Now call to order the joint meeting of the Richland Township Board and the Town Council of Ellensville,
Indiana, Monroe County. This is May 27th, 2026. We'll now do the roll call for members of both organizations,
starting at the far end. Jay Thrasher, Richland Township. David, we're all in Richland Township.
John Donnell, Richland Township. Scott Oldham, Ellsfield. William Ellis, town of Ellsfield. Trevor Sager,
town of Ellsfield. Candice Wofford, town of Ellsfield. Now the Pledge of Allegiance, 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. Dear Lord, bless this meeting. Bless us with the wisdom to make the
right decisions for the people we represent. And bless us with humility and wisdom. In your name, amen.
Ms. Brown.
since last November 10th and on that date the Richland Township Board passed a resolution indicating
a willingness to explore a reorganization of the town of Ellensville under the Government Modernization
Act. The town responded on November 24th by passing its own resolution agreeing to explore a reorganization
of the town. Thereafter each ward appointed
representatives to form a reorganization committee, and that consisted of seven members. And over this
past winter and spring, the reorganization committee held several public meetings to discuss what a
reorganization between the township and the town might look like. Early on in the process, subcommittees
were formed from a cross-section of citizens, township employees, and town employees, and each subcommittee
took responsibility for taking one aspect of government and preparing a subcommittee report on that
one aspect of government and how that would look if the reorganization passes. And each subcommittee
prepared written reports. They were presented to the reorganization committee at the end of March, 1st
of April. These subcommittees included finance, local governments,
public safety, planning and zoning, parks, recreation, cemeteries, street department and road maintenance,
water, sewer, and stormwater, and services provided by the former township. And in each of those reports,
the subcommittees looked at budget and staffing, addressed some capital improvement projects, what the
new government would look like if it passed, how many town council members, how the transition planning
and zoning from a town,
to 6,000 to a town of 15,000. And I know I said this at a previous meeting, but I'd like to reiterate
that I thought the subcommittees did an excellent job on the reports. I thought they were very thorough,
and I liked everything about them, the language, the graphics, the maps, everything. And I liked the
history that was put in some of those reports. So in any event, the subcommittees present their report
to the reorganization committee.
The reorganization committee approved a draft plan of reorganization on April 9th, and that has been
on the ellisvillerichlandinfo.org website since about that time. And as you're aware, that's a recommendation
to both boards as to how the reorganization can move forward, because ultimately the obligation to draft
the reorganization plan rests with both the governmental boards. And throughout this entire process,
Baker-Tilley has
greatly assisted us by attending meetings, giving PowerPoint presentations, coming to Ellensville to
meet in person with town employees, township employees, and answering multiple questions over the phone.
And Baker Tilley has presented a fiscal plan, which is what you're going to be looking at this evening.
And so we are here in our series of final meetings, and the purpose of this evening's meeting is to consider
preliminary approval of a fiscal plan, and the Indiana Code requires the boards, the reorganizing entities,
to approve a fiscal plan prior to adopting a reorganization plan. So what you have in your packets are
proposed resolutions to be considered by the Township Board and the Town Council, and if those are passed
this evening,
Those resolutions will go to the Department of Environmental Finance along with the draft of the fiscal
plan for the DLGS review. So Paige Sandstone from Baker Tilly is here, and I believe she has
two presentations. The first of which is a PowerPoint presentation on reorganization generally, what
that looks like for the citizens, and then the fiscal plan, which will go to the DLGS. And
if your reorganization plan is adopted, that will be part of your reorganization plan.
Okay. Questions from this part. Okay. Baker Tilly. Thank you. My PowerPoint presentation that will actually
summarize that fiscal plan, but there is a separate separate plan document.
that goes along with that. But I've tried to incorporate it into this presentation. So really, the intent
of the presentation really is to present the fiscal plan to you. But we felt that it was very important
to provide some background and some context. So I am going to summarize the reorganization plan for
you as well. So starting on, make sure this works.
