- We're going to call to order this evening's meeting of the Ellensville Town Council. Sorry, I started
- that before you were ready. All right, we'll begin with the prayer. Chief. Our Heavenly Father, we come
- before you this evening. Again, we thank you so much for the many blessings you've bestowed. We thank
- you for the meeting we just had. We just pray for the guidance you would give us to this consolidation
- and reorganization that we have. Be with us tonight as they make the decisions that affect the town.
- Again, we thank you so much for the pleasure to be here. We ask you to say in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
- 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. Okay, whenever you're ready to
- roll, roll call. Pamela Samples.
- William Ellis. Here. Scott Oldham. Here. Dan Swafford. Here. Trevor Sager. Action to pay accounts, payable
- vouchers, and payroll. So moved. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstaining?
- Action to approve minutes for the December 8th, 2025 meeting. So moved. Second. Motion to second. All
- those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Any abstaining?
- Two resolutions this evening. The first is resolution 44-2025, transfer for fire from volunteer fireman
- insurance to gas and oil. This was a standard request from the fire department. The amount that was
- remaining in the volunteer fireman insurance was for $1,098.30 to be transferred into their gas and
- oil line. Questions from council? Routine movement of money, we see.
- Actions from Council. I'll make a motion to approve resolution 44-2025, transfer for fire for volunteer
- firemen insurance to gas and oil. Second. Motion second, roll call please. Pam Samples? Yes.
- William Ellis? Yes. Scott Oldham? Yes. Dan Swaffer? Yes. Motion passes. Another routine housekeeping
- measure is resolution 45-2025, encumbrances for 2025.
- Yes, so these are from all the different departments to encumber money. They came with an invoice and
- a quote to use 2025 monies to be paid at the beginning of 2026. Okay, questions from council. More of
- a comment or actually a request for you. Towards the end of the year, is there any way, maybe the first
- meeting or the second meeting, you can let us know how much
- money was turned back in on each account? Yes, I was gonna ask if that was the council's pleasure for
- me to do a financial report. Ideally, if we could push it until the first meeting in February would
- be the best. That's fine. Just to get all the encumbrances tied up and at the end of the year stuff.
- That's fine for me. Okay, any further questions? Any actions for council?
- I move we approve resolution 40-2025 in cumbersome for 2025. Second. Motion second, roll call please.
- Pam Samples? Yes. William Ellis? Yes. Scott Oldham? Yes. Dan Swaffer? Yes. Motion passes. There are
- no ordinances on first reading, no ordinances on second reading, there is no hold business. Under new
- business this evening is approval of 2026 meeting dates.
- So if the council will remember at the last meeting, I asked if there was any changes that needed to
- be done for the town council meeting dates, and with none, then all of the other boards submitted their
- annual meetings. On the first page of that, you'll see the public notices. Any changes are because of
- holidays that may fall on those days, and there's a list of those. This will go on the website, and
- it'll also be posted outside. Okay, again, pretty standard.
- questions from council. Just a notification for the public. This does not include the reorganization
- committee because that's not part of the town's committees, correct? Correct. Make sure that's okay.
- So if people see that and say, that's not on there. Well, when we just decided tonight, but okay. Is
- there a motion from council to accept these dates as so moved to accept second.
- second roll call please. Pam Samples? Yes. William Ellis? Yes. Scott Oldham? Yes. Dan Swafford? Yes.
- Motion passes. Next is the memorandum of understanding between Richland Township Town of Ellisville
- Rogers Group for a new fire station. I believe this was discussed before the Town Council later this
- summer or earlier this fall. You will recall that the Richland Township Trustee is willing to
- finance a new fire department for the town of Ellitsville to replace the Curry Pike building. And the
- proposed spot for the new fire station is a four acre parcel at the corner of West Vernal Pike and North
- Heart Straight Road, which is owned by North American Minerals. They subleased to Rogers Group and Rogers
- Group and North American Minerals are willing to sublease to Richland Township
- for the purpose of building the fire station. So the last time this came before the council, I think
- the issue was what happens if the legislature does away with townships? And so I had inserted a new
- section eight, which states that the landowner and the township agreed that the township shall enter
- into a sublease agreement with the town for the land located at North Hart Street Road.
