The Ellettsville Town Council voted unanimously May 28 to monitor part-time employee hours to comply with the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Council President Scott Oldham, Vice President Dan Swafford, Dianna Bastin and David Drake were present for the May 28 meeting. Philip Smith did not attend.
The look-back period will begin June 1 and continue through Nov. 30. The town will not have to provide insurance to those found to be eligible at the end of that period, but it will know how many to budget for once the law requires it to offer health benefits to qualified employees.
“The question has come up with some of the public safety services, particularly fire. They work a 24-hour shift. If a part-time officer works a shift and a half, now they’re working 36 hours,” said Oldham. “If they do that three or four times during this time, where does that set us?”
“If they average 30 hours a week, they have to be offered coverage Jan. 1,” said Darla Brown, attorney for the Town of Ellettsville.
Jim Davis, fire chief at the Ellettsville Fire Department, reported that his department, which employs about 20 part-time staff, conducted a look-back period study over 12 months last year.
“We only had five employees that qualified,” Davis said.
Davis later asked the council to approve raises for four part-time firefighters as they had reached one year of employment with the department. The council unanimously approved the raise to $10.15 per hour.
The council approved a compromise and settlement with Cross Paint & Body Shop. The compromise comes after a dispute between the town and the body shop about repair costs for work done on a police car for the Ellettsville Police Department. The two parties have agreed to a final bill of $2,105.71.
Sandra Hash, Ellettsville clerk-treasurer, notified the council that there would be two $450 charges from the company providing its software upgrade because a data conversion was necessary. The first charge will be to get the program started. The second will come when the software goes live.
When John Emmons resigned from the Ellettsville Building Corporation board of directors, a vacancy was left behind. The council approved the appointment of Dennis Williamson to take the position.
Michael Farmer, utility superintendent for Ellettsville Utilities, reported that he had been approached by representatives from AT&T about putting an array of antennas on top of the McNeely water tower. If the town gives the go-ahead, AT&T will also build a small building adjacent to the tower to house equipment. The town would not incur any costs for the construction, though it must make sure an existing contract with T-Mobile, which already has an antenna array there, will not be violated.
The council tabled both issues on the agenda for second reading during the May 28 meeting: the annexation of the land on which CVS stands to the Town of Ellettsville and vegetation removal. The council cannot hold a vote on the annexation until July 8.
The public is invited to speak on Monroe County’s proposed food and beverage tax from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Ellettsville Fire Department’s conference and training room. Swafford, Monroe County Councilor Marty Hawk, and Monroe County Commissioner Patrick Stoffer will be in attendance.
The next meeting of the Ellettsville Town Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 10 in the Ellettsville Fire Department’s conference and training room.
Originally published in Ellettsville Journal, 2013. Republished here for archival and portfolio purposes.