So the purpose of the reorganization is to improve government efficiency, enhance the coordination of
services, increase flexibility and local control, and improve planning and transparency. It will further
support growth throughout the community. So this is intended to support the long-term goals of your
community. The overall concept is to create a more coordinated and sustainable local government structure while
preserving the representation and service responsiveness for both the urban and rural proportions of
the area. So at its core, the proposal would reorganize Richland Township and the town of Ellisville
into a unified government structure. If approved by voters, the reorganization will become effective
January 1st of 2027. This means the current
separate township government structure would transition into the consolidated governmental model administered
through the town. Today, the town and the township operates as separate governmental units with separate
budgets for administration and services. Under the proposed structure, there would be one unified government,
one governing body,
in a more coordinated budgeting and administrative structure. The intent is to reduce duplication, improve
service coordination, and create a more streamlined approach to governance. The proposed governance
structure includes a seven member town council. This would include five district seats and two at large
seats during the transition period.
The township government would be dissolved, but representation for both the urban and rural areas would
continue through the district structure. The goal is to maintain local representation while improving
coordination across the consolidated area. The reorganized government would continue providing key local
services, including police and fire protection, roads and public works,
parks and recreation, planning and zoning, and public assistance services previously administered through
the township will continue to be provided by the town. The intent is to not eliminate services, but
to improve coordination and long-term service delivery. The proposal establishes two primary service
districts, an urban district
in a rural district. The urban district would generally reflect the current town boundaries and continue
to receive the full complement of municipal services. The rural district would include former township
areas where service delivery would remain tailored to the lower density rural conditions and needs.
The structure is intended to balance fairness, service expectations, and tax impacts. This slide outlines
which services and tax bases would apply across the different service areas. Certain services such as
police and debt service would remain specific to the urban district.
Other services including fire protection parks and recreation and general administration would apply
across the broader consolidated area. This framework isn't is again intended to align taxes more closely
with the services that are currently provided. So why two districts.
The two-district structure serves several important purposes that I've reiterated or I'm going to reiterate
here. It matches the taxes with the service levels. It allows phased growth and expansion. It preserves
the rural character and expectations. And it supports long-term infrastructure planning. This approach
recognizes the urban and rural areas often have two different service demands and infrastructure needs.
So these next slides that we'll go through summarize several plan service enhancements and operational
updates. So some of the public safety enhancements include increased police staffing over time, additional
firefighter staffing, maintaining and improving response times, and addressing growing service demand.
The proposal also includes unified planning and zoning authority, updated land use,
planning, coordinated development policies, and expanded responsibility for roads and infrastructure
maintenance. The township services will include public assistance programs, and that will continue.
Cemetery maintenance and community services would remain in place, and township staff would transition
into the town structure where appropriate.
There are no immediate changes proposed right now for utilities or stormwater operations in 2027. This
slide summarizes the proposed staffing additions associated with the reorganization. The largest investments
are focused on fire, police, streets and infrastructure, planning, parks, and public assistance administration.
The total estimated annual staffing impact is approximately $2.7 million. These additions are intended
to support the future growth, improve service delivery, and strengthen long-term operational capacity.
So now we're getting into more of the fiscal impact analysis portion of this presentation. The next
few slides summarize the financial analysis supporting the proposed reorganization. So slide 15 compares
the current or town and then the township rule property tax rates and levies. So you can see from this slide
slide that the town currently levies a rate of .6160, which generates approximately $3.3 million of
property tax. The township levies a rate of .1644, which generates approximately $1.3 million in property
tax. So that's the current structure.
We also need to let you know about any outstanding debt that is property tax supported. So Richland
Township does not have any outstanding debt that's property tax supported. The town does have two debt
issuances that are property tax supported. One is a lease rental bond that matures in 2033, and the
other is a general obligation bond that matures in 2036.
But it is very important to note that these existing town debt issuances will remain with the current
town taxpayers and township residents would not assume any existing town debt obligations. The projected
combined budget for this reorganized entity is 11.3 million.
This analysis assumes that there will be a reduction in administrative duplication. There will be increased
investment in public safety and infrastructure. There will be continued township services and conservative
revenue growth assumptions. Based on current assumptions, the proposed funding plan
is sustainable as supported by the projected revenue. So here on this slide we do have a four year kind
of net cash flow graphic that shows that it is a sustainable budget. There are enough revenues that
will fund the plan of reorganization.
