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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Clarksville Town Council Work Session and Regular Meeting - August 4, 2026

Town Council & Commissions — Tuesday, August 4, 2026

BodyClarksville, Indiana

SessionTown Council & Commissions

DateTuesday, August 4, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:23:52

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:13

Good evening, welcome to our August 4th, 2026 uh 6 p.m.

0:18

work session.

0:19

At this time, I kick it over to Council Member Stotz, who has a guest tonight for our invocation.

0:26

It's my honor.

0:28

Excuse me, my voice is going out with the weather.

0:30

It's my honor to introduce uh Joane Long.

0:32

He's the uh lead pastor for Return Church to come on up and if you do our invocation, I appreciate it.

0:43

All right, if we could bow our heads before we begin our meeting this evening, and let's let's pray.

0:48

Heavenly Father, we come before you today with thankful hearts, recognizing that every good gift comes from you.

0:55

Thank you for our community for the people who live here and for the opportunity to serve our town.

1:00

Lord, we ask that you give our local leaders wisdom, understanding, patience, and discernment as they make decisions that affect our community.

1:10

Help them to listen carefully, consider every perspective, and seek solutions that are fair, reasonable, and beneficial to the people they represent.

1:20

Give each member integrity and courage to do what is right, even when difficult decisions must be made.

1:27

Help them work together and respect, have respect and unity, putting the needs of our community above personal interest or disagreements.

1:36

Give all of our leaders strength and wisdom for the responsibilities that they carry.

1:41

And Lord, we ask you to guide this meeting and the decisions that are made made here today.

1:46

We ask your blessing upon this meeting and those who lead and upon our entire community, and it's in your name we pray.

1:54

Amen.

1:56

Thank you.

1:56

If you would rise for our Pledge of Allegiance, please pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

2:20

Thank you and welcome everyone.

2:21

We have about five items on our work session that we'll get into right away.

2:27

Um kick it over to town manager Adams for the natural gas discussion.

2:33

Is Amber here?

2:35

There we go.

2:36

Yeah.

2:37

Can you put up the PowerPoint slides?

2:45

There we go.

2:50

Great.

2:51

Well, good evening, and thank you for having me here tonight.

2:54

My name is Amber Mills.

2:55

I'm with Constellation Energy.

2:57

Constellation Energy is the natural gas supplier for the town of Clarksville.

3:02

We supply um thank you.

3:09

Sorry.

3:10

Is that better?

3:10

Yeah.

3:11

Okay.

3:11

I'll start over.

3:12

Well, thank you for having me here tonight.

3:14

My name is Amber Mills.

3:16

I'm with Constellation Energy.

3:17

Constellation is the natural gas supplier to the town of Clarksville for about 20 of your meters service locations throughout the town.

3:27

Um I've I've prepared a handful of items I'd like to review with you today.

3:32

Um, but mostly involves the fact that natural gas pricing between now and the next 15, 16 months is quite low compared to what we've seen in the past.

3:44

And presenting an opportunity to you to fix your natural gas pricing to realize some cost savings compared to what you've paid in the past.

3:54

So given the size of the audience, I'd like to skip to get forward in my presentation to give a little bit of background as to the components of your natural gas pricing that I'm talking about today.

4:05

So I'm going to just skip and we'll come back to this momentarily.

4:10

But this is a brief history of natural gas deregulation.

4:15

Uh and I'll I'll skip to that middle box between 1983 and 1992, which is really where what we're talking about today became relevant.

4:24

So FERC order, Federal Energy Regulation Committee 636, the second one listed there, uh, unbundled their transmission distribution cost from the actual supply of the natural gas, giving you a choice in who you have supply your natural gas.

4:43

And so uh at some point after after this date, constellation began supplying the natural gas to the town of Clarksville.

4:50

And the components of your natural gas price that we bill you is that 70 percent commodity piece, and then a 15 percent basis in transport.

