Brownsburg adopts ordinance to establish hazardous materials response fund

The Town of Brownsburg Town Council on July 24 adopted Ordinance 2025-09, amending Chapter 34 of the town code to establish a hazardous materials response fund that will allow the town to recover costs for hazardous-materials incidents.

Town Council President Travis Duchaine and Fire Chief Larry Alcorn asked the council to suspend the normal three-reading rule and consider the ordinance on all three readings because the fire department had already performed response work that would otherwise delay recovery of costs. The council consented to suspend the rules and then voted to adopt the ordinance on first, second and third readings.

Chief Alcorn said the county purchased more than $60,000 in equipment for the hazardous-materials unit and that the new capability has already responded to calls. “In the statute, it allows us to recover cost,” Alcorn said. “So we can bill for the vehicles, the personnel, and obviously any supplies we use; we bill that at cost.” He told the council the town would bill the spiller and seek reimbursement under Indiana law.

Council members said the arrangement lets Brownsburg maintain the unit without placing the full cost on town taxpayers while the county benefits from a shared team. The ordinance text, introduced as Ordinance 2025-09, appears in the meeting packet; the council approved the measure by voice vote (ayes recorded) after a motion to adopt on all readings.

The ordinance creates an account intended to receive reimbursements from responsible parties and to fund future response costs, training and supplies. Council members who gave consent to suspend the rules included Mr. Adams, Ben Lacy, Matt Simpson and Miss Hillman, in addition to President Duchaine.

The council did not provide a line-by-line fiscal analysis during the meeting; Chief Alcorn noted the department will bill for vehicle use, personnel time and supplies “at cost” and that the town is authorized by state statute to seek reimbursement.

The council’s action follows a county request more than a year earlier to establish a hazardous-materials capability for Hendricks County and reflects a local-county partnership in which the county provided equipment and the town supplies personnel and the vehicle.

Looking ahead, the ordinance establishes the legal basis for billing and bookkeeping; the transcript records the adoption vote but no separate public hearing or fiscal projection given that night.