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HomeMy Public PortalAbout04-15-2002PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2002 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 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 DICKMAN ROLL CALL Nine present. Councilmember Welch moved to amend the agenda and add to it, Resolution No. 2 — 2 002, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Councilmember Welch moved to approve the minutes of the April 1, 2002 meeting but before a second could be made, Councilmember Combs moved to make a correction to the first paragraph at the top of Page 2 which read: "No action was taken in a statement made by Councilmember Combs about a situation on South O Street. President Wissel said this issue could be handled outside of a Council meeting." In trying to make his point about the correction, Councilmember Combs stated: "I feel that if I go on record with a comment as controversial as the fact that I am saying that the Habitat for Humanity organization which is a very popular organization has somehow or another planted in a neighborhood an individual who is really terrorizing the neighborhood than I feel like that should be reflected in the minutes if I'm willing to say that as an elected official. Unless there is a procedure where we actually strike that and I don't think any such procedure was done." In response to the question posed by President Wissel as to what amendment he would like to make to the minutes, Councilmember Combs said he would simply like to indicate that he (Councilmember Combs) cited some examples of a resident who was being disruptive and may very well be in violation of some City ordinances and that this was of great concern to him. He moved to amend the minutes to read as stated. Councilmember Hutton pointed out that at the bottom of Page 1 President Wissel was referred to as President Welch. Those two corrections were noted. Councilmember Elstro seconded the motion made by Councilmember Combs and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Elstro seconded the motion by Councilmember Hutton made earlier and the motion was carried on a voice vote. After the motions to correct the minutes were carried, the motion made earlier by Councilmember Welch to approve the minutes was seconded by Councilmember Hutton and that motion was carried on a voice vote. PRESENTATION OF REMONSTRANCES, PETITIONS, MEMORIALS, INTRODUCTIONS, MOTIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENTS RESOLUTION NO.2 — 2002 The Clerk read Resolution No. 2 — 2002 — A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING MARY ALEXANDER FOR TWELVE YEARS OF SERVICE ON THE CITY OF RICHMOND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION "WHEREAS, Mary Alexander has served on the City of Richmond Human Rights Commission for twelve years; and "WHEREAS, said position is a volunteer position requiring time, work, and dedication without compensation; and "WHEREAS, Mary Alexander is retiring from the Human Rights Commission. "NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana, gratefully acknowledges the twelve years of service given by Mary Alexander to the entire Richmond community through her participation as a member of the City of Richmond Human Rights Commission. The C ity o f R ichmond further a xpresses i is b est wishes for M rs. A lexander o n h er r etirement from t he Human Rights Commission." Councilmember Welch commented that Mary Alexander was in the audience and suggested that it was only appropriate that she be asked if she had a comment or two that she would like to pass on after her many years of service. Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 15, 2002 Page 2 Mrs. Alexander stepped to the podium and thanked the Council for its support of her and the Human Rights Commission. She also thanked her husband and her family for their support as well as David Gerwig, also a member of the Human Rights Commission, who was in the audience this evening. She said she was retiring from the Commission but would not ever retire as a person for being for the human rights of everyone. Councilmembers Lundy and Elstro added their individual comments in support of Mrs. Alexander's service. Councilmember Parker moved for approval of the resolution, second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. President Wissel recognized several government students in the audience and asked them to step forward and introduce themselves. All were students at Richmond High School and were in Gary Weir's class. COMMUNICATION FROM THE MAYOR . Mayor Shelley Miller gave an update on Carpenter, saying that the City had had some communication from the environmental consultant who had received the results of the latest testing. She said they feel they have some good recommendations and they had been working closely with the Indiana Department of Environmental Services on those and would be issuing a report that the City should receive yet this week. She added that if that does occur the City would be able to move forward with an agreement that is being drafted at this time by I.D.E.M. and the City would be able to move forward to proceed with the remediation of that site and the sheriff's sale. She also gave an update of the negotiations with AFSCME, saying that the fact-finding panel came back with some recommendations and both parties negotiated on those. She said there were 11 issues that went to fact-fmding and four of those were addressed and language was agreed upon and there were seven that have been forwarded to the Law Department to be put in ordinance form and those will be coming to Council at its next meeting. Councilmember Lundy questioned the" numbers, saying that she thought there were only four that were not settled. The Mayor responded, saying that at the time Councilmember Lundy was referring to, the City was hopeful that based on the recommendations that both sides would agree on common language but that did not occur, resulting in more issues to bring to Council than the City would have hoped. REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY President Wissel said the minutes of the meetings of March 14 and 21, 2002 were in their packets. REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES . REPORTS FROM ORGANIZATIONS MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS Councilmember Welch commented that before the meeting tonight he had distributed flyers from Reid Hospital to the other Councihmembers containing information about a neighborhood community meeting for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, 2002, in Wallace Auditorium to explain the plans and the design for the development of the acreage on the north side of the City. He added that he felt sure that anyone interested would