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HomeMy Public PortalAbout12-03-2001PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2001 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in regular session at 7:30 p.m., Monday, December 3, 2001, in the Council Chambers in said City. President Karl Sharp presided with the following Councilmembers present: Howard "Jack" Elstro, Etta J. Lundy, Bruce Wissel, Phil Dickman, Bing Welch, Larry Parker, Paul Combs and Sarah "Sally" Hutton. The following business was conducted: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PRAYER BY COUNCILMEMBER WISSEL ROLL CALL Nine present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the meeting of November 19, 2001 were approved on a motion by Councilmember Hutton, second by Councilmember Welch and carried on a voice vote. PRESENTATION OF REMONSTRANCES, PETITIONS, MEMORIALS, INTRODUCTIONS, MOTIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENTS President Sharp acknowledged the presence of many high school students in the government class at Richmond High School in the audience and asked the WCTV cameraman to swing the camera around to record their attendance for their parents and teacher. COMMUNICATION FROM THE MAYOR Mayor Shelley Miller spoke on several topics which included the housing needs assessment, the South L Street railroad crossing, the review of the functions of the Human Rights Department and tax abatements. Elaborating on the latter, Mayor Miller said she had distributed copies of I.C. 6-1.1-12.1-7 which, she said, would enable this Council to grant tax abatements on office buildings and retail establishments that would encourage investments in the uptown properties including the renovation and re -use of second and third floors. She said she has asked the Department of Law for its interpretation and Tony Foster, the business development liaison, to give an impact statement on the type of incentive for the uptown area. She said that if Council would like to consider this possibility this administration would be prepared to make a presentation to the Economic Development Commission this month and come back to Council the first meeting in January with the Commission's recommendation. Councilmember Parker expressed his concern about the phone service in the City Building. Mayor Miller said the administration has recognized the problem and in the budget for 2002 a part-time position has been added which is specifically addressing the needs of the switchboard. She also said all department heads have been encouraged to respond to their voice mails on a timely basis, adding that she would bring that up again at the next staff meeting. Councilmember Parker also had a question about clogged sewers on South West 18'' Street which he said appears to be the result of a restaurant in that area not having the proper grease trap. He said this is the third time in four or five years that this has been confronted by the residents. He said he feels it is time to do something about this problem. In answer to a question by Councilmember Welch about the tax abatement issue mentioned previously by the Mayor, Bever said action would take place as soon as Council deems the area as an economical development target area. Councilmember Combs, commenting on the same subject, said he felt that using local contractors should be encouraged. A brief discussion ensued among the Councilmembers about how the tax abatements are tracked. Councilmember Welch suggested that Tony Foster, in the Community Development office, be asked to submit a report annually about the abatements just to update Council on the actions taken in that area. Mayor Miller commented that she was sure that Foster would be happy to take care of that. REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY President Sharp said the minutes of the meetings of November 8 and 15, 2001 were in their packets. REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS Robin Henry, director of the Human Resources Department, reported that the City employs 532 employees, 490 are fulltime and approximately 40 are part-time. Another 75 are hired during the summer. She said she and the benefits administrator, who deals exclusively with health benefits, are the two fulltime professionals in the office. Common Council Minutes Cont'd December 3, 2001 Page 2 She stated that there is a part-time position that has been added this year and commented that she will elaborate on later. She said that the City also has four unions and represents civilian employees. Highlighting the accomplishments of the department in 2001, Henry stated that these include the Employee Management Partnership Initiative which represents the 9 departments within the City, working with the Safety Committee and adding the part-time employee to Sanitary. Elaborating on that, Henry said the department has worked with the Sanitary District in hiring a part-time Human Resources person for that department only to handle claims and answer general questions. Henry said the City leads in providing on-line job applications to the citizens of Richmond on the Internet and also advertise the jobs available. She said the office has represented the City in the ongoing AFSCME negotiations and she has been pleased with the process. She said the office is in charge of all the property insurance for the City and all the buildings are being reassessed this year and that should be completed during the first quarter of 2002. She said this is something that hasn't been done in the past 10 years. Looking forward to 2002, Henry said she would like to see more supervisory training in Human Resources issues. She also said she would like to see a review of the performance evaluation procedures within the departments. She said she will be representing the City as president of the Eastern