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HomeMy Public PortalAbout02-12-2001PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2001 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in regular session at 7:30 p.m. Monday, February 12, 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, Larry Parker, Bing Welch, Paul Combs and Phil Dickman. Sarah "Sally" Hutton was absent. The following business was conducted: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PRAYER BY COUNCILMEMBER DICKMAN ROLL CALL Eight present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of the meetings of December 18, 2000 and January 8, 2001 and the special meeting of January 8, 2001, were approved on a motion by Councilmember Wissel, seconded by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Wissel moved to open the agenda to add Ordinance No. 83 — 2000 on first reading, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. President Sharp presented Councilmember Parker with a gift for his leadership as President of the Common Council in the year 2000. Councilmember Wissel also moved to amend the agenda to show Resolution No. 2 — 2001, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. President Sharp recognized members of Boy Scout Troop 119 who were in the audience to work on their "Citizenship in the Community" merit badge. Each of the members stepped to the microphone and introduced themselves at the request of Councilmember Parker. Also present were two of the assistant scoutmasters, which included Bruce Metzger. PRESENTATION OF REMONSTRANCES. PETITIONS, MEMORIALS, INTRODUCTIONS, MOTIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENTS Resolution No. 1— 2001 — A RESOLUTION FOR SUPPORTING THE APPROVAL OF A LATE FILED APPLICATION FOR A PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENT FOR KEY CORPORATE CAPITAL, INC. (FICKENSCHER) Tony Foster, grants administrator for the City, explained that this resolution is a request to allow Key Corporate Capital, Inc. to file a late -filed tax abatement. He said the State of Indiana is willing to grant the tax abatement if a letter from the designating body, stating that they approve having the abatement even though the filing was late, is submitted. Councilmember Welch moved to approve the resolution, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Resolution No. 2 — 2001 — A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF IVY TECH STATE COLLEGE EXPANSION Diana Pappin, director of resource development and public relations for Ivy Tech State College, explained that she was present to ask Council's support for Ivy Tech State College construction project. She asked for Council's approval of Resolution No. 2 — 2001 so that Ivy Tech could share it with area legislators. Following her comments, Councilmember Welch moved to approve the resolution, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. RP & L General Manager David Osburn was recognized as a representative of the Economic Development Corporation Task Force trying to encourage and promote Purdue University's regional technology initiative. He presented Resolution No. 3 — 2001 to Council and asked Councilmembers to urge members of the 1120' Indiana General Assembly to approve and fund House Bill 1424 which would enable Purdue to raise money to place regional technology centers at various locations throughout the state. He said the bill would also expand Purdue's technical assistance program in east central Indiana. At the suggestion of Councilmember Parker, the agenda was opened to add Resolution No. 3 — 2001 and on a motion by Councilmember Welch, second by Councilmember Parker, the resolution was added. Councilmember Welch moved to approve the resolution, second by Councilmember Combs and the motion was carried on a voice vote. 1 Common Council Minutes Cont'd February 12, 2001 Page 2 COMMUNICATION FROM THE MAYOR Mayor Shelley Miller introduced Sam Lahanas, the new district manager of the Sanitary Department and an employee of EA2. REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY President Sharp said the minutes of the meetings of January 11, 18, 25 and February 2, 2001 were included in their packets. REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM ORGANIZATIONS MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS Councilmember Elstro asked if there are any plans to clean up the alleys and back yards since spring is coming on. The Mayor said the administration has been discussing this issue in department head meetings and is looking at code enforcement, street trees and alley cleanups. He also commented on the Beechwood Mobile Home park on North West 5 h about which he has been getting several calls because "it's quite a mess." He said he talked to Planning Director Bob Goodwin and was told it is regulated by the state. Goodwin said he had checked with Wayne Jackson, the building inspector who checks on zoning violations and learned that the housing code sets standards for dwelling units but it specifically excludes mobile home courts. He added that they had also checked the building code which defines "buildings" as those with permanent foundations which also excludes mobile homes. He said they are looking at an ordinance that would have to be drawn up by the Law Department that would apply to a situation such as this and if they found out they couldn't do it locally they would have to do it at a state level. He said the City does not have the tools presently to take care of the situation. Councilmember Welch said he had talked