This analysis also assumes gradual levy growth, which all taxing units get in the state on an annual
basis, static debt service, so no change in debt service, conservative revenue assumptions, and an annual
operational inflation adjustment for the expenses.
This slide shows the projected property tax levy and tax rates of the reorganized town. So this is what
the setup would look like. So basically the property tax rate in the urban area would be .7028. The
tax rate in the rural area would be .2776.
These tax rates would generate approximately $6.1 million in property tax revenue for the reorganized
town of Ellisville. So one of the important questions is how the reorganization may affect taxpayers.
The estimated average impacts are
a 6.9% increase for properties located in Richland Township, a 3.5% increase for properties located
in Ellitsville Bean Blossom, so the portion of Ellitsville that's in Bean Blossom Township, and then a 4.1%
increase to the portion of Ellitsville that's in Richland Township. It's important to emphasize that
some properties may see
smaller increases or perhaps even little to no increase, depending on if the property is hitting the
property tax caps. So in this slide, we've illustrated the potential impact to some sample properties
here. So for a residential property ranging from 150,000 to 300,000,
If that property is located in Richland Township, we're expecting an increase between $5 to $12 per
month. That's a monthly increase. For the town of Ellitsville, the increase could be anywhere between
$3 to $5. However, again, I want to reiterate that if your property is at the property tax caps, there
will be little to no increase in your tax bill.
We also have an illustration of the farmland and residential rental properties, and we just picked a
value between $500,000 and a million dollars. Those increases in Richland Township would range from
$18 to $89, for Ellitsville Town between $6 and $29. And then the last classification of property is
commercial and all other property, which would include personal property, the same price range,
thousand to a million, you're looking at between a $47 and $94 increase for Richland Township, Ellitsville
$36 to $72. So you probably wonder, okay, well, how can I estimate my property tax bill? So we have
an easy three-step process if you wanna estimate how this might impact you. So one is,
find your current property tax bill. And to do that, you can go to the Monroe County property tax portal,
or you can review the most recent statement that you received in the mail that would show what your
property taxes are due for this entire year. So for this illustration, just for example, we're going
to say that
Your property tax bill is $1,800 currently before reorganization. So now you need to identify where
is your property located? Is it in Richland Township unincorporated? Is it in the portion of Ellisville
that's in Richland Township or the portion of Ellisville that's in Bean Blossom? Those are three different
taxing districts. There is a corresponding percentage change to your tax bill depending on which taxing
district it's located.
So 6.9% for Richland, for example. 4.1% for Ellitsville, Richland, and 3.5% for Ellitsville, Bean Blossom.
So once you figure out where it's located, now you just take that current tax bill, 1,800 as an example,
and apply the appropriate percentage. So if we assume that this property is located in Richland Township,
and the bill is $1,800 right now, we're gonna apply that 6.9% increase or,
0.069, so 1,800 times 0.069 equals an annual increase of $124. If you divide that by 12, that's $10
per month. So anyone should be able to use this three-step process to determine the impact on their
property tax bill.
Now we need to look at the next few slides, which will explain how the property tax caps here in Indiana,
also known as circuit breaker credits, may affect both the taxpayers and the overlapping taxing units
in these three taxing districts. So this slide just shows a summary of the property tax credits here
in Indiana. We have three classifications of property tax credits. One, Homestead.
So your residential, your main residential homestead property is capped at 1% of the gross assessed
value. Other residential property and farmland is capped at 2% of your gross assessed value. And the
commercial property is capped at 3%. So as an example, if I have a $100,000 residential homestead and
my cap is 1%,
I shouldn't pay more than $1,000, but there are a few exceptions. If schools have a voter referendum
to approve a new debt, I could perhaps pay above that because those are exempted from Circuit Breaker.
So how this works is if when the county calculates the tax bill, if it exceeds the cap, then a credit
is applied so that my tax bill does not exceed the cap.
Since reorganization reallocates the property tax levy, it may cause an increase in property tax rates.
