COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
CITY OF ATTICA
April 12, 2004

The Common Council for the City of Attica met on the 12th day of April 2004 at the hour of 7:00 p.m. at city hall. Those present: Mr. Bill Craft, Mrs. Valarie Maus, Mr. Larry Grant, Mr. Harold Burris, Mr. Larry Askren, Mr. Deon Swift, Mr. Tom O’Connor, and Ms. Sharon Negele.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING
Mrs. Maus made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 8, 2004 meeting, seconded by Mr. Burris.

DEPARTMENT HEADS
Mr. Jean reported that Milestone would begin black topping and patching this month. In addition, he has received a quote from Straightime on filling all the cracks for the downtown street repair.

Mr. Snoeberger reported that his annual 2003 report would be available by the next council meeting in addition to his comp time calculations. He also announced that there will be an auction on April 24th from 10:00AM to 12:00PM to sell off unwanted items from various city departments. A reserve will be placed on the old police car and fire truck. The new police car will be in service this week. In addition, Officer Aaron French has arranged for A.P.D. to benefit from equipment being discarded from the army. The only cost is shipping. A stop sign issue was raised at the intersection of Forest and Park. Mr. Snoeberger will investigate and consult the traffic committee.

Mr. O’Farrell announced that the clutch problems have been resolved on our Fire Engine. He also announced the submission of a grant request with FEMA for $56,000. This grant requires a 10% match and cannot be funded from an operating budget. This money would be used for equipment such as pagers, rescue equipment, gas detectors and turn out gear.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Randy Hancock of Hannum, Wagle & Cline presented the Perry Street grant project (Phase I – State Road 28 to Lithia). The grant is available through INDOT and is the only street in Attica that qualifies. In addition, they will apply for an another grant to piggyback this grant and complete Perry Street (Lithia to Sycamore). The council agreed that this was a worthwhile project. Ms. Negele explained that the financial requirements could be met from our utilities through the use of a resolution defining a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT). Indiana Code authorizes our council to charge our utilities an amount to compensate for taxes that would be collected if the utilities were privately owned. The council has the authority to transfer this money to the municipal fund it so elects. The council agreed to accept this project.

The City Budget 2004 was approved by the DLGF with several reductions. The general fund was cut by $81,400, Local road and Street by $37,089, and CCI by $10,158. In response we asked for the Park budget to be reduced by $30,000 and the General fund budget increased by $30,000. This change was accepted and approved by the DLGF.

NEW BUSINESS
C&D Battery submitted a request for continued tax abatement on personal property tax for new manufacturing equipment. They provided the necessary data to substantiate their levels of employment and benefits offered to meet the abatement requirements. Bill Craft made a motion to approve the tax abatement request and Mr. Grant seconded. All in favor to pass.

Mr. Burris made a motion to read resolution #3 in full to transfer monies from deferral and diversion fund to LEF Attica fund. Mr. Craft seconded. Mr. Burris made a motion to amend the amount to $4,000. Mr. Grant seconded this change. All in favor to pass.

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
Mr. Swift reminded the council about the City Wide cleanup project and asked if everyone was still in agreement that the Phelps Brothers will provide the service. Each council member was polled and all still agreed. The cleanup will occur May 13, 14 and 15th.

Per a new state law in 2003, the IDEM is implementing a new fee schedule for public water suppliers in the state. Attica Utilities will have to pay $.95 per meter. The liability will be phased in over the next three years. In year 2004 we will pay one third, year 2005 two thirds and year 2006 the full amount.

We received three bids on investing City Monies. All three were opened and briefly reviewed. Mr. Swift suggested that the finance committee meets and analyzes the bids. A meeting was set for April 19th at 6:30pm.

Mr. Swift advised the council on the status of CSO Long term control plan. The CSO advisory committee met and discussed the meeting with IDEM regarding 100% compliance of water quality standards or complete elimination of discharges. The committee felt it was necessary to bring in technical assistance from an engineering standpoint. It was proposed that we contract with Hannum, Wagle & Cline Engineering and incur a maximum of $10,000 in fees concerning this phase of the project. They have reassured us that they can help us successfully complete the LTCP with IDEM to their satisfaction.

ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the council, Mrs. Maus made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Craft.

________________________________ Deon H. Swift, II, Mayor ATTEST:

________________________________ Sharon Negele, Clerk/Treasurer