Russellville Council addresses town hall replacement ideas

RUSSELLVILLE -- The Russellville Town Council had more on its plate than usual Tuesday evening as it tackled a varied agenda during its regular April meeting.

The council put its attention to the town’s capital assets, which include buildings, equipment and investments such as bonds. Clerk-Treasurer Martha Mandleco said the town had an incomplete record of assets going back to 2017, and that a review, but not an audit, would have to be done to comply with the Indiana State Board of Accounts.

Mandleco said she had a contract with Larry Tippin, a local historian and certified public accountant (CPA), to help with the review, which would eventually cover assets acquired from 2017 through this year. However, the council posited questions about the contract’s fee threshold, as well as how often Tippin would do the reviews.

“From my understanding, this would involve a review of something similar to depreciation schedules,” Town Attorney Stu Weliever said. “It’s understood that a town like Russellville is essentially a one-horse operation, and needs to have someone go through it.”

“That’s been a big part of the problem with us not keeping up with it,” Mandleco added. “Nobody checks the checker.”

Mandleco provided that Tippin could review capital assets from 2017 to 2018 at this point, and, concurring with a suggestion from Council President Cary McGaughey, would review 2019’s records into next year. The council took Weliever’s lead that Tippin’s contract could have a cap, and that the town could back out before the process starts.

As such, the council approved the contract with the understanding that if the cost exceeded $1,500, it would come back to the council for approval. Mandleco also said Tippin’s hourly fee was “very reasonable” for contracting a CPA in general.

Council members also approved a resolution accepting ownership of 213 S. Harrison St. from the Putnam County Commissioners. The approval is the latest step after which the commissioners recently obtained the property from the Indianapolis firm CQ Properties.

Mandleco said the town insurance company, Tokio Marine, had posed a question of whether the council wanted the town office to be repaired or replaced. McGaughey was of the opinion that the town hall should be replaced, so that the town would have a new building and be centrally located as before.

However, council member Cathy Jones said the council could not commit to the project as of now, stating, “We don’t know yet the dollar amount for what it would cost.”

Mandleco pointed out that a formal determination was not needed at this time, but the council asked that its inclination that the building needed to be replaced should be reflected in the meeting’s minutes.

The move comes in the wake of the building’s roof collapsing in late-February due to strong winds. The damaged buildings at 215 and 219 S. Harrison St. are currently owned by Victor Pevler, though the Commissioners had been intending to purchase them, and then raze the structures and sell the property.

The council also broached the issue of what its obligations were concerning costs necessitated by the move to the Russellville Community Center. The problem boiled down to how much it would reimburse given the circumstances and its level of activity.

The body emphasized that both the council and the building’s administrators had to get a consensus on how much utilities were being used. The council and representatives from the community center agreed that both entities could meet soon.

In other business, Mandleco said that the town was up to date on payments and submissions for its Community Crossings grants. The council also asked that Ron Shepard, who is mediating between the town and HWC Engineering, be told to put Russellville’s needs early on the work schedule for Wabash Valley Asphalt, which is handling upcoming road repairs.

The council also read a letter from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, which declared that the town was now designated as a historic district. The letter also seemed to provide that properties in the area were now eligible for grants relating to their preservation.

As the Russellville Water Board, the council heard from Mandleco that the town had pumped about 200,000 more gallons of water in March than was billed. However, she said that accounted for leaks which had sprung up and have since been plugged. Mandleco also said that the town’s hydrants had been recently flushed.

The next regular meeting of the Russellville Town Council and Russellville Water Board is scheduled for Tuesday, May 21 at 7 p.m. in the Russellville Community Center.