If the calculated tax bill, as I stated before, is above the cap, the taxpayer does not pay the full
rate increase because the tax cap limits the bill. That's why I said earlier, some taxpayers may not
even be impacted by this reorganization.
But those taxpayers that are impacted, there is an impact on the overlapping taxing units. So when circuit
breaker credits increase, meaning more taxpayers receive credits, local government may receive less
property tax revenue because there's larger credits that are applied. And overlapping units such as
schools, libraries, and counties can also experience revenue impacts as well.
So our fiscal analysis does include estimated impacts to the overlapping taxing units, and it also includes
future scenarios as well. So in slide 26, you can see the units that are impacted, and you can see that
Ellisville town will be impacted the most, not surprising. Ellisville is the one that is reorganizing,
along with Richland Township. So that is the,
The credits for Ellisville will increase by about 145,000, meaning there's gonna be a reduction in property
tax revenue of that amount. We've built that into the analysis. The reorganized town will be able to
compensate for that, but it's something that the town needs to be aware of. If you look at the other
taxing units, it's somewhat minor increases. For the school, we would expect an increase of those credits
of about $23,000.
For the county, it's about $8,000. So you can see there are really minimal increases except for the
town, and the town is aware of those increases.
And then we've tried to project that out in future years only because it's not that you're phasing anything
in. We know that this would start in 2027, but you need to see the future years because of the legislative
changes that phase in through 2031. So we wanted to kind of give you a feeling for what might happen
to the circuit breakers going forward in future years, not caused by
by the reorganization just simply caused by the phase in of homestead credits and other property tax
credits throughout the years. So what's next? The next phase of this process includes several important
milestones. One is a public hearing.
There will be some legislative approvals. We are going to submit the fiscal impact analysis to the Department
of Local Government Finance for their review and ultimately a public vote in November of 2026.
And of course, if this is approved, then it would be effective January 1st, 2027.
It's important to note that a separate majority approval is required for both town voters and township
voters. In other words, both groups must independently approve the proposal for it to move forward.
Some key takeaways to summarize the proposed reorganization and the fiscal plan is that, again, this
reorganization creates one
coordinated local government entity. It preserves the representation for both urban and rural areas.
It proposes to improve public safety, roads, planning, and community services. It reduces administrative
duplication. It supports long-term financial sustainability, and it positions the community.
and it positions the community for future growth and infrastructure investment. So while we know there
are estimated taxpayer impacts associated with this proposal, this analysis indicates that those impacts
are generally modest for many property owners, particularly when the tax caps are considered. Now I do have
a copy of the fiscal impact analysis. I've covered a majority of it in this presentation, but just quickly,
we did review this to ensure that this does meet the requirements pursuant to the Indiana Code. It has
all of the relevant data that is needed to be in this fiscal plan, and again, it was summarized in the
PowerPoint. In fact, most of the graphs were in the PowerPoint.
So that concludes my presentation. Just one for clarity. You kept referring to police. Just for everybody's
consideration, that does not mean the police will only respond to current town limits. They will still
be responding the entire township. It's just the funding stream to make things easier for everybody
will come from the urban component of this.
Maybe fully anticipate that the sheriff's department will continue to respond to the rural areas as
well So let's reorganize that. Okay, then we need do you need to make an update? Now, let's make that
change Okay So that's gonna be an issue that we need to deal with Because again, we were taking it over
so sheriff's department doesn't respond to a municipality So we need to do some refigures here
I think that needs to be taken under advisement of the Public Safety Committee. Any other questions?
Okay, thank you. Where do we go from here, Ms. Brown? We were gonna go to public comment. If you would
like to, yes.
All right. Well, we'll entertain our members of the public. You have a three-minute time limit. Just
as a reminder, this is for your comments, not question answered with the council, but definitely something
we'll take into account. So if there's anyone in chambers who wish to speak, please step forward. If
you're online, please raise your hand using the raise hand function.
