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HomeMy Public PortalAbout07-01-2002PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, MONDAY, JULY 1, 2002 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., Monday, July 1, 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, Phil Dickman and Sarah "Sally" Hutton. Paul Combs was absent. The following business was conducted: PLEDGE OF ALLEGUNCE PRAYER BY COUNCILMEMBER SHARP ROLL CALL Eight present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of the June 17, 2002 meeting were approved on a motion by Councilmember Parker, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote PRESENTATION OF REMONSTRANCES, PETITIONS, MEMORIALS, INTRODUCTIONS, MOTIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENTS COMMUNICATION FROM THE MAYOR Mayor Shelley Miller gave an update on the aquifer project saying that the monitoring wells had been installed and some preliminary testing is being done at the present time. She said the USGS would provide the testing for an 18-month period and the Indiana -American Water will then provide ongoing testing. She said the results from the initial testing are expected within the next few weeks. She also stated that part of the materials had been received for the South L.Street railroad project and the vendor had said the remaining materials would be here within the next two weeks. She added that based on that information the railroad had slated the week of July 22 to do the work on the railroad crossing which would allow the City to complete the curb and sidewalk work as well as the asphalt work to give that area an entire new appearance. President Wissel asked City Attorney Bob Bever what the status is on the benches which are in non- compliance with the newly signed ordinance. Bever stated that the sign company was here and they spent a day moving the benches off of the easements onto private property, according to them. So, he said, they are taking the position now that none of the benches are on public right-of-ways and they have received the permission of the private owners. However, Bever said, when he asked if they had proof that that was the case with the private owners and the company replied that that was private information and they would not give it out. Bever said he had a tendency to believe that that was possibly not the case so he had asked the inspectors to get him the names of all the property owners next to the public right-of-ways where the benches are located. He added that he would be sending them a form letter asking them the details as to whether or not they had any contractual relationship with the company and if they do what the terms are. He said in that letter it would be pointed out that technically that is not an illegal sign at that time if it is on private property however it would count toward any other signage on that property. That being the case, he said, the inspectors are looking to see if added to their existing signage that would put them over the amount that is allowed and would put them into violation and he would add that paragraph to those letters. Councilmember Elstro asked if the sign company had paid any of the fines and Bever said he is waiting to determine if they are still existing it is a continuing fine so they will be settling it all at one time, adding that he doesn't have any money in his pocket yet. REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY President Wissel said the minutes of the meetings of June 6 and June 11, 2002 were in their packets. REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS Fire Chief Michael Allen reported that the Fire Department had responded to 1,800 emergency responses to date, with 600 of those being fire related and 1,200 being EMS calls. He said the new command vehicle had been received for the battalion chiefs and anticipates it being in service by the end of the month. He added that the new rescue is in service and is a tremendous asset to the department. He said all fire department. ladders had been tested as of this date and they are all in compliance w ith t he n ational fire protection standards. He said they would be testing the pumps and hoses later in the fall. Common Council Minutes Cont'd July 1, 2002 Page 2 Chief Allen continued, saying that Fire Station No. 5 would be receiving a new heating and air system soon and S tation No. 1 a nd 6 will s oon b e f iber c onnected t o e nable t he d eparhnent t o c ontinue i is network program. He added that RP & L is assisting with the program to install fiber in the remaining fire stations. He said Fire Station No. 4 will be getting a new roof later this fall and they are preparing to go to bid with that project. He said they are still working on the radio equipment goal of replacing its 30-plus years of radio equipment and trying to locate land for a communications tower. He said another goal this year was to initiate communications on how best to proceed with the development of a training facility for the department. He added that the inspections division had conducted over 300 inspections this year and has found 213 violations with 159 of those being corrected as of to date. He said they have also conducted 7 education classes and 15 investigations. Councilmember Dickman asked if there is a mechanism that triggers an invoice that the City bills the Rural Metro services. Chief Allen responded that there is no billing because the EMS calls are part of the mutual aid agreement b etween the department and Rural Metro. H e s aid there i s an exchange o f any materials being used. Councilmember Parker asked if the Chief had any idea of what the expenditure has been for the EMS calls and he responded that he doesn't have the numbers, adding that it is not a great amount but there has been some increase. Councilmember Parker said this seems like a duplication of effort and said he isn't quite sure why this is being done. The Chief said it's being done because it is a good service to the community and the fire department's response time is much lower than that of Rural Metro because of the location of the fire stations. He