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HomeMy Public PortalAbout07-15-2002PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, MONDAY, DULY 15, 2002 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., Monday, July 15, 2002, in the Council Chambers in said City. President Bruce Wissel presided with the following Councilmembers present: Howard "Jack" Elstro, Etta J. Lundy, Karl Sharp, Bing Welch, Larry Parker, Paul Combs, Phil Dickman and Sarah "Sally" Hutton. The following business was conducted: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PRAYER BY COUNCILMEMBER WELCH ROLL CALL Nine present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of the July 1, 2002 meeting were approved on a motion by C ouncilmember Welch, second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote PRESENTATION OF REMONSTRANCES, PETITIONS, MEMORIALS, INTRODUCTIONS, MOTIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENTS COMMUNICATION FROM THE MAYOR The Mayor was not present. After being recognized by President Wissel, Councilmember Combs said that if the Mayor had been present tonight he would have presented her with some information and asked her some questions. However, he said, since the P olice Chief w as present, he s aid he felt he w ould be able to answer those questions. President Wissel then asked Councilmember Combs if this was related to Council business and Councilmember Combs answered in the affirmative. With that, President Wissel asked him to proceed. Councilmember Combs then said that he wanted to go on record to say that he had a number of complaints in regard to animal control. He said he had attended a meeting along with President Wissel, Councilmember Elstro, the Police Chief, several representatives of law enforcement including the animal control officer as well as representation from one neighborhood. He said that during that meeting it became obvious to him that one person could not do justice to the job of animal control, adding that according to the ordinance that officer has to also inspect kennels and that would make it even more unrealistic for that individual to do the job. He said that he had learned that police officers sometime perform some of those duties and he felt that that is .wrong. He said he wants the Mayor to consider removing animal control entirely from the Police Department and place it in the Parks Department, doing a comprehensive study to see if there is anyone in the Parks Department who may be able to perform the duties of the animal control officer. He said he feels that two more individuals should be added to perform the duties now being performed by one. The next comments made by Councilmember Combs were concerning the phone calls he had received about the problem occurring after the July 4 fireworks in Glen Miller Park. He said he had written down all the comments and presented copies to the Palladium -Item, a radio station and Councilmembers. He said he would have presented a copy also to the Mayor tonight had she been in attendance. (A copy is also in file in the Clerk's office). Councilmember Combs said that he feels that an investigation needs to be done, but by some other entity than the Police Department since it pertains to those officers in that department. He said he feels it should be investigated by the Indiana State Police or by a group of individuals chosen by the Mayor so that a recommendation could be made to submit to the Mayor. He added that he feels this is definitely a training issue, adding that he was disappointed the Police Chief had to leave the meeting early. He said he feels the Mayor has an obligation to respond to this issue as soon as possible without waiting for the next Council meeting. REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY President Wissel said the minutes of the meetings of June 13, 20 and 27, 2002 were in their packets. REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES Common Council Minutes Cont'd July 15, 2002 Page 2 REPORTS FROM ORGANIZATIONS MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS Councilmember Lundy said she thought that all Councilmembers had received a letter from Rock Salt Ministries which is in her district at downtown 10t' and Main Streets. She urged that they check it out, saying that she thinks they could see it is a very worthwhile thing within the community. Councilmember Elstro mentioned the old police radio tower on the west side of the City where weeds haven't been cut. He said he had checked with the Police Chief who said it wasn't in the jurisdiction of the Police Department. He said he then asked Planning Director Bob Goodwin who said he had spoken with the Park Department and learned that they had cut the weeks for the past several years until someone locked the gates. Since then, he said, they have only cut the weeds outside the fence. He added that he would pursue the matter further and get back to Council. President W issel s aid that a p etition f or s treet 1 ights in H enley H ills had b een p assed on to C ouncil b y Councilmember Elstro who had presented the petition during the RP & L meeting. ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING Councilmember Elstro moved to suspend the rules and read Ordinances No. 56, 57 and 58 - 2002 by title only, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. ORDINANCE NO. 56 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 56 — 2002 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE APPROVAL OF A STATEMENT OF BENEFITS FOR A PROPERTY OWNER APPLYING FOR DEDUCTIONS UNDER I.C. 6-1.1-12.1 Councilmember Sharp said this is a tax abatement request made by B & F Plastics and it would be assigned to Councilmember Elstro to look into and report on at the next Council meeting. ORDINANCE NO. 57 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 57 — 2002 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING MAP AT UNIMPROVED REAL ESTATE ON WILLIAMSBURG PIKE, RICHMOND, INDIANA Planning Director Bob Goodwin said Councilmembers would possibly recognize this parcel as one that was sold by Council acting as the RP & L Board. He said the blueprint shows mini warehouses and he said they are a sking for special u se for only a small p ortion o f the parcel. H e s aid if they use the remainder for anything other than mini warehouses, they would have to come back to Council for another special use request. President Wissel said this ordinance would go before the Planning Commission. ORDINANCE NO. 58 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 58 — 2002 — A GENERAL ORDINANCE AMENDING AND RE- STATING SECTIONS 74.24 AND 74.47 OF RICHMOND CODE Tony Foster of the Community Development office said this addresses off-street parking, noting that for the past several months a group of individuals had been meeting to discuss off-street parking specifically for the uptown area. He said this ordinance is to clarify some basic information and to change some of the rates. He added that the administration would like to take this to the Main Street Board and meet with the off-street p arking g roup f or o ther changes b efore moving f orward with this o rdinance. P resident W issel said this ordinance would come back before Council on second reading. ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND ENGROSSMENT ORDINANCE NO. 32 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 32 — 2002 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE APPROVAL OF A STATEMENT OF BENEFITS FOR A PROPERTY OWNER APPLYING FOR DEDUCTIONS UNDER I.C. 6-1.1-12.1 Councilmember Welch said this is the ordinance from Smith Dairy on the Fresh America building they have purchased. He said there are more figures to be provided as well as a number of modifications before it is brought before Council again. Common Council Minutes Cont'd July 15, 2002 Page 3 ORDINANCE NO.46 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 46 — 2002 — A GENERAL ORDINANCE AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 154 OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND CODE REGARDING FLOODING Bever said when this was introduced he indicated that this ordinance would be explained by Goodwin, who said he was not aware of any information on it. He said in talking with Inspector Wayne Jackson he had learned that this is just concerning new regulations to make the City's ordinance consistent with that of the state and there is no hurry to proceed with this. Bever continued, saying that it is the requirement of the state that the City notify them if any alteration is done or if a water course is relocated. He said the purpose of this is to protect people who might be dealing with the improvements in the flood zone. He said this is the state making sure that the City or town has a procedure for which they have to issue a permit and to notify people that it is in a flood area. He added that the City has to have this process in its code. After h earing B ever's c omments, G oodwin s aid t hat i n the p ast, i f there was s omebody who wanted t o develop in those areas, the City would put them in touch with the Department of Natural Resources which would determine what boundaries of that flood area would be in each individual parcel and that isn't going to be done any longer. He said it sounds like the local people would have to hire a surveyor to determine the elevation of their structure, adding that the flood plains are shown on the FEMA maps. President Wissel said this ordinance would come back on second reading at the next Council meeting. ORDINANCE NO. 52 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 52 — 2002 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE APPROVAL OF A STATEMENT OF BENEFITS FOR A PROPERTY OWNER APPLYING FOR DEDUCTIONS UNDER I.C. 6-1.1-12.1 Councilmember Sharp explained that this is an abatement request for Safety Zone and it is still on public hearing. He said there were questions about what has been done in the past and Foster has sent information on all of those to Councilmembers, along with the listing of companies receiving tax abatements in the years 1999, 2000 and 2001. President Wissel said this ordinance is on public hearing. Councilmember Sharp moved to change the request for the estimated value of the building from $1 million to $1,200,000 and change the time from 10 years to 8 years, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Welch moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 52 — 2002 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 52 — 2002 on third reading. Ordinance No. 52 — 2002 was adopted on a 6-3 roll call vote with Councilmembers Sharp, Welch, Parker, Combs, Dickman and Wissel voting in favor and Elstro, Lundy and Hutton voting against. ORDINANCES ON THIRD READING UNFINISHED BUSINESS CALL FOR ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, on a motion duly made, seconded and passed, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 P.M. Bruce Wissel, President ATTEST: Norma Schroeder, Clerk