with Goodwin a couple of weeks ago about this and said it is well known by neighbors who live close by that there are up to 8 to 10 people living there per trailer and these are parked very close together. He suggested that perhaps a meeting could be arranged with the owners of Beechwood to see if something could be done there as soon as possible. President Sharp said the committee assignments remain the same as last year and as they appear on each agenda that is distributed to Councilmembers and the public. President Sharp also noted that he had named to the union election oversight committees Terry Kelly of the Sanitary Department and Rick Jacobs from the Street Department. He said the Wayne County Tourism and Convention Bureau had asked for a Councilmember to serve on a convention center task force, adding that the designated person is Councilmember Combs. As Council, President Sharp said there are three appointments to make. He said they are to the Redevelopment Commission and the Telecommunications Council. He said John Rusie had been serving on the Redevelopment Commission and William Sponsel Sr. and Tim Valentine have both been serving on the Telecommunications Council. He said he had called all three of those named and they are willing to serve again. Councilmember Dickman moved to appoint Rusie to the Redevelopment Commission, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Welch moved to approve the reappointment of both Sponsel and Valentine to the Telecommunications Council, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Mayor Miller commented that prior to the Council meeting tonight she was at a meeting of the Street Tree Commission and the term of Neil Sabine, Council's appointment to that group, has expired. She added that Sabine had asked her to inform Council that he would like to be reappointed. Councilmember Elstro moved to approve, 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. 1, 2, 3 and 4 — 2001 on first reading by title only, second by Councilmember Combs and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Common Council Minutes Cont'd February 12, 2001 Page 3 ORDINANCE NO. 1— 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 1 — 2001 — A GENERAL ORDINANCE AMENDING AND RESTATING SECTION 119.27 OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND CODE Explaining this ordinance was Assistant City Attorney Steve Rabe who said this ordinance, if adopted, would amend the chapter of the City Code, which currently regulates taxicabs within the City. He said the City issues all of the licenses mentioned but this ordinance would put the authority to revoke those licenses in the hands of the Board of Public Works. Rabe said this would definitely help the police department deal with some of the flagrant violators of the code. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 1 — 2001 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Combs and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 1 — 2001 on second reading. President Sharp declared Ordinance No. 1— 2001 on public 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 Wissel moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 1 — 2001 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Combs and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 1 — 2001 on third reading. Ordinance No. 1 — 2001 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO.2 — 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 2 — 2001 — A GENERAL ORDINANCE AMENDING AND RESTATING SECTION 150.18 (a) (3) OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND CODE Rabe also explained this ordinance, saying that this ordinance would deal with exterior maintenance. He said one of the problems the City has had with the section on exterior maintenance is how to judge exactly what one third of the surface is. He said this ordinance would strike that reference to the one-third and replace it with other wording using "significant." A discussion followed on what the procedure is in advance to writing the citation and what happens following that action. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 2 — 2001 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Combs and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 2 — 2001 on second reading. President Sharp declared Ordinance No. 2 — 2001 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Welch moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Combs moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 2 — 2001 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 2 — 2001 on third reading. Ordinance No. 2 — 2001 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO.3 — 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 3 — 2001 — AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE SUBMITTAL, ACCEPTANCE, AND APPROPRIATION OF A GRANT FROM THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Appearing again to explain this ordinance was Tony Foster who said the City is requesting $98,306 from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management 205J grant program. He said the funding, if received, would be used to install monitoring wells on the southeast aquifer and these wells would be installed in accordance with revised Ordinance No. 33 —1999. The total project cost, Foster said, would be approximately $152,202, adding that the U.S. Geological survey has committed to provide a match of $38,675 and the City would match the total project cost at 10 percent at $15,221. He said the remaining $98,306 would, hopefully, come from I.D.E.M.'s program. Common Council Minutes Cont'd February 12, 2001 Page 4 Foster said there are approximately six different sites and different wells. Councilmember Welch said there is cursory testing going on now by Southeast Wood Treatment around their building and their property, in accordance with the original ordinance. President Sharp asked how big an area is being addressed. Foster answered that locations are along Hodgin Road, Southeast Parkway, east of Garwood and going on to Greenmount Pike. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 3 — 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. 3 — 2001 on second reading. President Sharp declared Ordinance No. 3— 2001 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Combs and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Lundy moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 3 — 2001 to third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No. 3 — 2001 on third reading. Ordinance No. 3 — 2001 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO.4 — 2001 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 4 — 2001— A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE APPROVAL OF A STATEMENT OF BENEFITS FOR A PROEPRTY OWNER APPLYING FOR DEDUCTIONS UNDER I.C. 6-1.1-12.1 Councilmember Wissel explained that this ordinance is a request by Color Box LLC for a 10-year tax abatement on new manufacturing equipment. He said they estimate 30 new jobs, retaining 226, and the estimated value is $5,418,000. He said the tax abatement committee would meet and bring a recommendation back to Council at its next meeting. ORDINANCE NO. 83 — 2000 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 83 — 2000 — A GENERAL ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 154.43 OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND CODE REGARDING SIGNS City Attorney Bob Bever thanked everyone for their input into the content of this ordinance during special work sessions and in prior hearings, making some significant changes and improvements to the ordinance. Bever pointed out the changes made which included signs advertising a service, canopies, creating a billboard restricted area and bench signage. Councilmember Welch said he would like to see the billboard restriction on Industries Road extended the full length of the road from U.S. 27 North to Round Barn Road North. Councilmember Dickman suggested that a 30-day time frame be placed on the removal of bench signs and Bever agreed, adding that he would rather see the effective date on everything else in the ordinance upon signature. Councilmember Welch moved to amend Ordinance No. 83 — 2000 to include the points in Bever's communication of February 7, 2001, and make those changes in the original ordinance. He added that on page 10 it should include the wording "U.S. 27 North to Round Barn Road," when speaking of Industries Road and the restricted billboard area. He also said to add the time stipulation of 30 days for removal of the advertising currently on those bench signs. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a voice vote. President Sharp announced that this ordinance would advance to Planning Commission. ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND ENGROSSMENT ORDINANCE NO.75- 2000 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 75 — A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING MAP BETWEEN 750 AND 950 ON THE WEST SIDE OF SOUTH 23an STREET, RICHMOND, INDIANA Councilmember Wissel reported on the Advisory Planning Commission hearing on this ordinance, noting that the request is for a Planned Unit Development to be located on South 231d Street between the 750 and the 950 block. He said the hearing was first conducted on November 16, 2000, and after several hours was continued to the next meeting of the Planning Commission which was January 25, 2001 at which time the hearing was concluded. Common Council Minutes Cont'd February 12, 2001 Page 5 He said the developers requested to amend their original petition to permit a P.U.D. in an R-2 zoning district and offered the following commitments to be recorded in the Plat Room at the Wayne County Courthouse: Apartment units would rent for a minimum monthly rate of $700; selling price of single family homes would be a minimum of $140,000 each; selling price of condominium units would be a minimum of $125,000 each; a homeowners association be established and maintained in accordance with the approved charter; deceleration lanes be constructed and maintained along the west side of South 23`d Street; a six foot high chain link fence be constructed and maintained around three sides of the perimeter with the front or east side fenced with wrought iron; all common open spaces and drainage areas would be maintained by the Homeowners Association; and the location of the apartment's drive and parking lots should be in compliance with the concept plan including the 90 foot setback of the west apartment building. Councilmember Wissel also stated that the developers reduced the number of apartment units from 64 to 56 by removing an 8-unit building from the plan; He said the Advisory Planning Commission voted 3 yes votes and four no votes with 2 members absent and 2 vacancies on the Commission. Therefore, under state law, this is not a decision and the petition returns to Council without a recommendation for or against the request. President Sharp announced that the ordinance was on public hearing. George Sowers, attorney for the petitioner, said he wanted