Per the Town website they put out the following announcement on March 4th, 2016
“At its February 25 meeting, the Brownsburg Town Council adopted Resolution #2016-08, A Resolution Updating and Amending Certain Procedures and Processes for the Town Council Agenda and Council Meetings. It amends a resolution adopted in 2010.
The resolution, introduced by Ward 5 Councilman Sean Benham, did not undergo significant changes but does clarify and enhance some procedures. Language was added to confirm that Town Council meets regularly on the second and fourth Thursday of each month to conduct official Town business and administer Town affairs.
Language in Section IV relating to the conduct of citizen input that required residents to register to speak during meetings was removed from the new resolution. Benham explained that section of the resolution was no longer being followed and that it would require too much administration to carry out.
The most significant change to the resolution relates to citizens’ comments. Section II, item 5 was amended to bring all citizens’ comments to the beginning of the meeting, before any council discussion is held or action is taken. It removes general comments that were previously allowed at the end of meetings. The amended section reads: “An item titled “Citizens Comments Relating to that evening’s Specific Council Agenda” shall be included at the beginning of each Regular Meeting agenda. Those comments shall be related to the subject matter for that meeting only, unless otherwise determined by a majority of the Council.”
Town Council President Ashley Bacsu said, “Having residents make comments at the beginning of agenda items gives them an opportunity to make more of an impact. The council can have a better dialogue with the resident on that specific agenda item.”
Benham said, “While we didn’t need to make many changes, it was important that the amended resolution ensures that the council is following the rules set for itself.”
Residents who want to express an opinion on agenda items or other issues may communicate with Town Council members via email at any time. A link to each member’s email address is provided on the website. Simply visit www.brownsburg.org/council and click the appropriate member’s name. Residents are also encouraged to bring discussion items to the bi-monthly Town Hall forum, held at 7:30 a.m. on the first Tuesday of the even months in 2016.”
The March 10th, 2016 Town Council meeting was the first meeting with the revised agenda. The new agenda is set up in the following general order:
Call to order
Invocation
Roll Call
Citizens comments relating to that evenings agenda
Consent items
Bid opening and/or award
Reports from Commissions and Boards
Town Administrative items
Previously Considered
New for Consideration
Town Manager items
Clerk-Treasurer items
Town Council items
Town Attorney items
Adjournment
If you look really closely you will notice that line 14 is no longer General Citizens Comments. In fact, that line no longer exists. If you want to talk about something it’s on the agenda or they will not allow you to speak. Is this why they stopped using the old rules years ago?
The meeting started with the invocation and the pledge. At roll call it was indicated that only 4 members of Town Council were present. At “Citizens comments on the agenda”, Jim Sering got up and commented on the absence of line 14. He expressed concern that the Council was no longer listening to the citizens and asked them to reinstate line 14 at a future meeting. No other citizen came to the podium.
After Jim’s comment, the council worked smoothly and efficiently through consent items, reports from boards and commissions. At the Town administrative line item, Kathy Dillon presented the Waste Water Department report. She highlighted several events coming up for waste disposal. The events are: 1) One Stop drop off April 9th 9am-1pm for electronics and appliances on the same day and time there will also be a shredding company to take document. 2) Tox A Way event for Hendricks County residents at the Brownsburg High School on April 9th from 8am 1pm and 3) Town clean up on April 16th teams need to register in advance to get location check the town website for details.
Next on the agenda was previously considered items was a motion to approve A&F Engineering for design services for various road projects around town. This motion was tabled from February 25th meeting so that some last minute details could be worked out. The start of the contract was March 14th and the motion was passed 4-0.
Under new for consideration was Resolution 2016-10 A resolution of the Town Council of Brownsburg Approving an Events on Town Property Policy and all related Documents and Application materials Thereto. This was presented by Brian Hartsell with help from Phil Parnin. This is document is the result of a collaboration between the town and the park board and has been approved by the park board already. In 2016, there are already 55 events scheduled on town or park property. This policy was created to have centralized event coordination to ensure event scope conflicts are avoided and the scope is understood. The new event application can be upwards of 9 pages long depending on the event scope and the supporting documentation needed. The policy development took over 6 months and included discussions with legal and insurance. The length of the form caused discussion especially when council members looked at Avon’s website application. Brian and Grant commented that other cities will probably follow Brownsburg’s lead. After the discussion and comments about making the form user friendly, the resolution was approved 4-0.
