HomeMy Public PortalAbout12-03-1997 - Special Session 465,
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1 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in special session at 8 p.m. Wednesday,
2 December 3, 1997, in the Council Chambers in said City. President Bob Dickman presided with the following
3 Councilmembers present: Howard "Jack" Elstro, Etta Lundy, Bruce Wissel, Sarah "Sally" Hutton, Geneva
4 "Gene" Allen, Alan Stamper and Bing Welch. Larry Parker was absent. The following business was had
5 to-wit:
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7 ROLL CALL
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9 Nine present.
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11 ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING AND ENGROSSMENT
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lc ORDINANCE NO.116-1997
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1P The Clerk read revised Ordinance No. 116-1997- A GENERAL ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTERS 74
1;6 AND 76 OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND CODE
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President Dickman asked for amendments from the Council which, he said, would be followed by discussion
1p then a public hearing. He said since the Committee of the Whole meeting prior to this meeting was televised
2 and the ordinance had been discussed in a public hearing there, he felt there was no need to repeat the
2 things that were said in that meeting.
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2 Councilmember Welch asked Deputy Controller Ann Cottongim, a member of the parking committee making
2 the recommendations,to step forward and report on the available spaces in the City-owned lots.
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12 She reported that the parking garage has 328 spaces and there are about 40 monthly rentals, some renting
2 for$27 and some for$15 per month, adding that they had proposed approximately 200 spaces be rented out
2p at $5 per month; 216 spaces in the North 7th Street lot north of Bank One where there are currently 107
2p rentals and the proposal is to keep that charge at$22 per month;the lot at North lath which is referred to as
13 the GTE lot has 102 spaces and all are currently rented at $12 and the proposal is to raise that to $25 per
3 month;the North 6th Street lot north of the American Legion has 78 spaces of which about 20 are currently
3 rented for$6 per month and the proposal is $10 per month;the South 6th Street lot which is south of Elder
3 Beerman has 133 spaces with no reserved spaces at present but making 14 reserved spaces available is
3 currently proposed; nothing is reserved now in the South 9th Street lot which is north of the Clarion-Leland
3 but the proposal is to reserve 11 spaces; and farther down on South 9th Street, between A and B, that lot
I3 has 88 spaces and currently has aboutl0 spaces reserved at$6 each.
3
3 Councilmember Wissel asked about the 14 spaces to be reserved on the lot south of Elder Beerman and
3 Cottongim answered that all of those spaces would be facing South A Street at the very rear of the lot.
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41 Councilmember Allen proposed the following amendment be made to Ordinance No. 116-1997:
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4 The parking garage be only 2 hours free and subsequent hours be $1 each with monthly parking passes to
4 be issued on floors 3 and 4 at$5 each; all lots between South A and North A to be rented monthly for$15
4. per space except the lot north of Bank One which would be$20 per space;and outside of North A and South
4° A streets (the lot north of the American Legion and the one between South A and B on South 9th Street) be
4 three hours of free parking and $10 for the reserved spaces; and if the amendment passes this would be
4: reviewed in six months. Councilmember Parker asked that the municipal lot be included in the three-hour
4° parking replacing the two-hour parking that is there now. Councilmember Allen said she would add that to
5o her motion. Councilmember Parker said he would like to hear more discussion on the charges for the 3rd
5 and 4th additional hours of parking in the parking garage, adding that he would like to see it at 50 cents for
5 the 3rd hour and then $1 for each hour after that. He said he would second the motion made by
5 Councilmember Allen with those provisions.
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5 In answer to a suggestion by Councilmember Stamper as to how to code the parking stickers, Clerk Norma
56 Schroeder, whose office is currently in charge of issuing the parking passes, said parking passes differ for
57 each of the lots making it easy for the parking enforcement officer to tell whether or not someone should be
5: parking in a particular lot. She said, for example, the pass issued for the lot north of Bank One is not
5° acceptable at the parking garage.
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6 Councilmember Welch moved to establish the amount of time a person can park free in the uptown area is
6 two hours in the areas between South A and North A;three hours in the lots outside those areas; and one
6 hour on Main Street. He said that is not an amendment but is already in the ordinance. The motion was
6, seconded by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a unanimous roll call vote.
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Common Council Minutes Cont'd
December 3, 1997
Page 2
1 President Dickman repeated the amendment, with Councilmember Welch adding that the review shoul be
2 made by the parking enforcement agency. Ordinance No. 116 - 1997 was declared on public hearin by
3 President Dickman who reminded those having something new to add to the discussion could come fo rd
4 and be heard.
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6 Renee Oldham,director of Main Street,asked if someone could explain to her why the lot north of Bank ne
7 would be $20 and the other lots only $15. President Dickman responded, saying this is a $2 reduction er
8 month and it is a more centrally located lot and a key one to the uptown area. City Attorney Bob Bever aid
9 his firm has almost 20 percent of the rented spaces in that lot and he is willing to pay the extra amo nt,
10 adding that his fear is that if the fee is reduced any further the lot is going to be more crowded than it is n w,
11 and at times it is difficult for him to find a spot. Right now, he said, there is a nice balance of half reser ed
12 spaces and half not.