to give some background on this issue, stating that on October 2, 2000, he prepared a petition for a PUD overlay zoning for an R-2 District and tonight is February 12, 2001. He explained the reasons for the delay included a postponed meeting and passed out of the Planning Commission without a recommendation. Sowers said Irwin R. Rose is the owner of 17 acres that is in question here and is also the owner of Country Club Apartments. He said Rose entered into a development agreement with Fred Harvey, Terry Robinson and Scott Porter, all well established local people. He said the plan was for the developers to acquire the 17 acres and develop it with 4 and one-half acres for luxury apartments and 12 and one half acres for singles and condos. Rose decided, Sowers said, that he would like to continue owning those apartments so a deal was struck that that would happen with the developers playing a key role in the development including the layout and the architectural design. Sowers said the development plan would provide a service alley with some of the single units having garages on the backside of the units. He said there would be also be walking paths. He explained that this petition and ordinance is for a PUD overlay zoning for a residential PUD in an R-2 district which gives protection to the neighborhood because it is assured that if this does not develop it is still R-2 zoning. He said under the present concept plan there would be 54 units, luxury apartments; and there would be a mixture of condos and single family units that would be privately owned. He said there would be a Homeowners Association, which would affect the entire development, adding that the concept plan is to be attached to the ordinance and becomes binding with the respect to the concept. He said the development plan comes after the passage of this ordinance and goes to the Planning Commission and a public hearing. Sowers said there had been three concerns raised by the neighbors and pointed out that the developers have worked very hard to try to address those and have met with them. Those concerns are in three areas, Sowers said, noting that these are drainage, traffic and the larger concentration of apartment dwellers in the years to come. He attempted to diminish the concern about those three areas by further explaining the issue and how it has been addressed. He said this kind of concept is much needed, adding that apartments are first choice by many people, and cited statistics of the Indiana Apartment Association which predicts between now and 2010 there will be a larger percentage growth in apartment dwellings than in any other residential area. Concluding, Sowers said he would encourage a favorable vote by Council. One of the developers, Terry Robinson, stated that he wished he could show Council the completed project and drive them through, because he thinks everyone would be impressed, but since that can't be done he said he would try to explain what it's going to be like. He said he thought about how to describe what the difference is, and he commented on all the white space around it. He said what has been done in the past few years, has been to put in some cul de sacs to change the looks. Addressing the question about square footage, he said there is one neighborhood in town that has very large homes and rather meager ones, and he said to his knowledge Reeveston is still and has been one of the highest re -sale neighborhoods in this community. He said its not square footage that people want, it's charm, diversity and a feeling of presence. Using the map, Robinson pointed out the pond with a fountain, apartments designed to look like large manor homes, mailbox pavilions, old fashioned lights, green space, park benches and houses with square footage of at least 1,400. Common Council Minutes Cont'd February 12, 2001 Page 6 Gordon Moore of Kramer and Associates addressed the three issues concerning sanitary, sewers and storm sewers in this particular area. He said his company had invested more time and effort into this project at this point than is normally done on a preliminary drawing. He said they have been in contact with the Sanitary District and City Engineer Bob Wiwi and they are sure they can connect and have no problems, mainly because they are only going to be generating 25,000 gallons per day. He said the storm water problems do exist in this area but they have two very large storm sewers available, one on the south side and the other on the north side. He said the development cost for this particular subdivision far exceeds anything that his company is involved with personally around the City and around any of the areas that they are involved in the development end. Councilmember Lundy commented that the City has known they have a problem in that area and its been there for a long time and she said it seemed rather odd that the City would consider putting in another potential problem in that area. She asked what the City is doing to address some of the drainage problems. Wiwi stepped forward to say that Richmond Sanitary District is about half to two-thirds of the way through a storm water master plan and a sanitary sewer master plan and they have hired outside consultants to specifically hone in on those two areas. He said completion of the master plan for sanitary should be in August. He said these master plans would also give proposed budget, figures to look at how projects can be funded on a system wide basis. He said once the plan is complete there would be a series of projects for