HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 6, 2025 Council Special Meeting COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA
October 6, 2025
Special Meeting Minutes
The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana met for the Special Meeting on October 6,
2025. Council President Stoner along with City Clerk Gill called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. The
meeting was open to the public in person as well as live streamed via the City Website using Zoom.
ROLL CALL:
The roll call was conducted by City Clerk Lisa Gill and present in Council Chambers were Councilperson
White, Council Vice President Burns, Councilperson Semones, Council President Stoner, Councilperson
Webb, Councilperson Snelling, Councilperson White arrived at 05:21 and Councilperson Anderson.
Councilperson Reed, and Councilperson Hawkins were absent. Let the record reflect that 7 Council
Members were present in Council Chambers and 2 were absent.
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Heather Metcalf 2026 Proposed Budget
Council President Stoner: "Okay. Since we have Mr. Merkley here, can you just clarify for us the
timeline that we're on for the budget?"
City Attorney Les Merkley: "My understanding, by law it has to be adopted by November third.
It's scheduled tonight for a public hearing on the budget. Your own budget calendar in the
notice was for the final vote on the budget to be adopted during the meeting on October 20th."
Council President Stoner: "Thank you. All right, so we'll move into the first item of new business:
Heather Metcalf 2026 proposed budget, anybody have any questions?"
Councilperson Snelling: "Yeah, did we get the 1.7 million? Did that get in for budget?"
Mr. Merkley: "If they approve that agreement."
Councilperson Snelling: "I didn't know if we were gonna get more."
Mr. Merkley: "You actually,you're netting close to two because you get the 1.7 plus we get to
keep what was in the account for the other lease service agreement we have, which I think is
about $300,000 in there. So you're going to net about$2 million."
Councilperson Snelling: "So we got four right, is that was you ended up with?"
Councilperson Webb: "No, well he's talkingtwo thisyear and then I talked to Fifer, but you
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know, they're working with us. I mean they really don't know."
Mr. Merkley: "They're going to get back to us. Their financial advisor is coming up with numbers
for us to have a long-term agreement moving forward."
Councilperson Snelling: "So we're gonna know what we're gonna have."
Councilperson Webb: "Because I have to say with Fifer getting in there in the last few, we've
never been able to get anything out of them, right, and they don't have to give us anything. This
is the first year we ever got anything, and the timing's perfect because we all know how our
budget is. So, over the years, I feel like that will progress."
Council President Stoner: "I know that's on the agenda for tonight, but I would like to thank the
administration for their professionalism in negotiating that agreement with River Ridge. I'm very
happy to see where that goes in the future as well. So, I know at the last meeting there was
conversation around the money in the City Council's budget that I believe Mr. Hawkins had
brought up. I spoke with Mr. Hawkins — I know he's out of town right now. I haven't really
heard anything else on that or heard if anyone was actually considering it.
Council Vice President Burns: "Did we not make those changes?"
Heather Metcalf,The City's Controller: "I have no changes from proposed."
Council Vice President Burns: "I was thinking we agreed to those changes in the last meeting."
Council President Stoner: "Which ones?"
Mrs. Metcalf: "Mr. Hawkins said that he was gonna get me some information because I was
starting to write them down, and he said there's a bunch here, so I'll just email them out. So I
don't know what you all have decided."
Council President Stoner: "I was under the impression that he was going to send those out. I
know we did have a conversation."
Councilperson Webb: "Wasn't that total around 40 or 50?That's just from hearsay, I don't
know."
Council Vice President Burns: "I thought it was more than that? Do you remember?"
Mrs. Metcalf: "I don't remember."
Council President Stoner: "So it was taking, for the council budget specifically: other supplies
would go to a $1,000, it was currently at $2,000. Legal services would go from $60,365 to
$50,000. Contractual services would go from $14,000 to $8,500. Travel and mileage would go
from $3,698 to $2,000. Advertisement would go to zero. Special projects would go from $3,600
to $2,000. Promotion would go from $1,500 to zero. Business meals would go from a $1,000 to
zero."
