grant were met; as far as the bidding, the timeline, the plans and those type of things. They have no responsibility as far as the quality of the work. I asked the state who is responsible and it would be Winona Lake because Winona Lake obtained the grant. It is a real problem because you have two different jurisdictions. How much of Winona Lake money do you spend fixing a county problem? To fix it right, it is going to be very, very expensive. There are only two ways to fix it; to put piling down or to totally de-muck it. What I am doing is to encourage the council to ask more questions after looking at the engineering contract. Joy Lohse responded that she agreed with Dave Wolkins. Terry Howie stated that he felt that they all agreed and that they did not grill Bonar enough when they were here – we were nice to him that evening. Sue Gooding shared that Bonar stated they were going to have continued discussions with the soil engineer firm because they felt the fault was probably with them and those discussions were far from finished. He said on tape that he wished that people would have stopped them and told them. After they had the project going, they would have old timers stop and tell them that this was not going to work. But Gary Randle seemed to think it was too late at that point. Jim Lancaster asked from the State standpoint, we asked questions last time of Gary Randle about the accountability, but who from the state has asked about the remaining $240,000 – who is accountable for that? Is there a state perspective on that? Dave Wolkins responded yes, it is kind of contradictory because they said they had no responsibility, but they are giving you more money. It is actually federal money, but they have the say over that money. I asked them, if you were the controlling interest on the project, what would you do? The State responded that they would not have accepted it. I find that a little bit of a contradiction because the state’s engineer was there when everyone went out and looked at it and said “ok”. Jim Lancaster asked if they would not have accepted the sign off of the project. Dave Wolkins responded: right, and would have held them accountable and it will be interesting to see if they try to hold the engineering firm accountable for the other part. The State has the leverage to do it, because they bid all these projects. The Town has very little leverage to do it. It will be very interesting to see what happens, there is a little bit of contradiction. Jim Lancaster shared that what Gary Randle told the Council last meeting was that the State signed off, and that the project met the specifications. Dave Wolkins stated that Bob Long from INDOT is saying the project met all of the specifications of the grant, and all the state does is administer the grant. Craig Allebach stated that two or three people from the state were at several meetings that included Pete, regarding the specs; approving what Bonar wanted to do. Craig felt that there was a little more oversight than what they are willing to admit now. Craig wondered if the Council wanted an attorney to look at the contract to see if there is anything the Council wanted to do. We would have to expend the resources to have an attorney look at this. The Council would probably have to have a second opinion and that would mean having the expense of a second consultant come in, if one would come in. Dave Wolkins responded that the question would be additional cost, but if you do end up in some type of litigation it could all be recovered. Craig Allebach appealed to Dave Armstrong, INDOT, that we get the 20% waived and have the project fixed and get out of it. We would just let the County do what they need to do. The fix came from Dennis Fletcher because it is a County road. Pete O’Connell reported that when the final inspection was done and the State, Bonar, County and Winona Lake were there, at that time there was nothing wrong. Three weeks later we started to see the cracking. Jim Lancaster asked if the state would be paying the other 80% to get the fix and then take action. Dave Wolkins responded that the State has approved the money for the fix and he did not get an indication whether or not they would seek reimbursement. Jim Lancaster shared that the Council talked in the last meeting about the Town being accountable, it is the same issue with the State. Dave Wolkins responded that he would have further talks with Mr. Long regarding that. Jim Lancaster feels that the Council should have coordinated discussions with the State because of this similar interest. Craig Allebach is not sure how long it would take to close out this issue. Craig was in the INDOT office in the spring and inquired about close-out on the Greenway which has been two or three years ago now, and it was still open. Information was just sent for close-out to the State Auditors. That’s how long the process takes. Jim Lancaster asked what the right next step was for the Town; do we reach out to Mr. Alderman? Dave Wolkins felt that it might be good to at least talk with Mr. Alderman. Dave could set up a meeting and maybe get everybody involved including Dennis Fletcher. Perhaps such a meeting would give a sense of direction to the Council. Joy Lohse felt it would be good to have Mr. Alderman come; he might even have some case studies. Terry Howie thought the Town should have an attorney look at the contract after the meeting. He also asked the Council to look at the contract and be aware of what it says. Craig Allebach express concern that if we start taking about litigation we will get the project stalled; everybody will pull back and we will never get anything done. Not that we are saying someone shouldn’t be held accountable, but let’s get in there and get it fixed - then we will wrangle. Craig thinks we could at least have some preliminary discussions. Jim Lancaster brought up the point that all of this same discussion was had in the last meeting with Gary Randle present. To Terry’s point, Jim did not feel that it was productive to sit here and grill Gary. Craig reminded the Council that Gary Randle was only in charge of the project for the last two weeks, the original construction engineer resigned just before the project was completed.