Indiana Human Resources Association in 2002 and will also be a Board member for the IMPACT group which is the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns H.R. association. She distributed copies of the amount of money the City contributes to the health insurance plan vs. the employees. She said the City has not had a re- adjustment in those figures since 1977 and the employee's costs have remained the same. She said, for example, for a family of six the City pays $995 per month and that is quite a sum. REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM ORGANIZATIONS MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS Alluding to the appointments to the Board of the Wayne County Convention & Tourism Bureau, President Sharp said the responsibility of Council is to take care of the renewable positions which expire at the end of December. He said these are filled now by Linda VonPein, representing the travel industry, and Dana Weigle, representing the Richmond/Wayne County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He said the recommendation of the Tourism Bureau to Council is to appoint Linda Porter to fill a vacancy for the lodging industry. Councilmember Welch moved to accept the recommendations of the Tourism Bureau, second by Councilmember Hutton and the motion was carried on a voice vote. President Sharp announced that a replacement is needed for Ronda Brown on the Sanitary Advisory Committee. He said he contacted the Rev. Scott T. Bell, 2425 South G Street, who agreed to be considered by Council to fill that vacancy. Councilmember Hutton moved to approve the appointment of the Rev. Bell, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. President Sharp said he had also been notified of the vacancy on the Police Citizens Review Committee which has come about by the Rev. Larry Curtis moving out of town. He said he had contacted the Rev. John Walker, pastor of the First English Lutheran Church, who agreed to be considered by Council to fill that vacancy. Prior to the vote, Councilmember Wissel questioned as to whether or not the Reverend lives within the City limits since there is a stipulation that he does. Councilmember Hutton moved to approve the appointment of the Rev. John Walker with the stipulation that he must live within the City limits of Richmond, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING Councilmember Elstro moved to suspend the rules and read Ordinances No. 94, 95, 96, 97, 100 and 101 - 2001, on first reading by title only and Ordinance No. 99 in its entirety, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. ORDINANCE NO. 94 — 2001. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 94 — 2001 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS TO AND REDUCTIONS FROM CERTAIN FUNDS City Controller John Kenny stated that each of the Councilmembers had received a cover letter with this ordinance which explained the coverage for the police and fire contracts. He said he is asking for an additional appropriation of $95,000 for the personal services of the two departments which is in the 1000 level Account. Common Council Minutes Cont'd December 3, 2001 Page 2 Councilmember Wissel moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 94 — 2001 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 94 — 2001 on second reading. President Sharp declared Ordinance No. 94 — 2001 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Hutton and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Wissel moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 94 — 2001 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Ordinance No. 94 — 2001 was adopted by a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO. 95 — 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 95 — 2001 — A GENERAL ORDINANCE ADDING A NEW SECTION 95.42 TO THE CITY OF RICHMOND CODE Park Superintendent Stan Lambert explained that the purpose of this ordinance is to allow the Parks and Recreation Board to adopt rules for the recently constructed skate park in Glen Miller Park. Stipulations include posting the rules and regulations posted at all entrances to the facility; graffiti or tagging will not be permitted; alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs and weapons prohibited as well as horseplay, roughhousing, fighting, violence, and profanity. Violators may be fined $50 for each violation and those fines may be issued by the Richmond Police Department or any employee of the City so authorized by the Parks and Recreation Board. Councilmember Combs voiced a concern about the safety of the skaters and the enforcement of the rules and regulations. Lambert responded that statistics show that skateboarding has fewer accidents than all of the mainline sports and comes in 5ffi or 6`s place when it comes to injuries. He said the youth in the community are currently skateboarding in unsafe places and this will get them into a safe area where they can go and be in an area that is designed for skateboarding. He said they have researched this- and visited other facilities so he felt they had done their homework in choosing the design of the skate park. Councilmember Dickman had a question about the lighting and the noise which might invade the privacy of the neighbors in the area. He also mentioned the possibility of youth bringing in their boom boxes and creating a noisy atmosphere and Lambert said they would deal with that problem when and if it occurs. He said he felt that the statement in the rules about "keeping noise to a minimum" would cover that and give the authority to deal with it. Lambert said the facility would not be lit at this point and it will be locked at dark. He said there will be a 7-foot black vinyl coated chain link fence around the entire facility and two 7- foot turnstiles at each of the two entrances which