Town Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, good evening and welcome to the April 20th, 2026 Akran Town Council meeting. Before we get started, I'd like to remind everyone that this meeting is being recorded and your participation is your consent to be recorded and broadcast on the town of Akran's YouTube channel. Roll call. Jim Sain here. Rich Solano. Tony Ramirez here. Stand for the pledge, please.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Call the meeting to order. And the first item is the attack on town council March 23rd meeting. I have a motion to accept the minutes as presented. I'll second it. All in favor?

I see. Utility adjustment request. Um yes, I have provided you with um ajustment request for um Paul and Angela at 216 South Mishawaka Street. Um they had a sizable leak at their house. Um and requesting that the bill be adjusted to their uh six-month average usage, which I have provided the amount to adjust the bill for each water, water tax, and wastewater. Is it uh been repaired and everything's fine? Yeah.

Okay. Well, I'll make a motion that we uh adjust the water bill and wastewater down to the minimum. All in favor? I I thank you. Painless. um the my adren app.

Yes. So I just with a lot of things going on um pretty much every person I'm probably guessing in this room has a smartphone and working on better ways to communicate effectively with our community. Not everybody uses Facebook. Um I worked with GoGV and have created over the last month my Akran Indiana app. Um my last meeting is for marketing for me to be able to distribute that out to everybody to notify them how to sign up. Um then they can there's different groups they can sign up for whether they're a utility customer, they want community alerts and such. Um and that way to me that's the one source that everybody has for the most part. Nobody gets a newspaper anymore. Not everybody's on Facebook. So they all got a smartphone then they have the ability to subscribe or not and that's on them. But um to make sure we do our best to effectively communicate with our constituents. So, um, be looking for that marketing to go out hopefully within the next week. It'll go out with the utility billing, um, for May. So,

Okay. Is that a free app? It is a free app. Yes. Yep. Download. Never mind. Yeah, that that's a I think that's a really good thing. So, yes. Anything else on that? No. Okay. Nothing. You know, thank you for that. Um, reports town Marshall Justin,

you got the insurance report in front of you last month. Corporate J switching out that radar signed down by Dollar General. Plan is tomorrow, weather permitting. um the body cameras. Uh we've updated the license. Everything seems to be working um as it should. Getting ready to send out u ordinance letters in the next week for tall grass. However, I want to give everybody an opportunity. We've had so much rain. Um want to try to give them an opportunity to get their yards mowed before we send them out. So, okay.

We'll see what the next week brings and uh go from there. Other than that, that's all I have. Any questions for Thanks, Justin. Hey,

we're still waiting for Asher to come to work on the water tower. So, I think I kind of talked to Mark a little bit. He said he was going to talk to them, but I've not heard anything other than that. Um, but I think we're going to try hopefully next week at some point to uh flush fire hydrants. We've kind of been waiting because I figured one of our towers would be drained by now within painting, but then in here. Okay.

So, I think we're going to try flushing hydrants by next week. Um, Thomas excavating I think has one tap left um with the new main. So they are very close to being done and they will start the guard rehab for everybody down through there. Okay. So I've got on here tile at 403 West Rochester discussion. So Becky here, she lives in uh Frank Camp's old house.

Yes. And there is a tile that runs under the corner of that house that has collapsed several times. Okay. Um did not know whose tile it was. I didn't think it was a town tile. I'm still not 100% sure, but I think we've found enough evidence saying that it possibly is. Okay. Um, I think we may have found it on a map and according to Blaine years ago, Marty was repairing this tile. So, in the hole where you couldn't see Marty's head is it the clay tile that Yeah.

So, it runs under the corner of her house. And originally when I had this on the agenda, I didn't know we were going to assume responsibility for it. So, I was going to ask you guys, but I think we should. I mean, if you're pretty sure it's town, I'm I'm pretty sure. Okay. Um, so we're going to abandon it going under the house. We're going to fill it full of concrete and then we're going to reroute it between the alleyway and go to the rear of her property as opposed to going under the corner of her house.

