The annual and regular monthly meetings for Carmi Township were held on Tuesday night, with most of the conversation occurring during the regular board meeting.
The Town and Road Employee Health Insurance was again on the agenda. Road Commissioner Chris McEwing requested to re-evaluate the plan after an audit showed that a road employee’s wife was using the insurance plan for dental work (https://www.wrul.com/local-news/township-questioned-over-election-health-coverage-hiccup).
Supervisor Pam Deig opened it up for a discussion on the matter,
Deig: “Let’s give the board an opportunity to talk about it and see if there’s any changes that anyone would like to make.”Brad Chapman: “I don’t have an issue with it give to the spouse or family.”Deig: “Oh, I do.”Chapman: “Why?”Deig: “Because we’re a small Township, we don’t even have to offer it to employees, and I don’t think we should offer family coverage.”McEwing: “I mean, what’s, what’s the downfall from that? You know, I mean, if you’re giving these to, if you’re giving the employee $500, he might as well spend it how he wants.”Deig: “We’re not giving them $500.”McEwing: “Okay, towards their premium. I think he should have the right to put his spouse or his child on there, I don’t know why.”Deig: “There’s companies that do, and there’s companies that don’t. It’s an expense to the Township.”McEwing: “That we’re already paying.”
The board made two key decisions: to explore options by looking into the City of Carmi’s health insurance, and to table the discussion until further research into family coverage options is completed.
Moving on to the other hot topic of the night, Township Attorney Greg Stewart explained that Jim Sharp, who won the concrete bid for the salt storage building, was asking for the Township to reimburse him $1,090. Previously, before Sharp could start work on the project, the board found that Sharp was not bonded (insured). Sharp spent $1,000 to obtain the certification needed to start the project. Stewart shared his thoughts on the matter,
“In thinking it through, I think it would be inappropriate for the Township to approve of any additional payment to Mr. Sharp. And here’s my reasoning: typically, when you do these projects, if there’s an increase in the work to be done or the bid amount, there’s a change order done, which increases in some manner, and it’s agreed to by all. That was not done. If you were to pay Jim part or all of the bond, that would be additional compensation over and above the bid, which would not be right.”
The board agreed not to reimburse Jim Sharp $1,090.
Following the board’s decision on reimbursement, the board addressed a new topic: filling the FOIA officer vacancy left by Mike Baxley. Township Clerk Tammy Coale was approved for the position after being nominated by Pam Deig.
The board then heard from representatives of First Bank, who discussed money market interest rates and proposed consolidating all Township funds. The board approved consolidating all Township funds at an interest rate of 3.25% and moving the money market funds from Banterra to First Bank.
Concluding the regular board meeting, Deig raised the possibility of entering into an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Carmi and White County boards to assist with the dog pound. Deig stated that she wanted to bring it up before meeting with the mayor or county members. Trustees agreed to table the item.
During the annual meeting portion, Deig broke down highlights from the fiscal year, including the Indian Creek Township entering into a governmental agreement with Carmi Township to assist them. The election of new board members and clerk, and returning Trustee Tim Scates.
The year’s General and Emergency Assistance program collected 68 applications, one from Enfield, seven from Indian Creek, and 60 from Carmi.
The General Assistance program is administered through an application process and provides monthly assistance to qualified individuals. The Emergency Assistance is for individuals who fall on hard times and can apply once every twelve months. The total disbursed for the year was $48,021.94. Deig explained how they’ve helped others using the program,
“The Township helps families both with GA and EA over the past fiscal year such as paying their rent to keep them in their homes. We’ve helped five families with shelter grants to keep them in their home. We’ve paid utilities for nine families in different ways as far as helping them with keeping the utilities running for ten families. The EA program also helps as well with the same thing with shelter, utility, basic essentials.”
She thanked Amy Wilson for her hard work and introduced the office staff to a new face, Addison Bradshaw. Bradshaw is the new General Assistance case worker and Cemetery secretary.
The next Township meeting will be on May