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HomeMy Public PortalAbout08-04-2002IL57 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 2003 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., Monday, August 4, 2003, in the Council Chambers in said City. President Bing Welch presided with the following Councilmembers present: Howard "Jack" Elstro, Etta J. Lundy, Karl ,Sharp, Bruce Wissel, Larry Parker, Stephen H. Rabe, Phil Dickman and Sarah "Sally" Hutton. The following business was conducted: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PRAYER BY COUNCILMEMBER LUNDY ROLL CALL Nine present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Councilmember Wissel moved to approve the minutes of July 21, 2003, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. PRESENTATIONS, MEMORIALS, REMONSTRANCES, PETITIONS AND INTRODUCTIONS MOTIONS OR RESOLUTIONS. (MUST BE IN WRITING) COMMUNICATION FROM THE MAYOR City Attorney Bob Bever explained that the Mayor remains out of the office for a couple of days this week, but there would be some comments from the City Controller during the reports from department heads. REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY Minutes of the Board of Works meetings of July 10 and 17, 2003 were in the Council packets. Councilmember Parker questioned the item on the agenda of the July 10 meeting which was "bid openings for the demolition of the Ramada Inn," and asked whether or not that was still going to be the City's responsibility since it has been purchased. Bever said that since the purchase of the property by Wayne Bank he feels that chances are good that they will take on that responsibility. Bever went on to explain that it is the preference of the City that Wayne, Bank accept that responsibility, even though the City would be reimbursed, cash flow is always something to keep in mind. He added that if Wayne Bank takes care of the demolition directly the City would not have to incur that cost then seek reimbursement from the bank sometime afterwards. He said the condition the City put on it is that it would have to be done within the next 30 days. REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS City Controller Ann Cottongim explained that each of the Councilmembers had received a letter from her concerning the 2004 budget. She said that she is requesting Council to set the dates for the Committee of the Whole meetings for the budget. She said that the Finance Department is currently looking at reductions in revenue for 2003 from the state level and from not receiving the property tax payments yet so all the departments are working together to reduce the 2003 budget. She said they are anticipating the same for 2004 but she still looks forward to presenting the 2004 budget that is again balanced at $500,000 under the maximum levy. Councilmember Dickman said the date and time has been set for the Committee of the Whole meeting and that will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, August 28, 2003 in the Council Chambers. President Welch said the second date would be set for the necessary meetings in September. REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM ORGANIZATIONS MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS Councilmember Hutton said a meeting has been set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, August 6, 2003 at the Alliance Bible Church to talk about some of the issues brought about by the flooding problems recently and in the past. She added that she had talked with the sanitary management and they will all be there and she encouraged any of the Councilmembers to be there, adding that she wasn't sure what could be done but it is a serious problem and it needs to be corrected. She said this is the ninth flooding in the last four years, adding that it is sewage not just run off water. ND Common Council Minutes Cont'd August 4, 2003 Page 2 Councilmember Sharp said that he recalled that a couple of years ago a citizens committee was put together to address the same problem that is now facing the South West 4 h Street neighborhood and it met at the sanitation office. He questioned as to whether or not that committee was still active and Councilmember Hutton stated that it is not active. Bever, however, commented that at the last Sanitation Board meeting a report was given that all those members were contacted because they did want to be meeting again and they were waiting to see how many of them were still interested. He said the result of that contact, it was learned that about 75 percent of those members were still willing to sit so the committee is going to be reconvened. He said the name of that group is a Citizens Advisory Committee to the Richmond Sanitary District to take up many of these same issues. Answering a question posed by Councilmember Wissel, Bever said that this committee's charge, when it was formed, was to look at any of the issues facing the Richmond Sanitary District which included the need for rate increases and improvements, etc. He added that a lot of that group's input led to the start of the three different master plans that the sewer district has now put together on their stages regarding the separation, storm water and sanitation sewer master plans as well as discussing other projects. Bever said that the problem on South West 4a` Street is that every time the Sanitation Department thinks they have the answer to it there will be a three-inch rain and nothing happens, then there will be a one -inch rain and it happens. He said what is going to happen at the meeting this week is to see what the potential causes of this are that it keeps coming even when they think they have spent the money and answered the problem. President Welch said that he had received a letter from the Wayne County Convention and Tourism Bureau about an upcoming event that Councilmembers might want to mark on their calendars. He said the holiday tree for Washington, D.C. will be traveling from Idaho National Forest through Richmond in November and will stop here overnight. A ceremony and celebration will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, November 28, at the Wayne County Courthouse. ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING Councilmember Elstro moved to read Ordinances No. 53 and 54 — 2003 by title only, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. ORDINANCE NO. 53 — 2003 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 53 — 2003 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE SUBMITTAL, ACCEPTANCE, AND APPROPRIATION OF A GRANT FROM THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Explaining the ordinance was Tony Foster of the Community Development office saying that it is for the City of Richmond Roseview Transit annual grant that is applied for through the Indiana Department of Transportation. He said that INDOT receives federal funding and they match that with state funding and they administer that, f orwarding it on to localities such as Richmond. He s aid that this y ear the C ity is requesting a total of $801,777 from INDOT and of that, $702,777 will be designated for operating expenses and $99,000 will be designated for capital expenses. Foster said the capital items that Roseview plans to purchase next year will include the replacement of a Paratransit van, a bus, updating some computers and a copy machine. He said that along with this grant application there will be a public hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday, August 12, in the Community Room and invited all interested citizens to attend. Foster added that they don't anticipate any changes in service for next year, stating that the biggest change happened a couple of weeks ago and that was a modification of the evening service. He said in order to be more efficient, they went to a Dial -A -Ride for the evenings and instead of having a bus and a van operating this has reduced the cost and fuel and seems to be working quite well. In answer to a question by Councilmember Wissel, Foster said Roseview Transit takes in about $145,000 in rider fares. Councilmember Lundy moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 53 — 2003 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Elstro and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 53 — 2003 on second reading. President Welch declared the ordinance on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Wissel moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 53 — 2003 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Lundy and the motion was carried on a voice vote. C Common Council Minutes Cont'd August 4, 2003 Page 3 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 53 — 2003 on third reading. Ordinance No. 53 — 2003 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO. 54 — 2003 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 54 — 2003 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE SUBMITTAL, ACCEPTANCE, AND APPROPRIATION OF A GRANT FROM THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE CDBG BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Explaining this ordinance was Foster again, saying that the City has a unique opportunity with this particular grant application, adding that this is a pilot program which is being tried out for the third year. He said it is to help communities with their brown fields by giving them the wherewithal to add those finishing touches that needs to make a project viable. He said that means that some actual bricks and mortar work can be done and the Starr-Gennett area is a perfect fit because of the previous assessment and remediation grants received for that area. Foster said along with copies of a corrected Ordinance No. 54 — 2003 he had given to Councilmembers prior to the meeting, he had distributed some color photos of what the place looked like a year ago, along with photos taken just recently. He said there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in that area which includes purchasing street lights, clearance activities and work on the large building that remains there. He said it creates a unique opportunity because there is a nice flat area in there than could be used as a community space and to make that a safe space, the building needs to be secured. He said a productive public hearing was held last week where this area was discussed, adding that there is a $66,000 local match and those funds are in hand, received earlier as a reimbursement of another grant received for gorge area. In answer to a question by President Welch, Foster said that right now this work is being done south of Main Street. He said that what they are planning to do, plus what has already been done, will connect the gorge trail up to Main Street. He added that this spring the Transportation Enhancement Grant was completed and that is a streetscape project which leads down into the Starr-Gennett area to the new U.S. 40 bridge. He said it is hoped that they can have their grant funds in hand so they can break ground yet this year. Councilmember Lundy moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 54 — 2003 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Elstro and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 54 — 2003 on second reading. President Welch declared the ordinance on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Wissel moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 54 — 2003 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Rabe and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 54 — 2003 on third reading. Ordinance No. 54 — 2003 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND ENGROSSMENT There were no ordinances on second reading. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Councilmember Sharp commented that at Council's last meeting the members neglected to call attention to the fact that it was Jim Russell's last meeting with WCTV since he has accepted a teaching assignment at Richmond High School. He continued, saying that Council wished him well in his new endeavor after spending 15 years with WCTV. Bing Welch, President ATTEST: Norma Schroeder, Clerk