Cloverdale council considers options for town manager
CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Town Council now has a workable agreement with the county when it comes to building inspections. In turn, it considered what to do with a current vacancy during a special meeting held last Thursday.
Taking a major step forward, the council finally approved an agreement in which the county would take responsibility for inspections and building permits. The Putnam County Commissioners signed the same agreement during their June 15 meeting.
Though specific details have to be ironed out, the town plans to retain its zoning and unsafe building requirements, along with retaining its own Board of Zoning Appeals and Plan Commission.
One change that will take place is to specific fees for inspections and permits. County officials made the decision to bring all of the town’s fees in line with the counties, which will mean higher fees in some places and lower fees in others.
While the new agreement will eliminate the burden of building inspections, it opened up a discussion for how Cloverdale’s town manager would be replaced. Town Attorney Daniel Hofmann presented the prospect of adding two new positions to take on essential administrative and enforcement duties.
Council Vice President Greg Jay liked the idea of having both an administrative employee and someone else who would address ordinance enforcements. However, he cautioned that specific qualifications needed to be outlined if and when the town would post them to candidates.
The council ultimately agreed to table the consideration in order to come up with those requirements.
Making changes to the town’s salary ordinance was also brought up by Hofmann. He stated that he was working with auditor Susie Bass on amendments deemed necessary, and that a completely revised ordinance would be complete by the council’s July meeting.
At the same time, Councilman Gary Bennington claimed that pages had been removed from the ordinance after it was approved last December. He pointed this to former Clerk-Treasurer Cheryl Galloway, who was recently met with accusations of corruption in setting the town’s finances.
In other business:
• The council approved to retain the town’s employee health insurance. The issue came up because HBG Insurance had reached out with a potentially cheaper package. The problem is that July 1 is the renewal deadline for the current insurance, and the council was not given much time to publicly consider other options.
Jay reiterated that the town could not risk a lapse in coverage. However, it was agreed that HBG’s proposal would be considered before the next renewal date comes.
• The council also considered Hofmann’s input on two issues related to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The council first approved purchasing hearing and visual improvement code for the town’s website. This was necessary to prevent future litigation by firms accusing non-compliance.
Hofmann also stated that INDOT had requested documentation for the town’s probable ADA transition plan, and whether this plan would be drawn up in-house or by a third-party contractor. Jay motioned to find a third-party so that the council could have a direction on what is needed.
This is related to another ADA issue in which the sidewalk on Lafayette Street, located in front of Whitaker Funeral Home, was not compliant. He said that INDOT needed a response on this by July 4, but that an extension could be requested.
Board member Cindy Holland and Town Marshal Steve Hibler were not preset at the meeting.
The next regular meeting of the Cloverdale Town Council is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14 at 7 p.m. in the Cloverdale Town Hall.
Editor Jared Jernagan contributed to this report.