The Brookville Town Council met on Feb. 16, to review and discuss any updates, important inquiries, and address new concerns. The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by roll call.

Attending were Bridget Hayes, Earl Moore, Chuck Campbell, and Curtis Ward.

First up were the approvals of the regular meeting minutes and claims and payroll. Both were motioned for approval and passed while Ward abstained.
First on discussion were the Roles and Responsibilities. Previously discussed in a meeting, Hayes states that board members would oversee certain departments in the county. When asking about concerns of this list, there were questions about the responsibilities of department heads and their set people to work with versus the inclusion of the board itself. Transparency is highly asked for here, especially if one department head cannot attend to a request, issue, meeting, or rising conflict. Board members can step in when needed and be able to assist all departments. Some protests state that other communities do follow this rule of inclusion, and it's not a hard and fast rule to live by. If anything, the inclusion presents exclusion and helps the board act cohesively as a unit and be a better team for the community. Therefore, board members will step in when needed.

Following this argument, there was a question of conflict resolution itself. The department head should be able to step in and resolve this and if not, they need to be able to speak with the board members to call an executive session for discussion. If it comes to light that the head wasn't truthful, the board will not be involved.

The board has previously gone with this method and talks of a liaison came up. Previously, the town Admin held this role, and the current board lacks this position currently.

Hayes does remind the board that this discussion was merely an overview on the assigned roles and there is nothing adversarial for the topic. A motion was made to rid the position of a liaison and the vote came 2-2. Clerk-treasurer Gina Gillman asked about a possible compromise and possibly prividing a policy that a liaison has separate duties from the board members and department heads so there is no overlapping. The vote came 2-2 again and Gillman voted in favor, passing the motion altogether.

Next up were the monthly reports. A request had been made for department heads to provide a monthly report to inform the board and town all that has happened and been accomplished. However, this request has been reversed and is no longer a requirement. A brief discussion over the requests had the request topic tabled for a later meeting.

Following were updates on the police and town hall construction projects. The board states they are waiting for the final electrician drawings, but everything is moving along steadily. They are hoping to submit the permit within the next week and have everything finished by July. Nancy Main took the podium to address updates on PreservINg Main Street. Recently, 5/10 buildings were looked at on Tuesday, as well as meetings held with property owners. There are no set dates yet as there is a wait for completed construction documents. They take about 30 days, but once those are in, hopefully in March, progress will start moving. A rough estimate places forward movement around fall.

Hayes next spoke about the Re-certifying 2012 Election Board Ordinance. Following Brooke Leffingwell's resignation, there was some discussion about where the replacement needed to live for the application of this position. A choice can be made for this ordinance to re-certify or re-district. Option two has proven to be extensive and comprehensive. Ward moved to re-district and the vote came 2-2. Gillman voted to re-district and the motion passed.

Pool Financials and Golf Course Financials were next discussed. The overall pool revenue sits at $85K. Hayes hopes that the pool becomes self-sustaining and brings in more revenue within the following year. The golf course totaled a revenue of $427K. An inquiry was brought up over memberships purchased in December of 2022 and whether they should be redacted from the 2022 report and added into 2023. The only huge hit the golf course took were the purchase of the carts, but the board hopes that this following year, the costs will be reduced.

Dave White has given the tax returns for the LLC to the board. However they will not be released to the public. 

There is also a reminder of the shelter (clubhouse) rental this year. Costs, dates, and times to come later. Ron Brune, the golf course manager, says he's been working with special projects director Jess Hansel to collect different business for sponsors. They will be credited with a sign stating where they are sponsoring and by whom. There is a final fee decision as well that needs approval by the board. As this would be a yearly thing; yard signs aren't ideal for marketing and there is discussion of different methods. Discussions for insurance and liabilities, and costs moving forward, were tabled for a later meeting. 

 Lastly, the issue with the north pond irrigation by hole 14 hasn't been fixed. Hayes proposed the board create a plan to fix the drainage. The motion was carried and passed while Ward abstained.

Next up was the Resolution 2023-1 Rules and Procedures. There have been several discussions in previous meetings, and nothing has changed. While there is an agenda, a change can be made by the president and vice president, or the vote of two council members. This is to prevent the presentation of false emergencies and such. There is also a reminder that each speaker has a 2-minute time frame so that the council meeting may address all meeting topics for their agenda swiftly and efficiently. 