- for the project on the same terms and conditions as the sub lease agreement. And so upon further
- consideration, further discussion with the township trustees attorney, he is concerned that if the bond
- company sees that in there that they will not approve the bond, that they'll have some concern with
- that. And I'm not sure that you can do an agreement whereby
- Rogers subleases to both the town and the township because then that means the town is on the hook so
- to speak for the debt and it also affects the town's borrowing limits and their constitutional debt
- limit. So I suggest this is a memorandum of understanding. It's an agreement to agree. We can hammer
- out the details later. My suggestion to the council is to take out the section I put back in.
- or put in, take that out, pass it as amended because as soon as it's passed and approved by the Township
- Board, Mr. Cook will go ahead and start conferring with bond counsel. So he's been conferring with bond
- counsel, a gentleman by the name of Dennis Otten, who's at Barnes and Thornburg, I believe, and so they've
- already had some discussions about what the Township can do. So as soon as this is passed,
- the discussions will be more in depth and detailed about what can be done financially in terms of building
- the new building, so. Questions from Council? So you're saying that if something would happen to the
- township or whatever happens that Ellensville would still be on the, say, on the hook for this town
- or this money or the land, sorry?
- No, the concern, I think, at the previous town council meetings when this was discussed was
- if the legislature does away with township governments, the town may lose the building. And so the way
- this works, as I understand it, is if township governments are done away with and the county takes over
- fire protection, all the assets are going to be moved anyway, if that makes sense.
- So it's going to depend, obviously, on the debt, right? I mean, I'm not clear on that. So we're not
- incurring any debt. You're not incurring the debt. It's just the township that's incurring the debt.
- It will depend on what that, if it's passed, and I have been told that, well, never mind. It would depend
- on what the legislation looked like, I guess, what the terms of that legislation are, if it passes.
- Okay. So when are we, when is this plan on being built or trying to start or start date for it? Probably
- the day after we okay it. Because that's to go to their board. Again, remember, in the long run, and
- this sounds negative, and I don't mean it to be that way, we're not on the hook for this money, the
- township is. So if the township were to cease to exist, then the county would be responsible for it, not us.
- This bill never comes back to us. Again, my personal feeling, my personal hope is that consolidation
- takes care of all this. Because this one didn't lie within the borders of the newly created Elwoodsville
- or whatever it's called. And if it doesn't, we're still not on any money as the town. And we'll have
- to fight that fight if and when we get to that point. So the only lost, not really a lost, because it
- would be any money that we get from the
- the Curry Pike Station. Correct. Yeah. Okay. Um, with the aggressive move by the commissioners to decide
- to start making a public notice, assuming that Ellisville and Richland are going to be into the fire
- district or of some sort, would that have any effect on this as written or would we have to go back
- and protect our interests?
- I don't think it's going to have any effect on this document as it's written. Okay. Further questions?
- Any questions or comments from the public? No one rises in chambers, we're online. Back to the council,
- is there a motion? I'll make a motion to approve
- Memorandum of understanding between Richland Township and town of Ellisville and the Rogers group for
- new fire station striking out section eight correct. Yes correct. So amending it by striking out section
- eight. So motion second when you're ready. Pam samples. Yes. William Ellis. Yes. Scott Oldham. Yes.
- Dan Swafford. Yes. Motion passes. Moving out of privilege of the floor anyone having business for the
- council that has not been part of our normal
- daily agenda. Seeing no one coming forward, we now move to supervisor comments beginning with the town
- manager. Streets? Council comments? Just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, enjoy
- the family and your friends, and we'll see you next year.
