ETNA GREEN — Etna Green Town Council approved a quote from Steve's Roofing for a well building project in town during a meeting Tuesday.
The town received three quotes for the project, ranging from approximately $7,000 to $22,000. Council President Heath Roberts said he spoke with all three companies that presented quotes and that each quote was for the same type of work.
"It's supposed to be an all-new steel roof and steel siding, so we don't have any more problems with vinyl siding being broke by kids throwing balls at it," said Roberts. "The eaves are rotten on that building ... I don't want the rot covered up, I want it fixed. And we also want to put a new door on there, too."
Roberts noted the pipes and plumbing in the well's interior had been painted by town employee Richard McManis. The only remaining violation from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for the well is addressing the roof and siding.
Council approved Steve's Roofing's quote in the amount of $12,000.
One resident brought up concerns with the appearance of the town's water after seeing residents post on social media about it. Residents have experienced issues with water being dark in color. Roberts said the color has stemmed from an excess amount of iron in the water.
"The water is perfectly clean to drink," said Roberts. "I've been on the phone with IDEM about it. What we did is we ran on the well at the park for a month to do a water study. Normally, we switch from one well to the other for about a week. That well puts out three times as much rust as the one at the trailer court. It's clean to drink and it's fine with IDEM."
Roberts said the park well's issues would need to be addressed through re-chlorination.
Health Insurance Stipend
Council tabled further discussions on a health insurance stipend for town employees to their April meeting.
Currently, Clerk-Treasurer Patti Cook and McManis are the town's two employees. Cook said having individual health insurance plans for each employee would be more expensive than a group plan. Councilwoman Susan Klinefelter disagreed, stating she had already looked into the issue.
"Group insurance is based on age," said Klinefelter. "It's very expensive for group plans. And the individual plans are based on salary, it's based on your income."
Klinefelter said individual plans are as low as $64 a month.
Cook and Councilman Keith Claassen both said that's not comparable insurance. Roberts recommended the council discuss the topic further with town attorney Nick Jacobs, who was unable to attend the meeting.
"You can just figure it out with the next clerk-treasurer is what you'll do," said Cook.
Livestreaming of Meetings
Council also discussed livestreaming the town's meetings, as a state law will go into effect on July 1 requiring all government meetings to be live-streamed.
Klinefelter said she spoke with two lawyers in Indianapolis, who both said the meetings have to be live-streamed. The only time council does not have to live-stream meetings is if there are technical difficulties.
Currently, the meetings are recorded and uploaded after the meetings occur to Etna Green's YouTube channel.
Council agreed to discuss the topic further with Jacobs.
The council also:
• Approved purchasing a new mower for $800.
• Approved advertising for a part-time lawn mowing position.
• Announced the council will open bids for the Heritage Park trail project during a special meeting at 4 p.m. Monday. The meeting is open to the public.
The council's next regular meeting is at 7 p.m. April 8.