Town Manager items brought the announcement that Brownsburg had completed the requirements to be a “Tree City USA”. We are the second city in the county behind Avon. “Brownsburg achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: creating a tree board or department, establishing a tree care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation. Brownsburg Parks led the Town’s pursuit of the designation and serves as the tree board.” (Town Website)
The last item on the agenda for this evening was one town council item about concerns the water bills had went up over the last month. Because of the weather, staff estimated some water bills this month and others were delayed as much as 12 days.
The March 24th meeting was the second meeting to utilize the new agenda format. After the invocation and the pledge, Mrs. Bascu indicated that all councilmen were present. There were no citizen comments on the agenda so the council moved to the first item which was a request for a utility connection at 730 S. Green for sewer. The town had no concerns so the request was passed 5-0. Next on the agenda was consent items, minutes and claim dockets had The Town Attorney adding a 90000 dollar payment on the B&O Trail expansion to the claim docket. These items were passed 5-0.
Under boards and commissions, first up was Chief Dove and the monthly police department report. Chief stated the police commission started looking at the budget for 2017 including manpower needs and capital improvement of several different buildings. Chief Dove then stated that since he started as chief of police in 2010, the budget had only increased by 1.8% ( without the mandatory insurance) and 4.8% with the mandatory insurance over the last 6 years. Chief Dove then highlighted the School Safety Report from Todd Rokita. Mr. Rokita is looking at introducing legislation introducing active shooter plans in all school systems in the country. Mr. Rokita hosted a round table where Chief Dove spoke about the plans that have been adopted in Brownsburg between the school and the police department. Chief commented that it was looking like Indiana may be setting the stage for the rest of the country.
Next up was Interim Chief Keith Rinehart of the Fire Department. He noted that the fire territory had completed its annual swim evaluations and he thanked the school for allowing them to utilize the high school pool. The fire department has presented 5 conditional offers of employment; the candidates are completing their physicals and board approvals. He apologized for being late with a 2015 yearend report and he noted that the fire department finished 2015 under budget even though incidents increased slightly over the previous year. A couple of interesting facts were that the fire territory protects42,000 people with 1.6 Billion in assets yet the fire loss per building in 2015 of 240,000 dollars was the lowest in quite some time.
With no previously considered items, next was new for consideration. The first for consideration was A Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Brownsburg Authorizing Certain Actions Relating to the Town’s Acquisition of Real Property in Connection with the Roundabout Construction Project at CR 300 North and Green Street and Payment of all Claims Related Thereto. This is for the last pieces of right away needed for the round-about at 300N and South Green. The resolution was passed unanimously.
Next up was a motion to appoint the Town Engineer Todd Wallace to the Recreation Impact Fee Board as the certified Engineer for the board. The appointment passed 5-0.
Resolution 2016-12 was a Resolution to Declare the Disposal of Surplus Items. These items were old mobile data terminals from the police vehicles. After a couple of questions assuring that the hard drives were disposed of properly, the resolution passed 5-0.
The last item in new business, was resolution 2016-05 An Ordinance Annexing Real Estate into the Town of Brownsburg, Hendricks County, Indiana Pursuant to a Petition for Voluntary Annexation. This was the first reading for the annexation of 730 S. Green which was approved for a sewer connection earlier in the meeting. The 1st reading was passed 5-0.
Last on the agenda for March 24th was Town Council items. First up was a proclamation recognizing the Life of Paul M. Kilian read by Mrs. Bascu.
WHEREAS, on behalf of the Town of Brownsburg, we wish to record our sorrow over the passing of Mr.Paul M. Kilian on February 22, 2016, and;
WHEREAS, Mr. Kilian was a loving and dedicated husband to his wife of nearly 52 years; a loving father to their son and daughter, and a loving grandfather to their eight grandchildren, and;
WHEREAS, Mr. Kilian proudly served in the United States Army and was respected by his professional peers as an associate member of Indiana Constructors, and;
WHEREAS, His life was dedicated to community service through Brownsburg Kiwanis club, little league baseball activities, as a school board member, and two terms on the Brownsburg Town Council, and;
WHEREAS,The Town of Brownsburg along with Paul Kilian’s family are blessed to have known him and been a part of his life, and;
NOW, THEREFORE, on behalf of the entire Town Council, in recognition of Paul Kilian’s contributions to our town and its residents, we do hereby express our appreciation for his dedication and extend to his family our sincere sympathy upon his passing.
Signed and sealed this 10th day of March, 2016 by the Town Council for the Town of Brownsburg,Hendricks County, Indiana.
The last Town Council item was a reminder by Mr. Dawes that it was about time for another joint meeting with the school system and that it needed to be scheduled in the first half of 2016. – The Editor.