Councilperson Webb: "On legal, how does that work?What was that again, how did it change?"
Council President Stoner: "Sorry, it went from $60,365 to $50,000 flat."
Council Vice President Burns: "Some of that accounted for what we paid for contract legal
service, correct?"
Mrs. Metcalf: "Are you saying Mr. Wilder's services? Is that what you're asking?"
Council Vice President Burns: "Above and beyond Mr. Wilder's services."
Mrs. Metcalf: "Yes that is true, what was spent this year."
Council Vice President Burns: "Right, that had some of George in there?"
Mrs. Metcalf: "Yeah, some of that's where we paid George, that's why."
Council Vice President Burns: "It could be reduced down, and then we could address it if we
need to contract an attorney in the future."
Council President Stoner: "But we have another legal services line, that one was for City Council,
I believe, in the General Fund.The second one is City Council and LIT Economic Development,
and that one also has a legal services line."
Mrs. Metcalf: "Right, they were transfers. You transferred monies into there."
Council President Stoner: "That was what we paid George from, right?"
Mrs. Metcalf: "Both of them, yes."
Council President Stoner: "Okay, so that didn't come from the General Fund council budget,
though?"
Mrs. Metcalf: "Correct."
Councilperson Snelling: "So you said we cut it to $50,000 right?"
Council President Stoner: "The one in the General Fund, yes, it would go from $60,365 to
$50,000.The total cuts from City Council's budget that Mr. Hawkins proposed would be $23,348
in cuts, that's only from City Council. He had also suggested some minor changes to the Police
Merit and Fire Merit funds: Police Merit from $9,000 to $4,000, and then Fire Merit, with minor
changes there that he said he was actively discussing.'
City Clerk Lisa Gill: "I don't think either one of the merit boards is aware of that because they've
been asking me, they do testing and promotions. Are you aware if he let them know?"
Council President Stoner: "I believe he told me he was just attempting to reach out to them or
he was having conversations."
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Mrs. Gill: "Yeah, cause I do the claims for them."
Councilperson Semones: "I reached out on that issue and the response I got from Darren Brody
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was the line item needs to stay in the budget."
Mrs. Metcalf: "I don't know what line items you're talking about?"
Councilperson Semones: "I don't think he was answering the question that I put out because
he's talking about travel and mileage. I asked what the effect would be if we reduced it to 4,000,
and I got no response."
Council president Stoner: "I just know personally for me, I think that, as I said earlier, I don't see
a lot of waste in this budget. I know that Mr. Hawkins brought up some points, especially in the
city council, that he feels we don't use. I tend to agree with him when it comes to travel and
mileage, advertisement, and business meals that the city council doesn't use. There's no point in
having it in the budget. But when it comes to other entities, like police merit and fire merit, I
don't think it's really an effective use of our time to go through and cut those, especially given
that the administration has presented a revenue-neutral budget that accomplishes the goals I
believe the majority of us set out to accomplish. I think there's definitely a conversation to be
had around some of the city council items. Another suggestion that I think was mentioned—I
don't know if Mr. Hawkins mentioned it—is that with some of the money we give to outside
organizations, they are basically banking on having those funds in their budget every year. A
broader conversation could be had about whether, as a city council, we are going to keep those
funds in our budget every year, or should those agencies have to come to us annually to present
a proposal, or should we open it up to other agencies instead of giving to the same ones every
year."
Councilperson Semones: "I think that probably requires a conversation about each one of those.
Some of them rely on that funding every year. So if we're going to remove it as something they
can't count on, I think there needs to be a dialogue around that."
Council President Stoner: "Yeah, and maybe it's not a conversation that we will accomplish this
year, but I think it really matters after the impacts of Senate Bill One actually go into place. I
think for this year and next year, we would be okay to proceed. That's just my personal
opinion."
Councilperson Snelling: "is anybody gonna talk about the take home vehicles?"
Council Vice President Burns: "I printed the policy to bring everyone a copy, Lisa sent it to me. I'll
email it out, I left them on the copier at the office."