5:01

That's what we call a fixed price, and that gets the natural gas that we supply to you to the city gate of uh center point vector and it used to be called.

5:12

Um, and then that uh other 15% is what you pay to vector center point, excuse me.

5:18

So about 85% of your total natural gas price you pay to constellation, and that's for the physical supply of the gas to get that to the town of Clarksville essentially.

5:28

So I'm gonna back up now to the beginning of my presentation so we can so now that we have that baseline of knowledge for the for the audience.

5:37

So currently, Constellation supplies about 20 of your uh natural gas meters throughout the town, representing 8,400 decatherms units of natural gas.

5:48

Um, and so the proposal today is starting September of 2026, fix a forward price for natural gas going forward, and I'll provide some information for that.

5:58

So looking at this slide here, uh, this table shows you the last 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months uh average prices that you've paid just for the portion that you pay to constellation, the portion that you have a say in what you pay for.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Energy Management████████████████████20%

Economic Development██████████████████18%

Fiscal Sustainability███████████11%

Procedural█████████9%

Public Safety█████████9%

Parks and Recreation███████7%

Water And Wastewater Management██████6%

Transportation Safety████4%

Budget Equity Analysis████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Clarksville Town Council Work Session and Regular Meeting - August 4, 2026

The Clarksville Town Council met on August 4, 2026, for a work session followed by a regular meeting. The work session covered five main topics: natural gas pricing and potential fixed-rate contracts, a local business expansion presentation, a discussion on wheel tax and state road funding, and an update on the urban forestry management plan. The regular meeting included consent agenda approval, first readings of new ordinances (fire hydrant fee, salary and classification changes), and council comments on fiscal challenges.

Consent Calendar

Approved minutes from previous meetings, claims and payroll, and acceptance of minutes on file (motion by Councilman Ramsey, second by Councilman Stotz, vote 7-0).

Public Comments & Testimony

No members of the public signed up to speak.

Discussion Items

Natural Gas Supply Contract – Amber Mills of Constellation Energy presented a proposal to fix natural gas prices for the town's 20 meters (8,400 decatherms annually). Current floating average over last 12 months is $6.83/decatherm; forward 12-month fixed price is $4.03/decatherm, a potential savings of about $2.80/decatherm. Mills outlined options for 12- to 40-month terms, with a 12-month term at the lowest rate. The council discussed volumes, billing mechanics, and a “minimize volatile pricing” program. Town Manager Adams requested authority to sign a contract at the next meeting.
Local Business Highlight – Orange Clover Kitchen – Owner Rachel Smallwood presented the cafe's history and expansion plans. Sales are up 23% year-to-date (2026 vs 2025) and July 2026 is up 30% from July 2025. The business is developing a retail line of dressings and hot sauce (Orange Clover Trading Company) and will enter 47 regional Krogers via a food broker. Smallwood noted potential future need for a manufacturing facility and storage space, but made no immediate requests. Council expressed support and discussed town promotion of local businesses.
Wheel Tax and State Road Funding – Town Manager Adams explained that state law now requires adoption of both a wheel tax and vehicle excise tax to be eligible for Lane Mile Direct (LMD) distributions. Minimum rates would generate approximately $143,000 annually; maximum rates about $500,000 annually. Adams did not recommend immediate adoption but highlighted that Clarksville faces circuit breaker losses of $7.25 million in 2026 and SB1 property tax impacts of $820,000 in 2026 rising to $1.97 million in 2028. The town must decide by September 1 to implement by January 1. No council action was taken; Adams encouraged public review of the REDI Financial Group analysis posted online.
Urban Forestry Management Plan – Consulting arborist Eric Arborstone presented a tree canopy assessment funded by a $126,000 DNR grant (fully reimbursable). The town currently has 30% tree canopy coverage (down 2.3% from 2010 to 2026 due to development). Goals include establishing a tree board, strengthening ordinances, and planting 50 additional trees in underserved areas this fall. Ordinance changes are expected in September. All grant funds ($122,000) remain available for reimbursement.

