Township Clerk Airs Issues With Contract With Etna Green
June 11, 2020 at 2:13 a.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
Etna Township Clerk Julia Goon said the township wasn’t comfortable with the wording of the contract.
She said the township has to have a contract in place for 2020, and it’s already June. The last contract signed was valid through the end of 2019.
“We have emailed things back and forth and they aren’t in agreement with you in what we’ve come up with and here it is June and there’s still no contract in place,” Goon said.
Town attorney Jay Rigdon asked what specifically “the beef” was with the contract.
Goon mentioned the contract uses the term advisory board. “The name advisory board went out in the 1980s. It’s a township board. So the advisory board needs to come out. It’s not a big deal,” she said. Rigdon said that issue was easy to take care of.
Goon also said Etna Green wants to contract with the fire department and the township wants the contract to be between the township and the town of Etna Green.
“It’s Etna Township Volunteer Fire Department. Etna Township owns all the fire trucks, all of the equipment and then we contract with the fire department to run our fire department,” Goon said.
“Traditionally, at least around here, the fire department has been treated as a separate legal entity,” Rigdon said. “Meaning, the township had traditionally contracted with the fire department to do service and the town had traditionally contracted with the fire department to do service.”
Rigdon said Goon was right that the town could contract directly with the township, then the fire department is directly under the control of the township. If the fire department does something wrong, although Rigdon said he wasn’t saying they would, then the town has issue with the township. The township can’t go back and say the town’s issue is with the fire department, saying the liability lies with the township.
“If that’s what everyone wants, including the fire department, we can do that,” he said.
The third issue Goon brought up was insurance. The township is paying all of the insurance for the fire department. In the past, she said the town was paying the worker’s compensation insurance. She contacted the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and they and Goon doesn’t think it’s right. She tried to switch the worker’s compensation over to the township, but was told she couldn’t since the fire department already had it through the town.
Rigdon said the insurance can be fixed. He said he was explaining what was traditionally done. If the fire department wants to go ahead and say they are no longer a separate entity and they are employed by the township in a broader sense, then Etna Green can do a two-entity contract, instead of a three-entity one.
The contract was not signed by the end of the meeting and the wording issues will be addressed. There will have to be a special meeting to sign the contract or it will have to be signed during July’s meeting.
In other news, the Etna Green town council:
• Heard from Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation CEO Alan Tio about KEDCo’s Small Business Relief Fund and the fact KEDCo has partnered with TMap in Indianapolis, which helps to develop talent pipelines by recruiting out-of-state using LinkedIn and other sources.
• Asked that Clerk-Treasurer Patti Cook look into quotes for shingle work at the band stand in Remembrance Park and the villa at Heritage Park.
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Etna Township Clerk Julia Goon said the township wasn’t comfortable with the wording of the contract.
She said the township has to have a contract in place for 2020, and it’s already June. The last contract signed was valid through the end of 2019.
“We have emailed things back and forth and they aren’t in agreement with you in what we’ve come up with and here it is June and there’s still no contract in place,” Goon said.
Town attorney Jay Rigdon asked what specifically “the beef” was with the contract.
Goon mentioned the contract uses the term advisory board. “The name advisory board went out in the 1980s. It’s a township board. So the advisory board needs to come out. It’s not a big deal,” she said. Rigdon said that issue was easy to take care of.
Goon also said Etna Green wants to contract with the fire department and the township wants the contract to be between the township and the town of Etna Green.
“It’s Etna Township Volunteer Fire Department. Etna Township owns all the fire trucks, all of the equipment and then we contract with the fire department to run our fire department,” Goon said.
“Traditionally, at least around here, the fire department has been treated as a separate legal entity,” Rigdon said. “Meaning, the township had traditionally contracted with the fire department to do service and the town had traditionally contracted with the fire department to do service.”
Rigdon said Goon was right that the town could contract directly with the township, then the fire department is directly under the control of the township. If the fire department does something wrong, although Rigdon said he wasn’t saying they would, then the town has issue with the township. The township can’t go back and say the town’s issue is with the fire department, saying the liability lies with the township.
“If that’s what everyone wants, including the fire department, we can do that,” he said.
The third issue Goon brought up was insurance. The township is paying all of the insurance for the fire department. In the past, she said the town was paying the worker’s compensation insurance. She contacted the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and they and Goon doesn’t think it’s right. She tried to switch the worker’s compensation over to the township, but was told she couldn’t since the fire department already had it through the town.
Rigdon said the insurance can be fixed. He said he was explaining what was traditionally done. If the fire department wants to go ahead and say they are no longer a separate entity and they are employed by the township in a broader sense, then Etna Green can do a two-entity contract, instead of a three-entity one.
The contract was not signed by the end of the meeting and the wording issues will be addressed. There will have to be a special meeting to sign the contract or it will have to be signed during July’s meeting.
In other news, the Etna Green town council:
• Heard from Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation CEO Alan Tio about KEDCo’s Small Business Relief Fund and the fact KEDCo has partnered with TMap in Indianapolis, which helps to develop talent pipelines by recruiting out-of-state using LinkedIn and other sources.
• Asked that Clerk-Treasurer Patti Cook look into quotes for shingle work at the band stand in Remembrance Park and the villa at Heritage Park.
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