will be locked up when the park is not in use. In answer to Councilmember Lundy's question about what is going to be done to encourage the youth who are skateboarding on the streets and sidewalks now to take advantage of the skate park, Lambert said plans are being made to bring in some professional skaters as well as some events with competitions and demonstrations. Lambert said copies of the rules will be distributed to skaters so they can be aware of them, adding that the planners of the skate park have complied with the suggestions of the state statute. Councilmember Parker asked if anybody at the park will be provided to take care of the violators and granted police powers. Bever answered that they are relying on the Police Department to come in for those kind of violations. Councilmember Parker responded that he didn't see how the Police Department could be expected to be out there and police it for the Park Department and hand out the fines. Lambert said the language for authorization of the -park staff is in the ordinance and the Park Board will delegate that authority. Councilmember Hutton asked about who to contact after hours and Lambert said that would also be posted. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 95 — 2001 to 'second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 95 — 2001 on second reading. President Sharp declared Ordinance No. 95 — 2001 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Hutton and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Lundy moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 95 — 2001 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Elstro and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Common Council Minutes Cont'd December 3, 2001 Page 4 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 95 — 2001 on third reading. Councilmember Parker said he agreed with Lambert about giving the youth a safe place for skateboarding but added that he feels that someone has to be there at the park to police it in the beginning to prevent a rash of accidents which are bound to happen. Councilmember Wissel complimented the Parks and Recreation Department on putting the park together. Councilmember Welch also commented that there is a positive group formed early on by people who are interested in the skate park. He said this Skateboard Advisory Board will be instrumental in helping to police and oversee what is going on at the skate park. Councilmember Dickman suggested that a pay phone should be installed close to the facility in case of an emergency. Ordinance No. 95 — 2001 was adopted on an 8 to 1 roll call vote with Councilmember Combs voting against. ORDINANCE NO. 96 — 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 96 — 2001 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2001 BUDGET Explaining this ordinance was City Controller John Kenny who said that this ordinance and Ordinance 97 — 2001 are directly related to Ordinance No. 94 — 2001. He said they are moving all available money to bring the other figure down to $95,000. Councilmember Parker said since both ordinances deal with the same topic that it should be possible to deal with both of them at the same time. Since no objection was raised by Bever, Councihnember Parker moved to consider both ordinances at the same time, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance both ordinances to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 96 - 2001 and Ordinance No. 97- 2001 on second reading. President Sharp declared both ordinances on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Wissel 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. 96 - 2001 and Ordinance No. 97 — 2001 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 both ordinances on third reading. Ordinance No. 96 — 2001 and Ordinance No. 97 — 2001 were adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO. 97 — 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 97 — 2001 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2001 BUDGET Action on this ordinance taken as written above. ORDINANCE NO. 99 — 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 99 — 2001 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF RICHMOND TO RECEIVE A DONATION `.`WHEREAS, the City of Richmond, Indiana, has the option of accepting or rejecting donations for a specific purpose; and "WHEREAS, the acceptance of a donation for a specific purpose constitutes the appropriation of such property for the intended purpose. "NOW, THEREFORE, be it ordained by the Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana, that a donation in the amount of Eleven Thousand Dollars ($11,000.00) to help cover the costs associated with performing a housing needs assessment made to the City of Richmond by the Richmond Housing Authority shall be accepted and gratefully acknowledged by the citizens of Richmond." Common Council Minutes Cont'd December 3, 2001 Page 5 Commenting on this ordinance was Misty Hollis in the Office of Community Development who explained that this action came about because the Housing Authority felt that this housing needs assessment is important enough to donate these funds to if the City can pay the rest. She said Mayor Miller is working with the Controller's office to make those funds available. She said the total grant request is for $33,000. Councilmember Hutton moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 99 — 2001 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Lundy and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 99 — 2001 on second reading. President Sharp declared Ordinance No. 99 — 2001 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Hutton 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. 