Perry would like to speak if we can unmute him and begin his time, please. I think we have a great internet
system and the sound from the chambers doesn't come through very well, so it's a little bit difficult
to hear. But I sent the Aliceville town councilors a memo earlier today last year with the town manager
and also with the clerk president. So you all have copies of the three issues
And we, myself, and Mr. Sharma, they're present at the meeting today, I believe. Oh, I can't see who's
in the audience, but I believe he is. And we raised three issues. One was related to the projections
on the fiscal impact, to the projections related to the wheel tax and other revenues
Another was where the projections of the Woolcloth income tax, and the third was whether there should
be something built into the plan to be more responsive to the shore on the rainy day, which this has done.
I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. Are you finished? I'm finished. All right. Thank you, sir. I just wanted
to call attention to the contents, the mental open. The mental open was even more detailed. All right.
Thank you, sir. Anyone else? Online or in chat? Seeing none, we'll move now to the resolutions.
I would note that just in order to save paper, I didn't duplicate copies of the exhibits. The exhibits
that would be attached to the resolutions are the same for each one. So that would be one. A, the township
resolution authorizing the township board to move forward with a reorganization. Exhibit B is the town's
response and its resolution authorizing moving forward with
So the first item on the agenda is the Township board's resolution dated May 27, 2026 to preliminarily
approve the fiscal impact analysis for the proposed reorganization. Before we do that, may I ask a question?
Sure. Paige, with the police protection, we're higher still
The public safety plan is hiring three additional officers, correct? And six, I think three right away.
And we're going to, right. And the plan for that, we would still be the first responders for the whole
township. We would still manage and maintain with the sheriff would be for emergencies like they would
be for the city of Bloomington.
provided to me is that the only the urban would be taxed the police. Oh, that's correct. Right. If you
all want to continue to provide police protection, town police protection outside of the current urban
area, that's up to you. Is there anybody from the Public Safety Committee here today? No. I do know
that that was when we talked about it and the intention was always for us to cover the whole township.
What our fiscal analysis shows is the tax rate for the police will only be in the urban area. OK. So
that's not saying just because the tax rate's there. But you can't respond outside of there. Does that
answer your question a little bit better, Scott? You have a concern? As long as they're getting the
people they need, because this, again, guys, it goes to fairness. Right.
Stream is coming from the urban I can support that but just to put out there. Well, we're gonna do all
this and the sheriff's still gonna respond That's disingenuous. So we can't go down that road So we
need to make it clear to everybody that police protection will be for the entire township because it'll
be one unified town So it's not like we're gonna segment off. You're gonna get this service. You're
not gonna get this service That's not fair either. So just in the interest of fairness I needed to bring
this up because
Otherwise, it's being disingenuous up front and calls into question everything else we've done. So for
everybody's understanding, all services go to all members of the new town, not just segments thereof.
So fire will respond to the entire township, police will respond to the entire township, public works
will respond to the entire township. So it's not, even though there's two different taxing rates, that's
to get everything fair to begin with, not withholding services or providing services
if that makes sense. Am I correct in that? Everything from the Public Safety Committee, Darla, that's
your understanding too from the Public Safety Committee, correct? They did not partition and say that
public safety stops at town borders or anything like that? No, I think that's correct. Right. And that's,
if we were just going to maintain the town and rely on the sheriff, which, I mean, that's not fair to
do, we would not have needed to hire any policemen.
For the purpose of going through the entire township, okay? No, sorry. I just wanted to make The town's
not available to share and agency some Yeah, all right. Yeah, that's where we're getting community
Right. And I wanted to clarify that for everybody and not that we have an expectation that sheriff is
going to respond to everything outside the current town board. Okay. Yeah. Yes. Okay. So the mutual
aid agreements, that's what they're just for fire. No, it's for all of us. Yeah. So, I mean, you're
not going to lose any protection, but we're not going to rely on the sheriff's department to be your
first point contact and the first officer. Correct. So my question then,
I mean, was this taken into consideration? Because I kind of hear conflicting issues here, I mean. So
as part of the fiscal analysis, what was taken into consideration is that the police rate, the property
tax rate for police will only be charged to the current taxpayers within the current town of Ellsville.