Ordinance 2009-89-1 – Amending Sign Ordinance. Joy Lohse asked what the changes were. Craig Allebach responded that they deleted the section on political signs and changed the size of the signs. There being no further discussion Jim Lancaster moved to approved and Sue Gooding seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Street Department Salt Storage Facility – Pete reported that the salt is currently stored in the Street Department building and it is eating the metal of the building plus the storage space is very limited. Sometimes you can buy bulk salt in the summer and it is a great deal cheaper. If he has a place to store 200 ton he can get it all at once and save 15 to 20 % on the cost. Pete received three bids; two of the bids are for a concrete floor, concrete walls, door and regular rafter. Those bids were; Winona Restoration LLC for $43,425 and Tekton for $44,000. The third bid is for a building made out of treated steel and cloth top in the amount of $20,832. Pete had contacted Klink in Angola because they have one of these buildings and they are very happy with it. Terry Howie asked Pete if he had handed out plan specs for what he wanted in the building. Pete responded that he had given it to them verbally. Terry wanted written specs so he could compare apples to apples. Jim Lancaster stated that it looks like there is about $12,000 to purchase salt so it would take 10 years to pay back the cost of the building. Jim asked if there were other reasons why we need this building. Pete responded that he needed more room plus the salt is eating the metal of the current building. Some of the building will have to be repaired and storing the salt damages the building further. Terry Howie asked where the building would be placed and Pete responded by the other metal building along the hill. Sue Gooding asked Pete to find another manufacture of the “cloth” building so the two can be compared. Plus the vendor should give you a list of customers that you can go back and check with them. Also, have the written specs would give a better basis for comparing. Jim Lancaster asked if Larry Long should look at the plans or an architect look at the plans. Craig said he could contact Mary Ellen Rudisel-Jordan. Terry stated this could avoid any misunderstanding with a contractor. The item was tabled and Pete and or Craig will get specs together for the Council.
Reports from Supervisors:
Paul – sent an email regarding a volunteer victim advocate program using a local resident. She would deal with all the paperwork the PD is required by law to keep. There is no longer a program anywhere to assist in this way. The County program only kicks in once the victim is in the system. Terry asked what liability issue there might be? Paul did not believe there was any; the victim can back out at any time. Joy Lohse moved to table the program to allow the Council time to read the proposal and Sue Gooding seconded. The motion passed. Sue Gooding asked Paul to break out the calls on the report he sent out between Winona calls and calls to assist other departments. Paul responded that the explanation breaks the calls out. Terry asked Paul to give a report similar to Dick Leaf’s and the Fire Department. Paul will provide a report that shows the type of calls and the gas logs. Paul is still waiting for ICJI on the grant for radios. Whatever system the County goes to or stays with, we will have a radio that will work with it, we are looking into that. Even if we buy a radio that is not compatible with the State system now, it will be later. The radios the Town buys will be more advanced than what the State is using, but the State will go to that standard.
The County is going to air cards for the in car computers and do away with modems. We have asked the Prosecutor’s Office for funds to begin that project. There will be start up fees, annual fees and monthly air-time fees. Paul’s goal is to get the money from the Prosecutor’s Office this year to get the system going next year and then it will become a budget item for 2011. Currently all of the officers except Paul have their own cell phone with Verizon. What Paul is hoping to do is do away with the cell phones and use that money to help pay for the new radios when they come. It will not pay for all of the air-time on the new radios but it will help. Jim Lancaster asked if the police officers were using their cell phone as the connection to their computers. Paul responded no, what is in the car now is a computer with a modem and that is how they communicate with central dispatch for the CAD system as well as license plate checks, driver’s license checks and checks for “wanted”. Terry asked if the Town was paying for the cell phones and Paul responded yes, but we did not pay for the phones, we just pay the monthly fees. There is no contract. Terry asked what Paul anticipated the air cards costing. Paul responded that you can load it up on the front or the back. We are wrestling with getting a card that will just work in this county. If officers were called from Wabash County, we would have roaming charges which could build up fast. Paul is not sure how to handle that. He thought $30 to $40 per car a month. Warsaw and the County are going to Centennial which is basically just County coverage. Howie asked about a Police presence up at Jefferson. Paul responded that the School has two crossing guards and that he heard from a parent that parent pick-up is going fairly well. Jerry Nelson stated that if you can’t get the cars off of the street, then traffic is blocked. Paul responded he would have an office there.