Councilperson Snelling: "Is there a policy in place?"
Council Vice President Burns: "Yes, there is, there was a 2010 policy that was repealed in 2006
and replaced in 2016."
Mrs. Gill: "The policy you're talking about is the administration policy."
Mr. Merkley: "Well it's also in the employee handbook."
Council President Stoner: "I actually apologized because I sent out an email to Michael O'Brien
and had a phone call with him as well after our last council meeting and asked for that
information. I'm just now realizing I do not have a response to that. As I said in the previous
meeting, I think the administration understands that as well, and I felt like they were already
looking at that and going to put out some guidance potentially about it."
Councilperson Snelling: "I'd like to see the policy."
Council Vice President Burns: "I'll email it to you."
Council President Stoner: "Do you just wanna email it to everybody real quick?"
Council Vice President Burns: "Yeah."
Councilperson Semones: I sent around a variety of suggestions and reached out to department
heads. I've got some individual line items here, Department Heads have agreed to make cuts. I
was engaged in that process when I was first concerned that the mayor had included the 1.7
from River Ridge. There was not a signed contract on that, so in my mind, that was not
guaranteed revenue.That has changed, even if I could cut half a million from the budget, I no
longer feel that's necessary. I appreciate Department Heads—Kim Calabro, Andy Couch, Chad
Reischl, Brian Smith, Larry Wallace, Lisa Gill, Heather Metcalf, and others—who graciously said
they could make some cuts, or only cut in half, and were willing to make those sacrifices. I really
appreciate their willingness to engage in that dialogue. I could probably come up with $20,000
to $30,000 in additional cuts, which might make me known as the Grinch because of some of
the suggestions I made around holiday expenditures. I feel those are lovely items but not
necessary to keep the city running or to increase quality of life. Now that the 1.7 is guaranteed,
and after speaking with Mrs. Metcalf and learning that the interest on investments has
surpassed expectations for this year by half a million and continues to grow in the fourth
quarter, I feel that the budget is not only fully funded, but we might actually have funds above
and beyond what was projected. If anyone wants more information about the particular cuts I
suggested or the responses I received from department heads, I'm happy to share that. None of
those cuts were things I personally felt were necessary; they were places I was exploring in case
cuts needed to be made. I also inquired with almost every department about their cell phones
since that was a topic at our last council meeting. I received various responses, from two-factor
authentication needs to departments requiring secured devices for field work. Different
departments have different needs, and if cuts were necessary, I would have some thoughts to
offer. However, I do not feel those cuts are absolutely necessary now that we have this other
guaranteed funding."
Mrs. Metcalf: "I handed out the interest earned so far this year, as of August. All funds have
earned over$3 million, which is quite a bit more than in the past, and we still have months to
go. We are working very diligently to invest all the funds we can."
Councilperson Webb: "Heather, at the last council meeting, unlike our checking accounts where
we can't get 4% returns,you can only do that on a savings account. I'm not sure what they were
referring to, but you've always been very efficient at getting returns on all of this. On a regular
checking account, I can never get 4%, maybe a half percent at best. I don't know what they were
referring to on that."
Mrs. Metcalf: "We try our best to invest the funds that we can. Some funds are restricted, while
others give us a little more flexibility. I take the investments very seriously.
Councilperson Webb: "Yes, I know you do, and we appreciate you doing that. I've always said
you probably make us more money than anybody."
Council Vice President Burns: "Do you anticipate that might reduce with the Fed fund rate
already being down one?"
Mrs. Metcalf: "I do think some changes are made, yes, some shorter-term investments. I also
have a wealth management advisor who helps with that process."
Council President Stoner: "So Mr. Merkley, with the notification that we got regarding pending
litigation, is that handled strictly by you as Corporation Counsel? I could really go either way on
the City Council changes. Obviously, the business meals, advertisement, travel, and mileage—I
think the only thing we used that for was AIM when we went, which I think was every four
years, or for any trainings a council member was going to. I don't think that's happening, but I
could go either way, we could keep it in. For me, I would like to utilize our special projects more,
but I'm just one of nine."