be more than welcome although the flyer was especially intended for those living in those north side areas so the people living there would be aware of the plans. President Wissel announced that last week Councilmembers were made aware of an appointment to the Human Rights Commission, stating that it was the nomination of the renewal of Gene Roop to serve another four years. Councilmember Welch moved to approve the nomination, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING Councilmember Elstro moved to suspend the rules and read Ordinances No. 24, 28, 29, 30 and 31 - 2002 by title only, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. ORDINANCE NO. 24 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 24 — 2002 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE VACATING A PUBLIC WAY President W issel a rmounced that t his o rdinance would go to t he P lanning Commission. I n a ddressing a question posed by Councihnember Sharp about the ordinance, Planning Director Bob Goodwin said it was similar to what was done across the street for the carpet store that went in there and explained in detail. Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 15, 2002 Page 3 President Wissel announced that Ordinance 24 — 2002 would go to the Planning Commission where it would be on public hearing at that group's April 25, 2002 meeting and come back to Council in May. ORDINANCE NO.28 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 28 — 2002 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT TO BE KNOWN AS ROYAL OAKS APARTMENT COMPLEX President Wissel said this ordinance would also go to the Planning Commission for its April 25 meeting. ORDINANCE NO.29 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 29 — 2002 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT LOCATED AT 2021 THROUGH 2299 CHESTER BOULEVARD President Wissel said the ordinance concerns Reid Hospital and would also go to Planning Commission. ORDINANCE NO. 30 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 30 — 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 request was forwarded to Council by Tony Foster of the Community Development Department with a letter asking that the abatement committee react quickly on this particular request. He said Friday of the past week, he, along with President Wissel and Councilmembers Sharp and Elstro, met with the Amcast representatives, Michele Brehm, the finance manager, and Bill Corsiatto, the technical services manager. He said the reason for the request by Foster was that Amcast i s in the process of obtaining a rather sizeable contract and planning a rather sizeable addition and modification to its manufacturing process. He said a quick review means that the application can be moved forward by Ms. Brehm hopefully through the Department of Commerce to obtain additional grants for training and orientation of new employees that would be forthcoming with the expansion. In explaining further, Councilmember Welch said the expansion is being brought about by the obtaining of a contract which would amount to a sizeable amount of castings being produced by the local plant and would also mean modification to its manufacturing process in the amount of $4,400,000 in manufacturing equipment and tooling and re -tooling of existing lines amounting to $2 million generating an additional 100 jobs and the retention of 150 jobs. Councilmember Welch said that after listening to the facts of the application it was the opinion of those mentioned above that it met the guidelines o f the wages that Amcast is currently p aying an average of $12.43 per hour and the new hires would be hiring in at $9.15 per hour as they go through the probationary training period of six months before they would see an increase. He added that they do provide a health insurance to each of their employees and the request is for 10-year abatement on capital equipment. He recommended that the abatement request be granted. Councilmember Elstro moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 30 — 2002 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. City Attorney Bever pointed out that it does not require an amendment but when the ordinance is read on second and third reading that there is a typo on the agenda that should be changed from 21.1 to 12.1. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 30 — 2002 on second reading. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Lundy moved to suspend the.rules and advance Ordinance No. 30 — 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. 30 — 2002 on third reading. Ordinance No. 30 — 2002 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO. 31— 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 30 — 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 a tax abatement request by Cinram for an estimated $4 million. He recommended that it be held over until the next meeting when he would give a report. Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 15, 2002 Page 4 ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND ENGROSSMENT ORDINANCE NO. 21— 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 21 — 2002 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE VACATING A PUBLIC PLACE President Wissel explained that the Planning Commission conducted a public hearing March 28 and said that the ordinance, at the request of the Wayne County Commissioners, would vacate two sides of land totaling 1.73 acres. He said the parcels are zoned C-3 which is in the uptown retail commercial classification. He added that the commissioners had indicated that this may be the future home of a service building for county vehicles. He said the vote was 8-0 with three members absent to recommend that Council passes the ordinance subject to any necessary easements. President Wissel declared Ordinance No. 21 — 2002 on public hearing.. Speaking in favor of the request was Clay Miller, representing the commissioners, who said he would be happy to answer any questions. Councilmember Welch questioned as to whether this would require rezoning and Planning Director Bob Goodwin stated that it probably would require a different zoning and he fully expects that at sometime in the future if they go ahead with their plans that they would come back before Council to request re -zoning. There being no further comments for and none against the ordinance, 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. 