- We do this one more time for the years over. I tried. Actually, no. No, we don't. I didn't think we
- did. You weren't paying attention anyway, so it doesn't matter. Yeah, I'm sitting there trying to figure
- out. Well, I know everybody wants to get home with their families, but I've got to bring this up. For
- the public and everybody, the Monroe County Commissioners posted a notice that
- their intentions are to expand the fire territory or fire district. And in that notice, it mentioned
- Richland Township and the town of Ellisville and discussions of the town of Ellisville and the Richland
- Township forming their own fire district, I guess with their approval. I want to make it clear, those
- discussions, us forming our own fire district, none of us on the council have ever had discussions of
- that. There is no intention of that.
- And I think it's very irresponsible for the commissioners to give us a three-day notice that they were
- even going to discuss this over the weekend and say, oh, by the way, there's no other way to say it.
- This is trying to be a hostile takeover of what we're doing and to put a roadblock in for reorganization.
- Well, guess what? It's not going to stop us. It's just going to make us double down because we are not
- Ellitsville that can be kicked around anymore. You may be used to that, but it's not going to happen
- anymore. And I am very tired of the county commissioners thinking they can just run roughshod over our
- town. And Richland Township residents, I want you to listen carefully to what they want. They're telling
- you right now that if this reorganization doesn't pass, they are going to, without a public vote, take
- over your fire protection.
- Compare that to what we're doing, having tons of meetings, almost an hour and a half meeting today,
- getting public input and having it on the ballot passed by two councils. It's a tale of two cities and
- Ellisville is the one actually looking out for your interest. I don't know what interest the commissioners
- are looking out for, but it definitely is not Richland Township residents and it's definitely not Ellisville.
- And I'm sorry I sound hot about that, but I think it needs to be said.
- And I have to have to thank the County Council for actually stopping some of this overreach
- by the commissioners, but they can only do so much. They have statutory duties and they have to stay
- in their lane. But this is make no make no mistake. This is a shot across the bow scheduling meeting
- for the same time as our realization meeting. Same date, same time. And I want everybody having Merry
- Christmas, but I want them to know that
- If you think any tax implications from reorganization is gonna be increased, wait till you get the bill
- for a fire district. And you won't get any extra services. So anyway, that's my tirade. I'm sorry I'm
- so hot on the collar. It's the most wonderful time of year, as somebody likes to say. But I just, and
- I do wish everybody a Merry Christmas. Santa on Sale Street was phenomenal.
- I want to thank everybody for that. My grandchildren loved it. Even the snow made it perfect because
- it just started as Santa came in. But I mean, those are the things and the reason we want to do this
- reorganization, because I want my grandchildren to be able to come back to Sale Street. I want them
- to come back to Ellisville. I want them to live here and to work here. And I don't want somebody from
- Monroe County that does not represent our interest. And none of those three members in that board live
- in Richland Township.
- yet they're telling you what's best. And this has gotta stop. That's my say. I don't know if anybody
- else wants to chime in. I'll chime in just a little bit to wish the people of Meadblasting Township
- the best. Because at this point in time they are, something's being served to them that they chose not
- to vote for. And I've heard from, at this point, 10 to 15,
- trying to figure out how they can annex themselves into Ellisville. Don't know that's possible,
- but again, we're not gonna shut the door on anybody. It's just an unfortunate circumstance that they've
- been kind of left out in the wind because somebody sees them potentially as the easiest target, particularly
- after Ellisville extended what I think is a very good offer
- to continue the same degree of fire protection that we have been giving them for years. The unfortunate
- circumstances, it's just gonna be expensive for a lot of people who are struggling already. And I wish
- them the best. And at least from this council person, I don't speak for the entire council. I would
- be more than happy to consider anyone who wants to annex. If it's a voluntary annexation and you can
- get there, my word to you is that we will absolutely consider it as fast as what we personally can.
- It's just unfortunate that this is going on, and particularly at this time of year. Anyone else? Having
- no further business, the council stands adjourned.