St. Albans Township/Alexandria Merger Commission Meeting

Agenda/Minutes 6/26/2024

1. Call to order, pledge of allegiance

Chairperson Dawn Burton calls to Order the St. Albans Township/Alexandria Merger Commission Meeting of June 26, 2024 at 7:02pm.

Note: these meetings are for the Merger Commission to review findings and to draw up the conditions for a merger.

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: 

Attorney at Law Craig Moncrief with Plank Law Firm

3. Review and Approval of Minutes 

Minutes from St. Albans Township/Alexandria Merger Commission Meeting 6/19/24.

Baer made an amendment to mileage for County Roads – 24 miles is the correct mileage.

Barnes Made a motion; seconded by Robertson, to approve the 6/19/2024 minutes as amended.  All in favor? Chair declares motion failed / carried. 

4. Old Business  

Plank Law fee agreement proposal

Barnes made a motion; seconded by Baer, to accept/reject the Plank Law Firm Letter of Engagement which approves an hourly billing rate not to exceed $295/hr.  All in favor? Chair declares motion failed / carried. 

Baer – Y

Burton – Y

Robertson – Y

Schiller – Y

Thorpe – Y

Barnes – Y

Barnes confirmed with the attorney that our estimate of hours needed to hire Plank Law Firm to assist in the drafting of the merger condition is appropriate.  The estimate of 33.5 hours was confirmed to be possible given where we currently are in the process.

Request for extension – status update:
Request submitted on 6/20/24.
-Village Council meeting on July 2, 2024
            – who will attend on behalf of the Commission?
-St. Albans Township Trustees meeting on July 9, 2024
            – who will attend on behalf of the Commission?  Burton

Ensuring quorum for next meeting, July 3 

• All members present confirmed they will be at July 3 meeting

Drafting Merger Conditions

      REMINDER re: road mileage: Township Mileage: 26, County Mileage: 24, State Mileage: 13, Village Mileage: 10.035

5. New Business

Drafting Merger Conditions – Firming up form of government, Village Administrator, Charter, City Status, Codified Ordinances and Employee Transition (sections 1.2-1.4)

Elections – Question from Barnes to attorney Moncrief re: how to proceed with putting in place a new government.  Do we need to put the candidates on the same ballot as the merger or have a special election after/if the merger passes?  Can temporary members be appointed by the commission until an election takes place?  Can we have a flexible number of council members (5 instead of 7 for example)?

Zoning – Ques from attorney Moncrief – What are our goals?  Add language that states we will use the comprehensive plan and/or the future land use map currently in place.  Add language that states we will continue to have 2 zoning codes, consistent with the current 2 zones.

Other notes: 

Attorney Moncrief will send an email with more information regarding the topics discussed (elections, zoning) and any other important information to consider as we move forward.  We confirmed it is not necessary for Plank Law Firm to attend every meeting, rather only as requested.  Moncrief requested a minimum 2 days notice if he needs to attend any currently scheduled Wednesday meetings.   In the case of additional meetings that would be held on days other than Wednesday he requests a weeks notice at minimum.

General Updates:

Dean Schiller provided an update on the funding projections for the new village.  The estimate for the revenue provided by a 1% earned income tax for the current St Albans Township is .87 mils.  This estimate does not include businesses within the township.  Schiller reported that he was able to confirm the demographic for the township is very similar to the demographic of the village, so adjusting for the current population, he was able to come up with the estimate.

6. Citizen Comments (3-minute time limit) 

NONE

7. Meeting Announcements 

The next meeting will be held on: Wednesday, July 3 at 7PM, location St. Albans Fire Station Community Room.

Future meetings are:
 July  3, 2024
July 10, 2024
July 17, 2024
July 24, 2024
July 31, 2024.
August 21, 2024
September 18, 2024
October 16, 2024
November 20, 2024
December 18, 2024
January 15, 2025
February 19, 2025
March 19, 2025
April 16, 2025
May 21, 2025
June 18, 2025

8. Adjournment 

Baer  made a motion; seconded by Barnes, to adjourn.
All in favor? Chair declares motion carried / failed. 

Chairperson Burton declares the meeting adjourned at: 7:55pm