Key Outcomes

Natural Gas – Council to consider authorizing a fixed-price contract at the next council meeting.
Orange Clover – No formal action; town will explore promotional support (magazine, social media).
Wheel Tax – Continued discussion and public awareness; no vote.
Fire Hydrant Fee – Ordinance passed first reading 4-3 (Councilmembers Shiller, Voyner, Henderson, Stotz in favor; Councilmembers Darcy, Ramsey, Scott opposed). The fee shifts the town's $427,000 annual cost to customers via wastewater bills. Second reading required at next meeting.
Salary Ordinance 2026-S06 – Approved to transition a part-time bilingual records clerk to full-time (vote 7-0). Second reading also approved.
Job Classification Amendment (Ordinance 2026-S07) – Approved to remove the part-time bilingual records clerk from OSS-3 classification (vote 7-0). Second reading also approved.
Clerk-Treasurer’s Report – Noted challenges with banking for the new sanitation fee and fire hydrant fee; exploring bank consolidation. Anticipates using emergency funds for fire territory in September.
Council Comments – Several members stressed the need for fiscal savings before imposing new fees. Councilman Darcy highlighted fire department equipment shortages (three main trucks and two backup all down recently, forcing borrowing from Jeffersonville). Councilman Voyner urged urgency to fund the fire department. Councilman Scott acknowledged the burden on fixed-income residents.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, welcome to our August 4th, 2026 uh 6 p.m. work session. At this time, I kick it over to Council Member Stotz, who has a guest tonight for our invocation. It's my honor. Excuse me, my voice is going out with the weather. It's my honor to introduce uh Joane Long. He's the uh lead pastor for Return Church to come on up and if you do our invocation, I appreciate it. All right, if we could bow our heads before we begin our meeting this evening, and let's let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you today with thankful hearts, recognizing that every good gift comes from you. Thank you for our community for the people who live here and for the opportunity to serve our town. Lord, we ask that you give our local leaders wisdom, understanding, patience, and discernment as they make decisions that affect our community. Help them to listen carefully, consider every perspective, and seek solutions that are fair, reasonable, and beneficial to the people they represent. Give each member integrity and courage to do what is right, even when difficult decisions must be made. Help them work together and respect, have respect and unity, putting the needs of our community above personal interest or disagreements. Give all of our leaders strength and wisdom for the responsibilities that they carry. And Lord, we ask you to guide this meeting and the decisions that are made made here today. We ask your blessing upon this meeting and those who lead and upon our entire community, and it's in your name we pray. Amen. Thank you. If you would rise for our Pledge of Allegiance, please pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Thank you and welcome everyone. We have about five items on our work session that we'll get into right away. Um kick it over to town manager Adams for the natural gas discussion. Is Amber here? There we go. Yeah. Can you put up the PowerPoint slides? There we go. Great. Well, good evening, and thank you for having me here tonight. My name is Amber Mills. I'm with Constellation Energy. Constellation Energy is the natural gas supplier for the town of Clarksville. We supply um thank you. Sorry. Is that better? Yeah. Okay. I'll start over. Well, thank you for having me here tonight. My name is Amber Mills. I'm with Constellation Energy. Constellation is the natural gas supplier to the town of Clarksville for about 20 of your meters service locations throughout the town. Um I've I've prepared a handful of items I'd like to review with you today. Um, but mostly involves the fact that natural gas pricing between now and the next 15, 16 months is quite low compared to what we've seen in the past. And presenting an opportunity to you to fix your natural gas pricing to realize some cost savings compared to what you've paid in the past. So given the size of the audience, I'd like to skip to get forward in my presentation to give a little bit of background as to the components of your natural gas pricing that I'm talking about today. So I'm going to just skip and we'll come back to this momentarily. But this is a brief history of natural gas deregulation. Uh and I'll I'll skip to that middle box between 1983 and 1992, which is really where what we're talking about today became relevant.

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