How the town decides to provide the service, that's up to you. So if you want to continue to provide
that service outside the town, that is totally, that doesn't have anything to do with the fiscal impact
analysis. That would probably be deeper within the public safety committee's analysis. It's part of
the draft plan to do for the whole township. I will note, though, that all taxpayers within the county
pays the rate for share of services. So they could technically respond anywhere within the county. So
I was simply saying that the sheriff
That was always the intention and it was taken into account from day one either we've never wavered
from that So that means that we do have enough staff to handle that. Yeah, correct And would that be
all six in the first year or
And it's easier to on board three and then keep your working your way from that point forward. And with
the amount of calls, three would suffice while we get those up to. Currently, yes. Right. Currently.
Well, you know, I know we have a current problem of officers on duty during all three shifts. I mean,
this just to me, that's been
Okay. We have a couple problems with on leave and whatever else. As we expand our city four times the
size, is just one extra officer per shift going to be able to handle all this? From what police is advising,
yes, they feel that they can manage it. Here's what we said, or here's what the Public Safety Committee
said in its report, which is in the draft report that was approved by the re-organization committee.
To ensure adequate law enforcement resources exist in a reorganized town, the police department recommends
the addition of 13 full-time positions, 12 full-time sworn officers, and one full-time civilian. And
then the next paragraph says the reorganization can be recognized as the significance of the financial
impact created by the addition of 13 new positions and suggests a phase-in approach over the next five
to seven years. The immediate need is the addition of three full-time sworn officers.
And that would give actually more coverage, or at least the same, to what they currently have, because
the sheriff doesn't have, they're responsible for all the unincorporated areas, right? Well, guys, this
is a bigger issue, but to bring it out, how do I say this appropriately? The number of officers, assuming
this were to go through, the number of officers on duty on January 1st, 2027, when this were to take
effect if it's voted on,
will be no different than what they are right now tonight. Will not change. Will not change. Now that's
gonna include staffing from Ellisville, gonna include staffing from the county, include staffing from
the city, include staffing from the state police, include staffing from the Indian Department of Natural
Resources, from the Steinsville police. It's all one big homogeneous group as it were when it comes
to emergencies. Yes, if your mailbox got knocked down it may take an extra hour before somebody comes
to talk to you.
But if your home's getting broken into, rest assured, the response time will be the same because the
numbers will not change. What we're changing in the draft concept, and that's why I was so hot about
this, is we're adding more to those numbers over time. Now, that may not reduce the sheriffs at all,
so you may have more at that point. It won't reduce the city at all, won't reduce the state at all,
won't impose natural resources at all. We're proposing to add more and more and more as time goes on
in order to adequately staff the current town and township.
That's why it was so important to me to bring out the clarity of, no, it's going to be Ellitsville police
responding to the new complete governmental body, not some people get one, some people get the other.
I'll be honest with you right now, depending upon what's going on in the rest of the county, you very
well may have Ellitsville police responding to something in Steinsville and the county responding to
something in Ellitsville or vice versa because of the way the fluid flow works. It's the same with the
fire department. If Ellitsville's out on something major,
Then Monroe Fire Territory backs them up. City of Bloomington backs them up and vice versa. So your
emergency services will not change. And that was the important part for me to get across here is we're
not changing anything as far as the current numbers. We're proposing to add two over time. That work,
that make sense? Yeah. You said two, three, right? Three immediately. Three immediately. Okay, and then
two more over. Well, three more.
a lot more than. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
to a non-emergency police issue, what are they saying about maintaining roads and snow removal? It would
be the same thing. Again, the town would have to take on that responsibility because it would be one
town. It will not be town and township. And that's in the plan, too? It's in the plan. They have a plan
to cover all the township roads outside of the current town limits. Equipment and personnel?
everything's been talked about, and we do have a plan. So the town has a Department of Public Works,
not just a street department and utilities department like they used to. So that way in the wintertime,
for example, if some of the utilities employees are needed, they can switch over to the roads to help
get them cleared.
And there is a plan to add some personnel, so it's not like we're going to try to do it with the existing
staff. Right. Do we have any numbers of how many people were looking at adding? I think there was actually
somewhere in there. I think it's two. Two. And I understand what Jay's saying, too. I just don't see
how two people can handle the increased size of this. I just. That's why.