Okay. Um, supposed to store it on the concrete at Dillies today. I don't believe they did. I don't think so. No.

Um so hopefully tomorrow because he said they want three dry days and we're supposed to get three dry days in the next three days and then it's supposed to rain Friday. Um, the CCMG project, I got an email saying that they plan to start some concrete work on Johnson and Rural Street on Thursday. So, so on Johnson, it'll be on the east side of the road this time because the west side's all done, correct?

Um, okay. They called in all the locates and stuff for it on Little Street and Johnson Street. So, they're starting there and then from there, I'm not not really sure they're going to go. Um, tornado siren update. Um, are we trying to get approval right now?

Okay. Just at least so the public is aware, I'm going to share a few things and we'll go into the quotes so it's on the record. So, um, we figured out in January that the tornado siren was no longer working. We had a company come out and assess. Um, the repair was estimated over $40,000. So, we contacted insurance. Um, an insurance engineer came out and did a thorough inspection of it and based on the year and condition of it, um, insurance denied the claim. So, it comes back to the town um responsibility on replacement. We got uh we were able to obtain two quotes and that's what Jake has, so I'll let him. Uh from Federal Signal Safety and Security Systems, we've got a quote for $37,17. And from Jay Kunations, we've got a quote for $40,2925.

I I looked over these quotes. Um, and I, you know, I know $3,000 was a difference. Um, I And like I said earlier, I had no idea that the town owned that siren. I just thought it was part of the fire department all these years. So, um, we need to get it fixed. We got to have that. So, I will make a motion that um I'm looking at a federal signal that uh that we accept this bid of $37,000 $17 and no cents to have the repair replaced.

I'll second that. All in favor? I also when I asked them how long upon approval it would take it's at least a minimum of 12 to 16 weeks. So we will be the rest of probably our spring weather season with just the one tornado siren on the station. Um but we will continue to move to have it repaired as soon as possible.

All righty. Um, and then the last thing I have is we got two more trees um to be cut down on May 7th. Okay. And then basically be ready to just do the sidewalk. Tony, any questions? No.

Thanks, Jay. Yep. I don't think I end up not right. Well, the next is the ordinances. Ordinance 04-20-2026, an ordinance adopting a moratorum on implementation of certain zoning ordinances, ordinance amendments, and data center permit approvals. Danny, is there anything that you want to say on this?

Yeah, just just a little background. Um the uh uh the relationship between the area planning commission and and the Akran town council is such that this board makes appointments to the area plan commission and when it's involved in a in a particular uh recommendation for an ordinance change uh um then uh that recommendation comes to you just the way it comes to all the municipal bodies. And so the uh recommendation that uh uh you're being notified of is the area planning commission's recommendation from the February uh date 20th um to um adopt a one-year moratorum. And so for for Akran as well as the other municipalities um I had drafted a proposed version of that uh you can you can take any action you like. You can uh vote to adopt a moratorum further recommendation. You do nothing. you can dock to reject the proposed moratorum, but uh remember it it only impacts the the uh uh zoning ordinances for the town of act. So there will be things that come to you from time to time that uh uh we do as a procedural matter that might not have as much uh relevant practical impact as if you were the county commissioners just by by virtue of the fact that some things uh uh uh aren't likely to happen within the town limits of the the town of A. But that's uh that's what's in front of you now is you have an opportunity if you choose to respond to what is

essentially the proposal. The other thing about a moratorum uh that that is kind of unique is because there's kind of a start date and end date to that um uh you can decide if you do adopt their proposal. You want to trig you want to assume their proposal is one so that your moratorum would match the dates that of the one that county commissioners put in place. You don't have to do that. You know, you you could you could act out on your own. But I think at least one of the other municipalities uh that chose to adopt maybe two at this point adopt the moratorum as recommended explicitly wanted theirs to match that same time frame that the commissioners place and I you don't have to do that but that's probably what they do.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. a little bit. Yeah.

