Board's resolution blocks Fairfield Township trustee's plan for ambulance service

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Fairfield Township Trustee Taletha Coles has repeatedly ignored the township board's resolutions restricting her plans to spend township money, but that didn't stop the board from adopting another resolution.

The board took action Tuesday to bar Coles from creating a township fire department or a township ambulance service for the unincorporated township east of the city limits.

The Journal & Courier emailed Coles for comment. She did not respond.

Coles has made public statements that there is a need for an ambulance service and fire protection in the township, most of which is inside Lafayette city limits.

"... In prior Township Board meetings, it has been suggested that there is a need for more ambulance services for the City of Lafayette, Tippecanoe County and Fairfield Township," the resolution states. "... Indiana Code ... states that no trustee may contract ambulance and fire services without consent of the Township Board and specifically not when the service is provided by another government entity."

The unincorporated areas of Fairfield Township east of the city limits include the areas as far north as the Hoosier Heartland area and as far south as the Frontage Road area just north of South Street, Lafayette Fire Chief Richard Doyle said.

In 1977, Tippecanoe County commissioners adopted a resolution to provide ambulance service for the county through a mutual aid agreement, according to the resolution.

"Therefore, be it resolved: – The Trustee has no authority to form either another Ambulance Service or any Fire Response system for Fairfield Township since other Government entities have already assumed those responsibilities for a minimum of 44 years."

Between 2007-19, the Fairfield Township trustee and board approved providing $100,000 to the Lafayette Fire Department to offset the cost of covering parts of the unincorporated township.

Coles, whose use of taxpayer money is under investigation by the Indiana State Police and the Indiana State Board of Accounts, has not paid the city fire department in 2020 or 2021, Lafayette Fire Chief Richard Doyle said.

She offered to purchase the fire department a helicopter, according to Doyle and a previous township employee.

Tuesday's ordinance also directs Coles to pay the Lafayette Fire Department its annual allotment. Township board minutes indicate that the board also directed Coles to pay that annual allotment in 2020 and 2021. She ignored those resolutions.

The last paragraph of Tuesday's resolution states, "– The trustee is Directed to fund $100,000 to the Lafayette Fire Department for the Fire and Ambulances services they provide for the unincorporated residents of Fairfield Township without requiring any explanation of what the money will be spent on."

"She hasn't been shy about ignoring what we're doing," board Secretary Rocky Hession said about Coles' reactions to previous township board resolutions and board-approved budgets.

In 2019, Coles used money approved for a community center to purchase a Ford 250 pickup truck and a flat-bed trailer, according to township board minutes.

Former township employees said Coles drove that truck, as well as the township's Ford Crown Victoria, for personal use, contrary to state law. She also drove the truck intoxicated, a former township employee said, admitting she was in the truck at the times Coles was impaired.

Coles ignored the board-approved 2021 budget and failed to submit it to the state because it reduced the spending from rainy day funds to zero. This caused the 2021 budget to revert to the 2020 budget.

The board again reduced the rainy day fund to zero for 2022. Additionally, it removed $12,000 from the general fund that Coles used for her attorney fees, and the 2022 budget reduced the cemetery funds to $2,500, Hession said.

Coles again did not submit the annual budget, but the board did an end run around the trustee by submitting those adjustments directly to DLGF.

There is, of course, still money in the township's accounts, Hession noted, but if she spends anything out of the rainy day fund without an additional appropriation, she commits a misdemeanor.

The Journal & Courier requested public documents, including credit card statements and receipts from Coles in September. She never responded, and the Journal & Courier filed a complaint with the Indiana Public Access Councilor's Office.

On Dec. 6, the Public Access Counselor Luke Britt published an advisory opinion basically stating that Coles has to produce the requested documents because they are open for public inspection.

She hasn't, and the Journal & Courier is in the process of filing a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, on Jan. 11, the Indiana State Police and the State Board of Accounts removed the township's records as part of a special investigation.

Coles has refused to comment about ignoring the public access counselor's opinion, the state investigation or her spending practices.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Fairfield Township trustee's plan for ambulance service blocked by board