You hired us to take care of it. Yeah. Logistically, it just doesn't make sense. I mean, how many people
does the county have in the township right now? None. They're all centrally based. No, they do take
care of the township. I know. They're all centrally based. Right. But they're not going to take care
of Elksville proper, I guess, after this. I mean, so we're going to inherit all those streets and roads.
Right. But it's, again, it's the
And this is the concept of the police that is the same fires a little different because they've been
doing it for 40 years. But the county just doesn't have two people assigned just to this township. Those
two people may have to work in Bloomington Township Benton Township Salt Creek whatever that day they
may not be immediately available to the township. He's proposing to add to immediately. There is room
for some other hires as well. Anybody we hire is going to be able to plow snow so.
there'll be more than two people added to the roster of who plows at night. You'd be surprised what
we can do with the crews we have now. We've always taken care of you and we will in the future. No buts.
We talked to them. They said they do not want to take care of us and we should expect
to plan on taking care of ourselves. And so, I just explained we're going to have some other hires and
when we hire, we usually hire thinking we have one more plow. That's the whole thing behind the Department
of Public Works. We're going to hire two more people, but our plan says we're only going to hire two.
So we are going to hire more.
The plan also says we have room for contractors. So that's the other thing, too. That's what Sheridan
Adams Township did. So if we have a major snow event. For instance, if we hire somebody for parks, there'll
be planned snow, too. What's going on right now? I mean, it's all hands on deck. When we had our big
snow storm, all of our crews worked and
We combined the utilities in the street department. If I remember right, we was plowing sparks at the
end of the day, we'd get the job done. But those concerns were heavily weighted and addressed. We talked
to, I mean, Kip was involved with it. And I mean- We're definitely not gonna let our mouth over load
our butt, so. No, and I mean- We thought about it.
Like I said, it gives us flexibility also to hire contractors until we can, if we need more people.
And Jay, I didn't mean to cut you off. Go ahead and finish it. I make a motion for the Richland County
Trustees Board to accept
to approve the resolution for the financial impact analysis for the proposed reorganization of the township
and the town of Ellitsville. I'll second the motion. Oh, no, I'll do it, because I'm the secretary.
Sorry, we do it different than they do so.
I call myself Don Durnall. I vote yes. David Willoughby? Yes. Jay Thrasher? Present. I think we need
a vote, don't we? You want a vote? Yeah. No.
Moving to the town of Ellsville, and I'll call as a resolution 1026, a preliminary approval of a fiscal
impact analysis proposed reorganization. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Motion to second.
Scott Holdom? Yes. William Ellis? Yes. Trevor Sater? Yes. Dan Swaffer? No. Motion passes.
So both motions have passed. Any comments from anyone before we move forward? I would say almost every
one of these concerns raised are in the plans. So I would encourage everybody to look at those plans.
Those concerns have been addressed by the subcommittees. And just to be fair for everybody, this is
a preliminary approval of a fiscal impact analysis to move forward.
This is not the vote to combine both of them That is much later before we ever send it to the taxpayers
if it gets sent to the taxpayers So it'll be plenty of times for public comment from this point forward
The draft plan is available. Is it not William? I would encourage everyone to read it bring forward
any questions or concerns In its in its final form, it's it's available now
final draft form I apologize yes subject to modification still correct but yeah it's been out there
for anybody okay I mean those are good concerns but the subcommittees they did their job to address
those concerns and make sure that they were sure addressed
So we have two other meeting dates that are currently listed June 10th 2026 at 630. This is a joint
public hearing on a plan of reorganization June 26. I'm sorry June 22nd 2026 at 645 note the difference
in time a joint public meeting on the plan of reorganization. This is where the boards will either reject
or approve said motions and move them forward. And at that point assuming they are voted up it will go to the
Voters as a whole on the November ballot if they are voted down by either board then the motion essentially
is over and it will not move forward to the taxpayers Anything further miss Brown mr. Cook anything
for you anything from you Special thanks to page for
always being diligent and getting all this put together. It really makes a really hard process a lot
easier because of their work. Any more board comments from anyone? Seeing no further, we stand adjourned.