21 — 2002 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 21 - 2002 on third reading. Ordinance No. 21 - 2002 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO. 22 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 22 — 2002 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE VACATING A PUBLIC WAY President Wissel explained that the Planning Commission had conducted a public hearing March 28 on this ordinance which, at the request of the Richmond Baking Company, would vacate North 6a' Street from the north s ide o f the railroad tracks to B ridge Avenue. H e s aid this would amount to a total o f. 446 acres, adding that this vacation would aid in the expansion of the Richmond Baking Company because it owns the land on each side. He said the vote was 8-0 with three members absent to recommend the passing of this ordinance by Council subject to any necessary easements. President Wissel declared Ordinance No. 22 — 2002 on public hearing. Speaking in favor of the ordinance and representing the Richmond Baking Company, were Jim Quigg, 2772 Wemle Road, president, and his son, Ralph Quigg, 310 South 17`h Street. Jim Quigg stated that he had appeared before Council about two or three years ago when the request was made to vacate the railroad crossing on North 6t' Street. He said that was done at both his company's request and the request of the City because the latter wanted to move the rail crossing out to the industrial park. He said he spoke in favor of that at the time because the only way his company could expand in its present location is across North 6`h Street. He said the reason is because in his industry the ovens basically, in this situation, run east and west. He further explained that to have an economic type oven you have to have at least 200 feet and their ovens are only 140 feet long. He added that the building is sandwiched in between Whitewater River and North 6a' Street and the only way it can expand its ovens is to vacate North 6a` Street. He said that since his last appearance before Council, the company has purchased all the property located between the Whitewater River and the North 8 b Street rail crossing to the south of Bridge Avenue to the railroad, adding that this was in hopeful anticipation that the company could get a vacation of the street so it could build across it. Referring to the plans being held by his son, Jim Quigg explained that the company is at its limit as far as warehousing is concerned and its immediate plans are to build a warehouse and eventually in the very near future extend the ovens into the area. He said that it is hopeful that it would increase employment. He added that Duane Roland, who is going to be the company's contractor on this endeavor, is also in the audience to answer any questions. There being no further comments for and none against the ordinance, Councilmember Welch moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Hutton and the motion was carried on a voice vote. 1 Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 15, 2002 Page 5 Councilmember Lundy moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 22 — 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. 22 - 2002 on third reading. Ordinance No. 22 - 2002 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO. 23 — 2002 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 23 — 2002 — A GENERAL ORDINANCE AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 154 OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND CODE REGARDING ZONING MAPS President Wissel reported on the public hearing held on this ordinance March 28 by the Planning Commission, saying that it is on the proposed electronic zoning maps which are intended to replace the current zoning maps made of paper. He said Susan Beeson, the City's geographic information systems coordinator presented the concept in a copy of the overall zoning map for discussion. He said the vote was 8-0 with three members absent to recommend that Council approve the ordinance. President Wissel declared Ordinance No. 23 — 2002 on public hearing. Speaking in favor of the ordinance was Planning Director Bob Goodwin who introduced Beeson, saying she could answer all the technical questions Council may have in regard to the electronic zoning maps. He said the reason for embarking on this was with the idea of being a little more modem to the approach to zoning within the community, trying to making zoning information and information, generally, throughout the planning, permits and inspections department available on a 24-hour basis seven days a week to the citizens. He said it is to the point now of getting it onto the computer system so that somebody can dial it up at home and determine exactly how a parcel was zoned and pull up an insert that goes with it and gives an explanation of what that zoning would allow them to do. He said Beeson had distributed copies of an overall zoning map to the Councilmembers, adding that the intent here is not to rezone anything, but simply to translate from paper to the electronic version. Councilmember Welch asked about the questions that were raised about some areas around zoning at the Planning Commission meeting as to whether or not they were reviewed and if the corrections were made. Beeson said all the ordinances concerning anything that was questioned at the time were pulled and those corrections were made. She added that in many of the cases the paper maps were correct. Addressing a question posed by Councilmember Welch about ensuring that the correct zoning is transferred to the electronic version, City Attorney Bob Bever said he had a suggestion that could possibly be put in place. He said'that as changes are made to the City code, the Law Department implements them as soon as the ordinance is passed and at the end of each year he goes back and checks all the ordinances that might affect the code to make sure that for that year they bad been put into the City code. Goodwin said that procedure, would be added to the policy. Councilmember Sharp commented about the statement made earlier that a copy of the new map which includes the area that would be rezoned and placed in with the ordinance. Beeson said that is what has been done to this point. Answering a question by Councilmember Dickman, Beeson said the zoning information could be pulled up on the website by anyone. She added that other information would also be included such as neighborhood associations, dimension lines for the parcels and aerial photography as well as much more. There being no further comments for and none against the ordinance, Councilmember Welch 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. 23 — 2002 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 23 - 2002 on third reading. Ordinance No. 23 - 2002 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCES ON THIRD READING UNFINISHED BUSINESS Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 15, 2002_ Page 6 CALL FOR ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, on a motion duly made, seconded and passed, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 P.M. Bruce Wissel, President ATTEST: Norma Schroeder, Clerk 1