Mrs. Metcalf: "Some of those funds were transferred from your special projects to cover
different trainings. Your individual whole budget hasn't really changed much, other than shifting
some things around. You can always shift things around or choose not to spend it, and it
remains as cash in the fund."
Council President Stoner: "Right, I know we don't have a full council..."
Councilperson Snelling: "We can't vote on anything right?"
Council President Stoner: "No we can't vote, well...?"
Council Attorney Larry Wilder: "You have a quorum."
Mrs. Metcalf: "But just to preface all of this, any changes you make tonight cannot be made at
the six o'clock meeting. I don't have time to change it. The public hearing can still be held, but
you can also indicate that you would like to amend it, and then you'd have to provide me the
information on how you want it changed."
Council President Stoner: "Like I said, I'd be fine with keeping it as is. We could remove the
business meals and travel and mileage if you all want to reduce that."
Councilperson Snelling: "It doesn't really matter."
Council President Stoner: "We can keep it and save it."
Councilperson Snelling: "Save it, if somethings else comes up, transfer it and do whatever."
14 Mr. Merkley: "Or you can move it somewhere else you need it as the time comes."
Council President Stoner: "Okay, I feel good about that."
Mrs. Gill: "Any questions for me?Amy asked questions, and I felt everyone needed to know my
response. Are you all fine with it?"
Council President Stoner: "Okay, yeah. Now, regarding Laserfiche, I did notice—did that get
renewed, or are you still working through that right now with the online filing?"
Mrs. Gill: "It is going to no longer be supported, which basically means it really isn't being
supported now because I can't even do the searches like I was able to before. We are doing our
due diligence to find something like Xerox—they're the only ones that have stepped forward. I
mean, everybody we see in trainings or elsewhere, there's just nothing. But something's going
to have to happen because there are other clerks and clerk-treasurers across the state that use
Laserfiche for their public documents and records. We've been looking at other websites as
well."
Council vice President Burns: "Will the storage be going away and you'll have to transfer all that
to the new system??
Mrs. Gill: "With Xerox what we were looking at, there wouldn't be that big file transfer. So that's
why we're really hopeful for that. Because when Court Works was no longer supported and we
went to the CMS 360, that file transfer, that was a nightmare. It took a lot of our staff time
because we had, we still have to retain those records. We still have the county calling requesting
those records from the court. But when you look in Laserfiche, when you look at all those
documents in there, there's a lot, because it goes back, I think, to '93. "
Mr. Merkley: "When do we lose that?"
Mrs. Gill: "I sent an email, but I'm having a hard time getting anybody to respond. Hopefully I
can have that next week and have that answer for you."
Council President Stoner: "So based on the conversation that we had, does everybody feel like
we're in a good position to have a public hearing tonight? And are we going to have a first vote
tonight?"
Mrs. Gill: "Yes."
Council President Stoner: "Okay, does everybody feel comfortable with that?"
Mrs. Metcalf: "I mean you have the public hearing tonight."
Council President Stoner: "Everyone feels like their questions have all been flushed out and
they've gotten their questions that they've needed answered?
Councilperson Semones: "I'm satisfied."
ATTORNEY COMMENTS:
Larry Wilder- None
Les Merkley- None
DEPARTMENT HEADS:
None
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
None
COUNCIL COMMENTS:
• Councilperson White— None
• Council Vice President Burns— None
• Councilperson Semones—None
• Councilperson Anderson—Absent
• Councilperson Reed— None
• Councilperson Webb— None
• Councilperson Hawkins—Absent
• Councilperson Snelling— None
• Council President Stoner—None
ADJOURNMENT:
Council President Stoner made the motion to ADJOURN the meeting at 05:23 p.m.
DISCLAIMER:
These minutes are a summary of actions taken at the Jeffersonville City Council meetings. The full video
archive of the meeting is available for viewing at www.cityofjeff.net for as long as this media is
supported.
AP ROVED Bfi
ENV/ tail OOP'
Evan Stoner, Council President
ATTEST: Lisa Gill, Clerk