Joy – Craig and Joy have met with Andy Kerr the web site designer and Joy feels the new site is very exciting and inviting and will be very good marketing tool. We need the site to support our local businesses, the Parks Department, our rentals. We need to package Winona Lake and present it as the very unique part of northern Indiana. She thinks that within 45 days there will be a layout for the Council to see. Joy also asked the Council to consider the articles for Winona Harmony to go out in September.
Craig – had someone come in and put in a bid for a screen and video projector at the Senior Center as well as here in the Town Hall. Sue Gooding met with Joy McCarthy-Sessing. Joy held a meeting at the Senior Center and was charged a meeting room charge. The room did not include speakers or video screen. Is there a possibility that if we put those things in the Senior Center can we market that as a potential meeting site for companies to come in and use. Craig responded that we do some of that now. We modeled the set-up after Ramada; in that your room cost so much, the sound system cost more, etc. The new equipment would include a wall mounted screen and then they can plug their own computer in. Jim Lancaster suggested we look at wireless. Craig responded that we could do that quite easily. Sue Gooding suggested we add that information on the web site. Joy Lohse responded there would be “drop downs” with all the rental options and maybe some promotions from the restaurants to help draw them. Craig thought about putting a screen in front of the map, a projector on a cart as well as a document camera for the council room. Sue Gooding asked about the sign for Visitor Center. Craig is waiting on Robert’s Signs. Sue suggested giving Roberts a deadline or we go to another vendor.
Retha - is getting ready to advertise for the budget and the budget hearing is September 22nd and the adoption of the budget is October 8. Terry responded that he has spoken with several local officials and the County Commissioners have taken a 10% pay cut. Other areas of government said they are not giving pay raises at all – across the board. People in our community are hurting and we are going to do our part. Retha asked Terry what he was telling her. Terry responded that we need to be looking at the same things others have done. We need to hold the line where we can and be responsible. Our taxes may not have gone up, but people have lost jobs and homes. There is a lot of fear out there. Retha responded that we have had our budget hearing and have discussed all of the line items. What else did you want to do? Sue Gooding asked Terry if he wanted her to subtract something out of the budget that had been proposed. Terry is suggesting that maybe we need to be doing the same thing other local governments have done and not give pay raises. Jim Lancaster asked if Retha could resend the Council the current budget proposal and then if there is feed back to Retha that is the time you give it to her. Craig stated that Warsaw was talking about a 7% to 16% increase for the Police.
Sue – asked Pete about the area by Stonehenge with broken asphalt. Pete responded he and Larry Long looked at it and Larry is coming up with a design to repair it. Sue asked where the research into the lift stations was going. Pete responded that his department is filming all the lines and checking for leaks and they are finding some of the problems. There are a lot issues at Stonehenge and there is a lot of infiltration. The department has checked the manholes in the ditches on Wooster Road. Merrywood was given notice about improperly capped tap-ons causing infiltration. Sue asked about the greenway cleaning. Pete responded that Scott had swept it one time and then it rained every day since.
Jim – Asked about the burning of the chicken house at Packerton and 225 South being an illegal burning. Howie responded that farmers can burn. Jim also asked Craig to check about the letter the Town received from Warsaw regarding the fire territory, when does that take effect? Craig responded that it takes effect immediately and the actual taxing will reflect on the spring tax bill. Lancaster wanted to know when the fire territory began –
2010? Retha thought they had to have everything ready to go this year by July 1st. Craig felt that was correct, but they were not going to start collecting taxes until January 1st. Jim wanted to know if Wayne Township still paid a portion of their fire service to the Town. Retha responded that she would have to check. Craig stated we could go to the person who helped us with the fire territory and make sure we received all the money we should have. Jim wondered if we honor the mutual aid agreement that is in effect and we support the Township, is there any reason we could not bill them in the end if we wanted to? Craig responded that he felt the mutual aid would not be anything billable on either side. Maybe the dual response or we had to respond beyond the mutual aid would be billable.
Meeting was adjourned
Joy Lohse made a motion to adjourn and Jim Lancaster seconded. The motion passed.
_________________________ ___________________________
TERRY HOWIE RETHA S. HICKS
PRESIDENT CLERK-TREASURER