Perry Township Board Meeting Minutes: October 2, 2014
The meeting is called to order at 5:15 pm
Members Present: Barb Sturbaum, Susie Hamilton, Jack Davis, Dan Combs
Non-Members Present: Pat Combs, Sharon Yoder, Novella Shuck, Guy Loftman
Agenda
- Mt. Salem Cemetery Protection, Inc.
- Awarding of Community Grants
- Approval/Acceptance of the 2015 Budget
- Approval of Additional Appropriation
- Other
- Bug Room
- Parking Lot
- Community Sheltering Project
- Computers
Mt. Salem Cemetery Protection, Inc.
The Township’s lawyer Guy Loftman is present to discuss the Mt. Salem Cemetery Protection 501C-3 (which has now officially been incorporated), and to walk the board through the first official board meeting for the nonprofit, as the Perry Township board is also the temporary board for that organization as well. Barb calls the first board meeting of the Mt. Salem Cemetery Protection to order at 5:17pm. The first meeting was to take place earlier in the year, in March, but the group was still lacking its 501c-3 status so it was postponed. Guy went through the paperwork for the group and verified with Sharon that the IRS Form 990-N was indeed submitted. There was also paperwork for the board to sign okaying the delay in meeting for the first time.
Guy asks what bank the group would prefer to use, and Susie Hamilton moves to use Peoples State Bank. Jack Davis seconds the motion, Barb Sturbaum (acting president) called for a vote, and all were in favor. The bank account will be opened with a check that Mrs. Joan Snoddy sent to Perry Township in 2013 and which had been at that time put into Guy’s escrow account for safekeeping. Jack is acting treasurer, and Guy presents him with the check with which to open the account. It is advised that Sharon and Jack go to the bank together to open the account. The board agrees that they will open a savings account for now, but that a checking account will later be established. Dan asks whether the group should wait to open an account until the temporary board has been replaced by the new board, but Guy recommends getting the account set up before switching the board over. When Dan names the new board, the acting board will resign (which they can do through email if they wish) and Jack will then go down to the bank and inform them that he has resigned his position as treasurer. To appoint a new board, the new board needs to meet and be given the copy of the bylaws. Currently, Dan has the authority to control who is on the board and he controls bylaws.
Guy also has a letter for Joan Snoddy that Barb and Dan sign thanking her for her generous contribution to establishing the Mt. Salem Cemetery Protection, Inc. Susie Hamilton moves to approve all actions that Guy has made in the previous years in establishing the nonprofit, Jack Davis seconds the motion, and all are in favor, thus concluding the Mt. Salem Cemetery Protection, Inc. board meeting.
Awarding of Community Grants
As discussed in the previous board meeting, there are twenty-three agencies requesting Township grants this year. The amount in the budget to distribute to community agencies is $72,000. VITAL’s grant comes out of the Township Assistance budget and is thus not included in the total. Martha’s House’s grant amount is at zero currently as the agency goes through organizational change; however, there is money in the emergency shelter fund that can later be re-appropriated to Martha’s House after this is done, perhaps in 3 weeks to a month. Also, Dan says that because of the money the Township spent on Bert Clemons’ position in Martha’s House, he really wants to see some data on what that money accomplished. Also, Amethyst House is in talks with the Interfaith Winter Shelter to establish a detoxifying center, and there may be a request later in the year related to that.
| Organization | Approved Budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Community Kitchen | $10,000.00 | |
| Hoosier Hills Food Bank | $10,000.00 | |
| Mother Hubbard's Cupboard | $5,000.00 | |
| Martha's House | $0.00 | |
| Interfaith Winter Shelter | $1,000.00 | |
| Middle Way House | $2,000.00 | |
| New Hope Family SHelter | $3,000.00 | |
| Stepping Stones, Inc. | $6,000.00 | |
| Amethyst House | $3,000.00 | |
| New Leaf New Life | $2,500.00 | |
| Bloomington Area Birthing Services (BABS) | $500.00 | |
| Monroe County History Center | $500.00 | |
| My Sister's Clost | $0.00 | |
| VITAL | $760.00 | |
| Girls, Inc. | $1,000.00 | |
| Boys & Girls Club | $1,000.00 | |
| Monroe County Youth Football | $500.00 | |
| Smithville Youth Baseball | $500.00 | |
| Perry Township Food Pantry | $4,000.00 | |
| Cutters Soccer Club | $500.00 | For scholarships only |
| Monroe County United Ministries | $1,000.00 | For affordable child care program |
| South Central Community Action Program (SCCAP) | $1,000.00 | |
| Emergency Shelter (set aside) | $19,000.00 | |
| TOTAL | $72,000.00 |
Approval/Acceptance of the 2016 Budget
Up for approval at this meeting is the 2015 proposed budget, as discussed in the September board meeting. Barb motions to approve the budget, Jack seconds this, and the motion is unanimously carried.
Dan states that the tax rate is less than last year, at 2.47%. He also informs the board about current political discussions to have “box stores” like Walmart be assessed on the value of the building’s cost to build instead of value of the store, and how this would decrease our resources if passed. He also mentioned that since the state amended its constitution with a set tax rate embedded in it, he is not certain how this will affect Township resources in the future either.
Additional Appropriation
As discussed in the September meeting, Anthem issued a refund to Perry Township for the expenses we paid in health insurance that exceeded the 20% maximum allowance for administrative costs. Perry Township wishes to refund some of this money back to the employees who paid into the family health insurance plans. As the employees paid at a ration of 20/80, the refund to employees will be 20% of the money returned to us by Anthem. Sharon states that employee records were checked and all potential employees who paid into the system have been accounted for. She provided a chart to the board members detailing the calculated disbursements for each employee. Barb motions to pass the appropriation with disbursements per the chart they were given. Susie seconds, and all approve.
Other
Bug Room
Management of Martha’s House is discussed again at this meeting. The Trustee and the board make it clear that the idea of Perry Township taking control of Martha’s House operations is off the table, with the one exception being if they stop paying taxes. If we took over operations, that would also make Martha’s House ineligible for most revenue sources, and we could only get emergency shelter grants. So we would have to be willing to sacrifice revenue for a more stable agency.
The Shalom Community Center’s Rapid Rehousing Program is also briefly discussed. As we understand them, the grants for Rapid Rehousing are only for those experiencing temporary, (NOT chronic) homelessness. However, proper case management is not always done and people slip through the screening process. So far, our office has seen at least five rapid rehousing clients. As long as we follow our guidelines and treat them as we treat other clients, however, our office should not be adversely affected by these new clients, but the pattern is starting to become troublesome, unlike Crawford Homes, whose clients we almost never see.
Barb adjourned the meeting at 6:50pm.