said that through this care the department has provided a number of life saving opportunities. He said the department has established 16 life threatening calls that it responds to and these include critical calls such as gunshot wounds, falls, heart attacks, motorcycle injuries, strokes and head injuries. In response to a comment by Councilmember Parker, Chief Allen said it is not a competition between the fire department and Rural Metro to provide this service for the community. In answer to a question by Councilmember Elstro, Chief Allen said all of his firefighters are first responders and 40-plus are EMTs and 3 are paramedics. He said in order to maintain their certifications they have to meet certain educational hours during the year and it is a requirement of the state of Indiana. He added that almost all of the education is received locally. Mayor Miller stated that she would like to add some additional information, saying that the administration is currently working with the County to put together a commission or task force made up of emergency personnel, city and county officials, and citizens. She said this group would look very closely at EMS within the portion of the county served by Rural Metro including Richmond. She said this would entail looking at what currently occurs and how the service could be improved as well as what type of role could be looked to for the fire department to provide in the future. She said since May of last year the City is providing the same standard of care provided nationwide by fire departments and many other communities have taken that one step further and are providing full EMS including transportation of civilians. She said that is another area in which much information is being gathered and there are many questions that need to be answered before evaluating the direction to go. REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM ORGANIZATIONS MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING Councilmember Elstro moved to suspend the rules and read Ordinances No. 46, 53, 54 and 55 - 2002 by title only, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. 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 Explaining this ordinance was Bever who said this regards the City's flood hazard district that is a special zoning area for those areas where flooding is possible and are technical amendments that the state asks that the C ity implements. He said since Planning Director Bob Goodwin is on v acation this w eek h e w ould suggest that this be held until the next meeting for public comment from people who have received more information from the state. Councilmember Lundy asked where the flood hazard areas are, and Bever said that would be a good question for Goodwin. Common Council Minutes Cont'd July 1, 2002 Page 3 ORDINANCE NO. 53 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 53 — 2002 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE SUBMITTAL, ACCEPTANCE, AND APPROPRIATION OF A GRANT FROM INDIANA CRIMINAL JUSTICES INSTITUTE Tony Foster of the office of Community Development explained that this ordinance deals with a request for $4,000 made by the Richmond Police Department for paying officers' overtime for seat belt enforcement blitzes. He added every year the Police Department receives a grant from the Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving and they have designated seat belt blitzes during different times of the year and those are established by the Governor's office determining when those blitzes will occur. He said this grant is similar to that but the only difference is that it gives the local government the latitude to determine when it would like to do the blitz and could pick the weekend or evening they prefer. He said there is no local match for this. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules on Ordinance No. 53 — 2002 and move to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 53 — 2002 on second reading. President Wissel declared Ordinance No. 53 — 2002 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Lundy and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councihnember Lundy moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 53 — 2002 to third and final 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 — 2002 on third reading. Ordinance No. 53 — 2002 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO. 54 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 54 — 2002 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE SUBMITTAL, ACCEPTANCE, AND APPROPRIATION OF A GRANT FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM Foster also explained this ordinance, saying that it deals with a request for a grant of $53,406 by the Richmond Police Department for equipment purchases. He said this is a grant that the department has applied for every year since 1996, adding that all the in -car cameras that the police cars have now, primarily came from this grant. He said this year the department would like to start replacing some of those cameras because of their age and also would like to purchase additional mobile data units which are the in - car computers for new police cars that they anticipate purchasing next year. He added that some of the funds may be used for training as. well. He said the local match is for $5,934 and the police department budgets for this match every year. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 54 — 2002 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 54 — 2002 on second reading. President Wissel declared Ordinance No. 54 — 2002 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Hutton and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 54 — 2002 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councihnember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 54 — 2002 on third reading. Councihnember Welch commented that there has been some conversation about some streets that need radar controlled signs that go along the side of the street or highway that observes the traffic and flashes the rate of speed the cars are traveling. Mayor Miller said she had visited a community in which this has been implemented so they are looking into the cost of that kind of project. Ordinance No. 54 — 2002 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. Common Council Meeting Cont'd July 1, 2002 Page 4 ORDINANCE NO. 55 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 55 — 2002 — AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF THE FIRST AMENDATORY AGREEMENT TO THE POWER SALES CONTRACT BETWEEN INDIANA MUNICIPAL POWER AGENCY AND THE CITY OF RICHMOND Explaining this ordinance was RP & L General Manager David Osbum who said the utility's power sales contract with the Indiana Municipal P ower A ssociation has a provision that at the end of this year, the utility could either self generate or go out in the market and purchase additional power. He said this amendment prolongs that option and gives six more years to make this decision. He said it is really a no - lose amendment and gives the utility time to decide what to do. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 55 — 2002 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 55 — 2002 on second reading. President Wissel declared Ordinance No. 55 — 2002 on pubic hearing. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Elstro moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 55 — 2002 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Elstro and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 55 — 2002 on third reading. Councilmember Welch stated that by continuing with the current agreement with IlVIPA and what is a given entity and supplier and these uncertain times of power supply and power pricing this is a wise move and gives secure and continued stability. Ordinance No. 55 — 2002 was adopted on a unanimous voice vote. 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 explained that this is a request that was filed by Smith Dairy and there has been no further input from the company and Tony Foster is going to contact the controller there and ask what their intentions are for this request. He requested that this ordinance remain on second reading. 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 Explaining this ordinance was Councilmember Sharp who said this is a request by Safety Zone LLC and said he visited with Jim Stigleman last week and discussed a revision to the request. He said instead of 16 employees currently he has 25 employees as well as six Manpower employees. He said the building has gone from 35,000 square feet to 60,000 and an investment of $1,200,000. He said the company's business involves industrial gloves. He said they anticipate a fantastic growth in the next few years because their big customers are Home Depot and Lowe's. He said they will also be adding employees. He added that the company's wage scale is not to the level Council would like to have, however, it is a company that has been in business locally for a long time. Councilmember Sharp said there is a possibility that the company would move over into Ohio, however, he isn't saying that it would do that. He said his recommendation is that the abatement be reduced from a 10- year abatement to a 9-year abatement. President Wissel declared Ordinance 52 — 2002 on public hearing. Councilmember Sharp moved to amend the ordinance changing it from a 10-year abatement to a 9-year abatement. Councilmember Hutton asked if there are any benefits and Councilmember Sharp answered that there is a 401-K program and they offer an insurance program but it is all paid for by the employee. Common Council Minutes Cont'd July 1, 2002 Page 5 In answer to a question by Councilmember Parker as to why change it from a 10-year to a 9-year, Bever said there is some difference because of giving it that extra 10a' year there would be more overall savings on a 10-year than a 9-year. Councilmember Sharp made it a part of his amendment to increase the proposed value of the project from $1 million to $1,200,000. Councilmember Welch said since Council has the ability to set the length of time on the abatement, he asked what the percentage of difference is under the current industrial rate, and Councilmember Sharp said it is roughly 10 percent. Councilmember Elstro said he thinks this would be the first tax abatement without health insurance and under the industrial rate. President Wissel said he thought there had been one granted prior to this one, but it had insurance. Councilmember Lundy said she would like that to be checked out to see exactly what had happened before. Councilmember Sharp withdrew his amendment. Councilmember Welch said he would like Stigleman to step to the microphone so there would be some discussion about this request with Councilmembers. Stigleman stated that he expects at least 20 percent growth over the next few years. He said he started this business in 1991 in his basement at home and began hiring temporary service employees in 1993. When he hired his own employees he started them out at minimum wage. He said his current average wage is $8.95 and he has.people who make more than that, with the highest being $12.60. He said they started out with a 401-K and they matched 3 percent of the gross income of the employees. He said he sold the company in 1997 and signed a contract to stay on and run it for five years and that contract runs out in September of this year and he plans on renewing it. He said the outlook for more business is good and getting better. He said the company is growing, but it's a slow growth. He said wages range from an average of $7.75 to $12.60. He said Kettering, Ohio offered the company 15 years and no taxes just to go there, but he added that his employees are not going to move there and his construction costs are going to be more. He added that if the company is going to continue to grow here it needs Council's help. President Wissel said Councilmember Sharp's amendment dies for the lack of a second and suggested that Tony Foster be asked to research past practices and have an answer for Council at its next meeting. 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 8:30 P.M. Bruce Wissel, President ATTEST: Norma Schroeder, Clerk