And and to give you a little more background, uh beginning January 1, there were some uh changes to the code that went into effect. That's why we had a public meeting last August or September. So the moratorum is is specifically to the extent it references particular parts. Specifically the moratorum is to kind of uh not hold off implementing those changes that would have happened January 1, 2026. So it's it's not don't think of it as so much a moratorium on an idea. It's a moratorium on the implementation of some changes that were approved last year. Okay. I I think that probably the best thing for the town of Akan to do um to put people's minds at ease is to go ahead and um make a motion to uh adopt this ordinance that the uh counties put put out here to match their dates. We want to match the date the commissioners put in place and second motion.

Yeah, we want to match the dates that the commissioners put in motion. So, um, let me read this real quick. Ordinance number 04-20-26, an ordinance adopting the moratorum on implementation of certain zoning ordinance amendments and data center permit approvals. And I'm going to go ahead and make a motion that we accept this as long with the uh dates that the county has has mentioned. I'll second it. All in favor? I

I Anyone else? I didn't email. Uh Heather, did you have anything else to just want to see how that? Yeah, and I just sent Rebecca today just a map to kind of fill out the zone district more. They have a small bit of industrial and that would be the only district lumber takes up

most of that industrial district. That was the involve scan that email over the original for your own record. Absolutely. Got you.

Um, two things before we get to dockets. Um, on April 27th, I will be sitting in on a webinar with AIM. It's called must municipal unit strategic task force. Um with the lit changes that are coming um this year through our fiscal officers within the county, we are required um to create this municipal unit strategic task force um and we'll do it alongside with Baker Tilly. we all use them as our municipal adviserss um to show the impact of this new lit structure and what that will look like based on as well as the property tax from the Senate bill um one. Um so we're going to start we actually met as count like some of us fiscal officers met last week the 14th um and then we'll move forward to get the task force going. This is just more of anformational meeting that Ames's putting on for the state of Indiana. Um that report we have to have to the DLGF in October and then they'll release a full report of the impact from each county in December 26 to help everybody make decisions moving forward. Um, April 30th, um, myself, Jake, uh, Dan Fox, Rich are headed to Iden's central office for a meeting regarding our wastewater project. We submitted our first quarter report. They want to meet in person just to kind of go over everything. Um, Midwestern, Mark, and Andy will be there to provide that final scope of the project. And so hopefully everybody can finally check the box and sign off so we can move forward um with the construction of that project. Um and then May 13th and 14th I have virtual classes for my annual budget workshop and then clerk treasure school. The one thing I want to put um that AIM is putting out for council member budgeting

seminar. It is Friday, May 8th from 8:30 to 12:30. Um, if you would like to um sit in for that, let me know and I can get you guys registered. So, this what I have. Thanks, Rebecca. So, let's just move on to the dockets. Um, 140 148,13048 and payroll stock of 59,9876. I went through everything um

larger amount this month just due to the fact of paying out a couple them Oprah water projects. Yeah.

One You want to make a motion?

Yeah, I'm making a motion that we accept the dockets for 148,1348. do the payroll too then and the payroll allowance docket for 29,98756 second that motion favor

what if there's anybody that has anything to close anybody have anything they want to uh say lake have received a lot of muddy water. So, we trying to find out the culprit and uh hope they're going to take a drone and fly over that part of the county and see if we can see where all the muddy water's coming from. As far as the town's area that come in, I don't think we're getting anything that's outstanding. Although, I did on the way in seeing I did see the 19 South. Where did that dump into?

199.

We've never We've never done the maintenance on them. I think they're the states. And as far as the we are not discharging from the objective right. We've had it. It's a miracle we're not destroyed. Thank you. I have no idea. I I thought they had a good time all that water out there going over. I have anybody else.

Okay. No one else. Uh I'll make a motion we adjourn the meeting. Second. All right. All in favor? I All right. Thank you for coming.