After a small chat over the presentation of changes given by either the president/vice president or two members, Hayes made an amendment to the rules and procedures. Ward made a motion to pass, and it was carried with a 4-0 vote.

John Palmer and Nancy Main stood to speak. John Palmer informs the board of the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program grant and the progress being made so far. A handout was presented of some of the slides presented to the public. John Palmer mentions that there had originally been 12 grants available, then OCRA moved to 19. It's stated that winning just one is incredible. After him, Main spoke up with the annual report for PreservINg Main Street. 2022 had been an important year following the grant receipt, and that 2023 will be the base year going forward with the projects.
Following are brief discussions:

· Paving Project: There is $198K from the state and Brookville gave $66K. Hayes listed out the bids made, and a motion was passed to advise under a later meeting.

· The Franklin County Humane Society made a request for street collection on Sept. 16th and to run until the following weekend. A motion was passed and carried for the request.

· Annual Financial Report: Gillman requests the board allow her to email final reports to the board for review rather than bring reports to the meetings. This allows discussion prior to the meetings. There was no discussion, and the motion was passed.

· Golf Course Mower: A motion was passed and carried to trade-in for a newer, smaller, zero-turn mower. This one can reach tighter spaces without scalping the ground and grass.

· Midwest Data Inc.: The county has a contractor who is paid $7500 annually (IT, advise, consulting, etc.). The contract was dropped for board discussion of employment in the town. The contract would be 12 months, $1166 per year. On-site support would be $99/hour and in-house support would be $75/hour. The motion was passed.

· Red Life Church has requested the use of the upper park and grandstands for an event on Friday, April 7th. This is their 4th year using the field and Rev. Bradley has requested the use of it again. The motion for the request was approved.

· Cancellation of old warrants: Every year before March 1st, the board states they can remove any checks that are 2+ years old. There was a list of five water utility meter deposits that were never cashed (example). The motion to approve the cancellation was passed.

· Building permit #979 - Hilltop: A state fire Marshal has informed Brandon Ball that he needs a building permit for the design release of an awning. The structure itself won't be changing overall, but the permit allows him to keep the changes. This motion was approved.

Terry Mitchum stood up to give a small update. The hiring process is going to be put on later (possibly 2-3 weeks). He did ask about last year's budget regarding cars, vehicle equipment, and so forth. The board states that this was put on hold due to the uncertain nature of officer positions at the time but will be addressed further down the road. They are working on a quote for vehicle updates, and body cams have arrived. Mitchum states they are charging, and a trainer will be coming down to train on the body cam use.

Bill Schirmer would like to have an executive meeting with the board members and commissioners over the sewer line before the deadline approaches. There are some discussions over attending and the subject was tabled for a later meeting.

Hayes next wanted to make the public aware that another attorney will be hired if the insurance company won't represent for a judiciary review. 
Public Comments were as follows:

· Nancy Main: Main Street is making a calendar and she is requesting the use of the municipal parking lot for an upcoming event. She asks the board for approval, who states that if the police chief can coordinate blockage of that area, then there is no issue. This motion was passed.

· Victoria Meyer: She asked about the $50K invoice presented for work done on the Zimmer building. She states this was done without approval or a building permit and would like to see some further investigation on the matter before this invoice is paid.

· Marty and Carla Hacker: Both stood to speak up on behalf of the $50K invoice and the golf course funding. Marty states that there is no guarantee that any work done on the Zimmer building without that permit will remain functional and not need further repairs. When asked who submitted the invoice, the board stated that all questions need to be referred to the developer, though Marty insists something doesn't feel right and needs to be investigated as Meyer had stated. Carla took the podium to express her anger over the money seemingly coming from everywhere except our county for the golf course sewer line. She says the application was false, and that all residents on Reservoir need to be included in all further developments. She asked what the board was doing with the money. There was no annex, the town put down zero dollars, so she insists that the board take some responsibility. Carla is politely reminded that the board is following the progress and guidelines are being followed.

· David Kirk asked about the financial records of the golf course being made public, to which the records should be public now.

After no further discussions or concerns, the meeting was adjourned.