St. Albans Township/Alexandria Merger Commission Meeting

Agenda/Minutes 1/22/25

1. Call to order, pledge of allegiance

Chairperson Carianne Meng calls to Order the St. Albans Township/Alexandria Merger Commission Meeting of January 22, 2025 at 7:02PM.

2. Committee Member Roll Call:  

Baer: Present / Not Present 

Barnes: Present /Not Present 

Burton: Present/ Not Present

Lodder: Present / Not Present

Meng: Present / Not Present 

Robertson: Present / Not Present 

Schiller: Present / Not Present 

Taylor: Present / Not Present

Thorpe: Present / Not Present  

Zanks: Present / Not Present 

Additional Attendees:

3. Review and Approval of Minutes

Minutes from St. Albans Township/Alexandria Merger Commission Meeting 11/20/24

Barnes made a motion; seconded by Lodder, to approve the 11/20/24 minutes. All in favor?

Chair declares motion failed / carried. 

4. Old Business 

Ensuring quorum for next meeting, February 5 and tentatively February 19 or 26


Income tax research

Village of Alexandria – closes finances Mid-Feb
-Village Expenses $588k
-Township Expenses $2.2M

Estimated resources for the Township in 2025: $4.2M (Township est. resources include fire department)
Estimates resources for the Village in 2025: $1.3M

Township has $1.8M in cash as of 1/7/25
Village cash total unavailable tonight – Dean to circle back

Discussion of the data re: determining average individual income for Township
Earned income for the Township estimated at $1,024,025
Task: determine how to remove those who do not work
Task: determine how much business growth we might see in the Township

Status on 501C-3 – Attorney had to create a federal 501C-3 certification – this is all finished.
-Dean to present to the Trustees on the cost of this

Checking account for the Merger is being charged a service charge – Dean is following up on this to have a fee-free account.

5. New Business

Intangibles of a merge – Commission members to create list of their perceived intangible benefits and/or drawbacks

Questions: Does the new presidential administration change the needs or focus of the Merger Commission?
                -Not at this time
Updating the FB and webpage regularly with minutes, updates

                -Facebook posts
                -Website is up to date
                -Minutes are posted through the end of 2024

Drafting Merger Conditions

Each member of the Commission will need to have a statement/report that is read into the minutes that summarizes why they voted the way they voted about putting the merger on the ballot.

Target date: Wednesday, April 23 is the latest date for lawyered conditions to be in the Commission Members’ hands

Target date: Wednesday, May 7 is our deadline to have the Commission Decision about whether to put the merger on the ballot. We will meet on this date at 7PM.

Ann to reach out to Craig Montcrief re: timeline on merger conditions and election details (re: electing a mayor and council for a merged entity)

General Updates:

6. Citizen Comments (3-minute time limit)

Mr. Lees reminds the commission that we will need more trucks and helpers

7. Meeting Announcements
Next meeting is February 5, 2025 at 7PM at the St. Albans Firehouse Meeting Room

8. Adjournment
Schiller made a motion; seconded by to Robertson adjourn.
All in favor? Chair declares motion carried / failed. 

Chairperson Meng declares the meeting adjourned at 8:34PM.