99 — 2001 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Hutton and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 99 — 2001 on third reading. Ordinance No. 99 — 2001 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO. 100- 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 100- 2001 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING PAYMENT FOR SERVICES FROM THE RICHMOND SANITARY DISTRICT, RICHMOND POWER & LIGHT, THE MOTOR VEHICLE HIGHWAY, THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT, AND OFF STREET PARKING TO THE GENERAL FUND IN 2002 City Controller John Kenny said this ordinance is an annual one that allocates salaries from the General Fund to various other departments which use administrative services. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 100 — 2001 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Wissel and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 100 — 2001 on second reading. President Sharp declared Ordinance No. 100 — 2001 on public hearing. 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 Elstro moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 100 — 2001 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 100 — 2001 on third reading. Ordinance No. 100 — 2001 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO. 101— 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 101 — 2001 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2001 BUDGET City Engineer Bob Wiwi explained that this ordinance deals with a request for a transfer of $1,500 from the Computer Services account to the Computer Equipment account. He said this money will be used to purchase a new printer. He said the printer now in use is serving six computers. Councilmember Wissel moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 101 — 2001 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 101— 2001 on second reading. President Sharp declared Ordinance No. 101 — 2001 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Wissel and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Common Council Minutes Cont'd December 3, 2001 Page 6 Councilmember Wissel moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 101 — 2001 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 101— 2001 on third reading. Ordinance No. 101 — 2001 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND ENGROSSMENT ORDINANCE NO. 74 — 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 74 — 2001 — 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 the ordinance was Councilmember Wissel who said that this is a 10-year real estate abatement request made by Richmond Enterprises LLC for an estimated value of $275,000 and an estimate of four new jobs and the retention of three. He said this is the corporation that owns the building occupied by Wayne Bank and Trust at 4403 East Main Street. He said this was held on second reading at the last meeting because Council was debating about banks and offices being eligible. He said this is not in an economic revitalization area which is required by the state enabling ordinance, adding that the Tax Abatement Committee recommended that this request be denied. Some discussion ensued about how the request even came to the Council for consideration and Councilmember Wissel explained that the request had come in the mail and he talked with Russell King who commented that they really didn't think they could get an abatement but it was recommended to them that they apply. President Sharp declared Ordinance No. 74 — 2001 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or 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. 74 — 2001 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. 74 — 2001 on third reading. Councilmember Parker asked Bever about the procedure to be used to allow this request to be returned to Council for consideration. Bever said this is strictly up to Council as to whether they strike it or defeat it in a roll call vote. After much discussion about what to do, it was decided to allow the Clerk to call the roll. Ordinance No. 74 — 2001 was defeated on a unanimous voice vote against. ORDINANCE NO.93 — 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 93 — 2001 — 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 Wissel explained that this ordinance deals with an abatement request made by the Richmond Mutual Bancorporation which is anticipating adding 15 new jobs and retaining 125. He said the abatement committee was split on this, adding that 6 years ago Council decided not to go with abating offices but focusing more on the manufacturing sector. Councilmember Wissel said this does appear that it would fit into the Economic Development target area that Mayor Miller commented on earlier. He said he had discussed this with Gary Kleer, President of the company asking for the request and advised him to hold this open to see what would develop on the new ordinance on the Economic Development target areas. He said Kleer had no objection to that and Councilmember Wissel said that was his recommendation to this Council tonight. Councilmember Hutton moved to hold this ordinance on second reading, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Welch said by holding this the company could still file for its abatement until May of 2002. 1 Common Council Minutes_ Cont'd December 3, 2001 Page 7 ORDINANCES ON THIRD READING There were none. UNFINISHED BUSINESS President Sharp said Council has two tabled ordinances which are Ordinance No. 18 — 2001 and Ordinance No. 28 — 2001 and City Controller John Kenny had presented Council with information tonight that was requested to help determine the action taken. It was agreed to hold these ordinances until January 2002. CALL FOR ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, on a motion duly made, seconded and passed, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. ATTEST: 1 Norma Schroeder, City Clerk Karl Sharp, President