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HomeMy Public PortalAbout04-17-2000 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND,INDIANA,MONDAY,APRIL 17,2000 The Common Council of the City of Richmond,Indiana met in regular session at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 3, 2000, in the Council Chambers in said City. President Larry Parker presided with the following Councilmembers present: Howard "Jack" Elstro, Etta J. Lundy, Bruce Wissel, Karl Sharp, Bing Welch, Paul Combs,Phil Dickman and Sarah"Sally"Hutton.The following business was conducted: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PRAYER BY COUNCILMEMBER DICKMAN ROLL CALL Nine present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the April 3,2000 meeting were not available. PRESENTATION OF REMONSTRANCES, PETITIONS, .MEMORIALS, INTRODUCTIONS, MOTIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENTS Rob Hawley, representing the Scott Boys Club, introduced Charles Baker, the recipient of the "Youth of the Year"award.Baker read from a prepared speech,which he will use in the state competition. COMMUNICATION FROM THE MAYOR Mayor Dennis Andrews stated that he had distributed information to Councilmembers entitled"Ten Public Works Project Displays" and said displays, including maps, would be on the main floor of the Richmond City Building for the public to look at and study. He said these are the projects that his office has received the most questions and comments on.They include the new Main Street Bridge,the old Main Street Bridge and the City Transportation Study,Swayne Robinson(the new jail site), 2000 asphalt work, 2000 concrete work,2000 Park&Recreation Construction,North 12th Street Corridor Construction,Way-Finding System Design, Industries Road East Extension and Parallel Roads/Chester Blvd, and Midwest Industrial Park Construction. (The list,giving the background of each project,is on file in the City Clerk's office). The Mayor said there are about 35 projects being worked on, and some that he didn't mention were the Depot,the Atlas Building and the Leland Hotel.He commented on the hotel, saying that it would be timely to initiate a review of the redevelopment plan and among the things to be discussed would be whether or not to add the hotel as a component of that plan. Councilmember Wissel asked about the asphalt and concrete projects as to whether those few which were not completed last year would be given priority for the year 2000. The Mayor said that was his understanding, but they would need to follow up on that to make sure that is the plan. President Parker asked the Councilmembers to consider the suggestions made by the Mayor and get back to him with their concerns and requests and he would relay those to the Mayor. REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY President Parker said the minutes of the meeting of March 23,2000 were included in their packets. Councilmember Elstro said that he had heard that the railroads at South L and South N would be taken care of, which has been a long time coming. He said if they could urge the Recycling Center to do their part in that area then South L Street would be cleaned up and in good shape. Mayor Andrews said City Engineer Bob Wiwi had been in contact with the railroad for the past 18 months, and especially in the last four months,partly because the businesses in the area are participating in the cost of redoing the tracks which has inspired the railroad to helping with those two crossings. He said when that crossing work is done,the City would expect to do some asphalt work in that area including that section of L and also 7th Street. Then, he said, in conjunction with that, the Recycling Center has looked into acquiring a piece of equipment that would enable them to clean the street better in front of its business. REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES REPORTS FROM ORGANIZATIONS Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 17,2000 Page 2 MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS President Parker announced that Virginia Wysong had asked for permission to speak about her concerns in her neighborhood. Stepping forward, Wysong, 2019 Glen Court, stated that they had been notified Thursday afternoon that they would no longer be receiving postal service to their homes "because we live in a dangerous neighborhood that has been bombarded with animals." She said they are asking Council to join them in an effort to clean up their neighborhood, stating that if it is unsafe for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail to their homes then it is unsafe for their children to play in,to walk the streets and for the families to live in. If this cannot be resolved, she said,in a timely manner, then other steps will be taken with the residents of Glen Court to resolve the issue. She said this would be done through protests,notifying the newspaper and making the government aware that they might be small but they care about each other. She said there are families that have lived in that neighborhood for 40-plus years and "it is a shame we cannot open our doors without being faced with a pack of dogs." ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING • Councilmember Elstro moved to suspend the rules and read by title only Ordinances No. 23, 24 and 25 — 2000, second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. President Parker said he would read Ordinance No.22—2000 in its entirety. ORDINANCE NO. 22—2000 President Parker read Ordinance No.22—2000—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 the following shall be accepted and gratefully acknowledged by the citizens of Richmond: "Five hundred dollars ($500) to be paid directly to Studebaker Buick by First Bank Richmond to paint the exterior of the Richmond Police Department S.W.A.T.bus." Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 22 — 2000 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.22—2000 on second reading. President Parker declared Ordinance No.22—2000 on public hearing. Speaking in favor was Officer Curt Leverton of the Richmond Police Department who said this donation is for the S.W.A.T. bus, which used to be an old transit bus, noting it was a transfer from the Department of Transportation. He said the money would be used to refurbish the outside and for a paint job it desperately needs. • 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.22—2000 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 the ordinance on third and final reading. Ordinance No.22—2000 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO.23—2000 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 23—2000—A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING MAP AT 10 NORTH 13TH STREET,RICHMOND,INDIANA President Parker said this ordinance would be referred to the Planning Commission to be heard at its public meeting April 27,2000. Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 17,2000 Page 3 ORDINANCE NO.24—2000 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 24—2000—AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE SUBMITTAL, ACCEPTANCE,AND APPROPRIATION OF A GRANT FOR THE YWCA FROM THE INDIANA CRIMINAL JUSTICE INSTITUTE Councilmember Elstro moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No.24—2000 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.24—2000 on second reading. President Parker announced that Ordinance No.24—2000 was on public hearing. Speaking in favor of the ordinance was Lisa Mowey, victims advocate at the YWCA, said the grant provides the funding for the victims advocate program at Genesis which is what she supervises. She said they run a 24-hour crisis line through Reid Hospital for domestic violence and sexual assault victims and explained the different aspects of the program. There being no further comments either for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Wissel moved for engrossment,second by Councilmember Hutton and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. Councilmember Welch moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 24—2000 to third and final reading,second by Councilmember Combs and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Ordinance No.24—2000 on third reading. Ordinance No.24—2000 was adopted on a unanimous roll call vote. ORDINANCE NO.25—2000 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 25 — 2000 — 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 this ordinance deals with a request for a tax abatement made by Ahaus Tool & Engineering for new manufacturing equipment in the amount of $660,000. He said they are anticipating the creation of two new jobs and the retention of 135. He said the request would be reviewed by the Tax Abatement Committee and the ordinance would come back on second reading at Council's next meeting. Bever explained that the term "amended" should not have appeared on the agenda on this ordinance and asked Councilmembers to disregard it. ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND ENGROSSMENT ORDINANCE NO. 8 — 2000 - 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 stated that Ken Maurer, controller for the east regions of Spartech Inc., is in the audience. He said he was present because he wanted to present his case before Council. Councilmember Wissel said since the first reading of this ordinance, some questions had come up and the Tax Abatement Committee has had some questions on other issues they want to handle. He said he feels the main concern is where to draw the line between meeting the enabling legislation parameters for increasing the life of the equipment by improvements and general maintenance. Maurer said that although Spartech would probably not be able to benefit from the abatement due to the limitations, he would like to clarify this for some of the other industries in town and hopefully everyone here would have a better understanding also. After much discussion between Councilmember Welch and Maurer, City Attorney Bob Bever read the specific statute from the state of Indiana on this.He explained that when you are considering any rebuilding of equipment and whether it will qualify as re-manufacturing equipment, you just need to find two things. The first is that it must be capitalized for federal income tax purposes and the second can be met in one of three ways. He said (a) if it substantially increases the productivity or the capacity of existing manufacturing equipment or (b) if it substantially prolongs the useful life of the existing manufacturing equipment or(c)if it adapts the manufacturing equipment to a substantially different use. Councilmember Wissel said the Tax Abatement Committee has been tossing this issue around for some time, adding that he feels part of the complication is that just because the enabling legislation permits it as an abatable item does not mean that the Committee is automatically going to make it its guidelines. Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 17,2000 Page 4 Councilmember Wissel said the other side of that is that he feels Council needs to come to some kind of consensus beyond the Committee as to where the guidelines are going to be.He said there are always going to be gray areas and they want this to be consistently fair so the same principles can be applied each time abatement comes up. He said that perhaps this is something that the Committee of the Whole could more fairly and appropriately handle. Councilmember Combs said he felt Council has a challenge here to help the public understand this, admitting that there are things about this that even he doesn't understand. Councilmember Welch said this ordinance already has an amendment and he would like for Spartech to go back and give Council additional information. Then, he said, he would like for them to bring that amended ordinance back before the Council has its discussion and make any determination on what is going to be allowed on this particular request. Maurer asked if it could be given to the Committee before it is submitted to Council, and Councilmember Welch said he had no problem with that. Councilmember Sharp questioned giving the 10-year abatement on the request when resurfacing of the two chill rolls is expected to give them a five- to seven-year life. Maurer said he needed to look into that and Councilmember Sharp said he had a problem with it and feels the Committee needs to look at that issue. President Parker asked Councilmember Sharp, since he is already on that Tax Abatement Committee,to set a date for the Committee of the Whole meeting. ORDINANCE NO. 12—2000 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 12 — 2000 - 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 Elstro commented that he feels Ordinance 12— and 13 - 2000 should be referred back to the Tax Abatement Committee. ORDINANCE NO.13—2000 This ordinance was dealt with in the above ordinance. ORDINANCE NO. 15—2000 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 15 — 2000 - 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 Combs asked that this ordinance be referred again to the Tax Abatement Committee. AMENDED ORDINANCE NO. 21—2000 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 21 — 2000 - 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 • Larry Crye, 10545 Robin Drive in New Paris, Ohio, explained that he had purchased a parcel of land behind Lowe's where he wants to construct a 10,000-square foot building which is to house a new business called the Richmond Hydraulic Service.He said this is a business that is not in the area at this time and the intention of the business is to meet all the industrial, agricultural and a lot of the in-plant industrial needs for the hydraulic end of it. He said they are going to rebuild hydraulic cylinders and valves and get into some light manufacturing of cylinders. He added that they are going to be purchasing a hydraulic metal tube-bending machine to use in the business. He said he has about 27 years of experience in this field, adding that the construction of the building is set to begin in a couple of weeks and he is applying for the abatement of about $80,000 of equipment to be purchased. He said he did not have an actual list of all the equipment, but said one of the machines would cost about$45,000. Once the business gets up and running, he said he would have at least two employees,and within five years he expects to have maybe 8 to 10 people working. Councilmember Wissel said this is an $80,000 investment in new equipment and $450,000 in real estate. He said since they don't have a list of all of the equipment,the Tax Abatement Committee would target this business for a follow up inspection to ensure that all of the equipment falls within the guidelines of abatable items. Councilmember Welch questioned as to whether or not this falls within the guidelines for abatement according to the statute. Bever said to the extent that they are bending tubing, that is a form of fabrication whether all of his equipment would be doing something that qualifies under that,he said he didn't know the process well enough. Common Council Agenda Cont'd -April 17,2000 Page 5 Crye answered that probably the "bread and butter" of the operation would be the metal bending of the hydraulic tubes. He said they would be brand new lines with brand new fittings or couplings on them that they would produce.He said they sell this as their finished product. President Parker announced that Amended Ordinance No. 21 —2000 is on public hearing. There being no comments either for or against, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a voice vote. Councilmember Elstro moved to advance Amended Ordinance No. 21—2000 to third and final reading and read by title only,second by Councilmember Sharp and the motion was carried on a voice vote. The Clerk read Amended Ordinance No.21—2000 on third reading. Ordinance No.21—2000 was adopted by a unanimous roll call vote. 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. Larry Parker,President ATTEST: Norma Schroeder,Clerk