Town Council Update

We had a relatively busy month of activity for Town Council in the month of August.   A few highlights for your information:

1. We adopted an electronic meeting resolution that defines how the Town Council can meet virtually.   This was driven some by the State of Indiana and their own policies, as well as a desire for the Council to codify our own.   The short story of this policy is that if Town Council is meeting in-person, it is the requirement that speakers, presenters and other stakeholders also be in-person.   If for some reason the Town Council is meeting virtually, those same speakers, presenters and stakeholders may also attend and participate virtually.
   
   
2. We were asked to review a request for a stop sign on Cedar Street from a concerned resident.  DPW Superintendent Lance Lantz attended our meeting and noted that stop signs are not a good tool for speed control, as they are designed for traffic control.  The presence of stop signs in non-needed areas can become more dangerous as those same speeders may ignore them while pedestrians and other cars will assume they may stop.   The Council has chosen not to place stop signs arbitrarily as it will quickly lead to a mass of requests on every intersection and cause traffic to grind to a halt.  We did ask Chief Spears for ZPD to put out speed monitors that track the speeds of cars, while increasing enforcement within the Village.  We’re looking forward to hearing the results of this efforts in a September meeting.
   
   
3. We discussed the continued expansion of our sewer system to our neighborhoods along Oak Street towards Anson.   While no official action was taken, it was good to hear the plan of providing them service without a need to raise taxes.
   
   
4. The Council approved a resolution transferring the right-of-way from Boone County to the Town in the Holliday Farms area.  This land, including a bridge, will eventually be used to expand our trail system, but in the meantime we are the proud new owners of a red bridge.
   
   
5. We amended some of our Town employee salaries to better reflect the marketplace.  This was an effort of the Town’s HR department (a department of one) to make sure we’re paying appropriately.  Our employees have a vast wealth of knowledge and are recruited in a tight labor market.  It was important for the Council to make sure they felt they were being paid fairly and in-line with our neighboring communities.  This also introduced pay bands to provide a range of salaries for employees as they gain experience.
   
   
6. Various departments asked for budget appropriations outside the original budget.   Those included:
   
   
   1. Salaries to reflect the recently updated ordinance mentioned above for $26,500 (approved).
      
      
   1. Paving of the former PNC lot in downtown for $125,000 (continued).
      
      
   1. Master planning for the nature preserve for $150,000 (continued).
      
      
   1. Master planning for a community center for $125,000 (denied).
      
      
   1. New golf cart paths in the public 9-hole golf course for $460,000 (approved).

All our meetings can be attended live or streamed on YouTube (live and archived).  Feel free to join us anytime.

Lastly, Zionsville is at 96% vaccine rate!   That’s great, and with the recent approval of the Pfizer shot by the FDA, hopefully many others in Central Indiana where vaccine rates are much lower will be inclined to get their shots too.