which a funding system would be prepared. He said they are hoping to begin those projects within a year. Mayor Miller said these projects have been identified as a priority and the City is talking about a substantial amount of funding that have to be identified. Councilmember Lundy said she would like to see this handled the same way the streets are being done. After a brief recess, people from the audience were invited to speak about the ordinance. Councilmember Combs read a letter written by James and Barbara Spencer at 991 South 23rd Street which commented on wanting the City to address the restructuring of 23rd Street, buried phone lines and another entrance or exit from the development. Dawn Otto, a resident of 911 South 215L Street, said she saw this as an opportunity to integrate the apartments and homes. Robert Perry, a member of the Home Builders Association, said through this project local contractors would have more work. Traci Robinson, 1011 Forest Hills Boulevard, also spoke in favor of the project, stating that she had had a phone call from Beth Atkins who is in favor of the subdivision. Brett Leland, 920 South 23rd Street, informed Council that he owns a 100- by 200-foot lot that his house sits on and his concern is that his property would interfere with this project. Sowers said he believed the developers would be very willing to incorporating that "notch" into the plan but the tough point would be agreeing upon a price. He said this is something that could be worked out at a later date it looks like a distinct possibility and needs to be brought along as a supplement to what is being done. He said this project before Council tonight needs to move forward. Jim Bower, 919 South 215C Street, stated that he wished to publicly acknowledge Robinson's willingness to explain this project to many of the residents' personal concerns. However, he said it is not their desire to have apartments built adjacent to their homes and they do worry about property values. He said a petition signed by 71 residents was presented last fall opposing the proposed PUD and he has talked to a number of people who signed it to know where they stand. He added that he felt it was fair to say that many of those who signed the petition still have strong objections to the plans as they are currently presented. He addressed the three concerns which had already been mentioned which were traffic, drainage and the number of apartments. Robert Rosminski, 1101 South 23rd Street, said his major concern is the traffic, adding that he and his wife walk 23rd Street almost every day. He said on that street 50 miles per hour is the average speed and he said if someone would put in sidewalks he would be glad to pay his share of the cost of the installation. The Mayor responded that the City is looking into what the cost would be to put in sidewalks and curbs between South L and E Streets. Several of the Councilmembers voiced their concerns about that, with Councilmember Elstro commenting that it's like opening Pandora's box, stating that if the City is going to put sidewalks and curbs in that area it should be done all over town. Speaking to the development of the PUD, President Sharp said he lives in Woodgate, moving there 27 years ago, and it has just been within the past two years that they finished building all the houses in that subdivision. Based upon that, he said, he would not see this subdivision going up all that quickly which would not bring a sudden influx of traffic. Electa Berg, 2302 South J Street, voiced her concerns about the drainage. She said her basement has been flooded a couple of times and adding 100 units to the sewer line seems to be asking for some trouble. She also expressed concern over the additional traffic because of the development in that area. Common Council Minutes Cont'd February 12, 2001 Page 7 Councilmember Wissel said he wanted to make sure that added to the list of commitments is the alley to be added between the houses and the apartments. Sowers said to be explicit in stating that the fence is removed between the apartments and the singles and the condos. Councilmember Wissel said he wanted to make sure that this addition of the alley was in the minutes. President Sharp said since there were no comments and no motion to move the ordinance it would stay on second reading until the next Council meeting. Councilmember Combs said he was hoping this would go to third reading, adding that he could see no benefit of having it remain on second reading. Councilmember Parker pointed out that leaving it on second reading would be beneficial since it was going to be left like this in case there is an amendment to be added later. Councilmember Welch said this would give some time for the property owner and the developer to possibly get together. Sowers said this needs to be moved forward because they don't go back to the development plan until they get the zoning, adding that they have to get past third reading here in order to do the development plan and tabling it only puts them a month later. Councilmember Welch said President Sharp had made the point that Councilmember Hutton is absent tonight and she had indicated that she would like to be a part of the voting body because she has attended the neighborhood sessions. ORDINANCES ON THIRD READING There were none. UNFINISHED BUSINESS CALL FOR ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, on a motion duly made, seconded and passed, the meeting was adjourned at 10:50 p.m. ATTEST: Norma Schroeder, Clerk Karl Sharp, President 1