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14 Oldham's suggestion was that everybody be charged $17. Councilmember Hutton said the parking garag is
15 within half a block from there, too, and that is only going to be $5. Oldham said she would like it to be air
16 and equitable for everyone.
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18 Ken Paust, owner of Paust Printers who rents spaces in the North 10th Street lot, said he agreed ith
19 Oldham that the rate should be the same, adding that if the rate on the North 10th Street lot is going to be
20 $15 then it should be the same at the lot north of Bank One. Paust asked Council to address the issu of
21 marking the reserved spaces with the word"reserved"and numbering them.
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23 Bobby Sams, representing the Knollenberg building,said having some consistency in the parking fees w uld
24 make it simpler to explain to a future developer or a company considering locating in the area.
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26 Captain John Farmer of the Traffic Safety Division of the Richmond Police Department stepped forward
27 stating that he might be able to offer some compromise. He said it would help his officers if the rese ed
28 parking spot is at least marked with the word "reserved"then the pass can be checked against the vehicl in
29 that particular lot. He said the officers who work those lots become familiar with the vehicles parked on he
30 street, adding that he possibly could rattle off 15 or 20 uptown employees who park consistently on he
31 street. He said that same familiarity will be developed in the lots which issue parking passes.
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33 Police Chief Bill Shake, reading from the material which came with the recommendations, said it states he
34 reserved spaces will be striped in a different color and signs will be posted in the different lots. He said
35 provisions have been made for striping and marking those lots. He also noted that part of the ordinance
36 states that parking passes must be displayed or tickets will be issued.
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38 Councilmember Welch said he would not be opposed to putting that in the ordinance but he wo Id
39 personally be more in favor of reserved than different color striping. In answer to a question by
40 Councilmember Parker, Chief Shake said the word "reserved" would be posted on the poles nd
41 Councilmember Parker said he thought it would help if each spot could be stenciled with the w rd
42 "reserved."He also brought up the suggestion made by Dr. Prawat at the last Council meeting,giving him an
43 opportunity to reserve three spots to be used by his patients. He added that he thought that was a legitim to
44 request and Council should somehow see that it can happen.
45
46 Chief Shake said special needs such as those of Dr. Prawat will be addressed through the Main Str et
47 organization and he believes there are options available. Bever said these kinds of things could be looke at
48 during the six month period prior to review.
49
50 Attorney John Strain, who parks in the North 10th Street lot, said he agreed with Paust and feels park ng
51 would be much easier to monitor if the spaces are numbered. Councilmember Elstro moved to number e ch
52 of the reserved parking spaces, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried o a
53 unanimous voice vote.
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55 Captain Farmer said the reason for the signage designating the reserved parking is because it can be seen
56 when there is snow on the ground, adding that if there was a situation where additional spots would nee. to
57 be reserved a sign could be added to the bottom of the post. He said these signs would be visible,they re
58 more durable and more economical.
59
60 Councilmember Stamper asked Captain Farmer if the department had the manpower to patrol Main Str-et
61 space by space and Captain Farmer answered that they would not. However, he said,the odds of that be ng
62 done within an hour is a whole lot better than a half hour. As far as enforcement of numbered spac-s,
63 Captain Farmer said the question is not whether it can be or not but how well it can be enforced and that ill
64 depend on a lot of factors.
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Common Council Minutes Cont'd
Beeember3-1-99a
Races
1 Captain Farmer said what it is getting down to is basically a cost vs. convenience. He said it is going to cost
2 more to put the numbers on but it is going to be a convenience for those people using those spaces. As far
3 as enforcement, however, he said that is not going to affect his department one way or the other. He did add,
4 however, that something else would have to be done with the ordinance as it stands now before his
5 department can do anything about enforcement if, for instance, No. 2 renter parks in the No. 3 renter's spot.
6 Councilmember Hutton suggested that the ordinance be left as it is since the winter months are coming up
7 and placing signage and painting will be difficult if not impossible.
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9 President Dickman declared the public hearing closed.
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11 Bever commented that there is no penalty stated which means Council may need to make a change on the
12 ordinance. Councilmember Welch moved to add to the paragraph on page 6 at the top where it discusses
13 monthly parking passes where it now says "Off Street Parking Facility" at the end of that sentence, that it
14 should read "the parking pass issued to the person buying the reserved spot must be on display and match
15 the spot in which they are parked."The motion on the amendment was seconded by Councilmember Parker
16 and was carried on a vote of seven ayes and two nays, with Councilmembers Allen and Stamper casting nay
17 votes.
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19 There being no other comments for or against the ordinance, Councilmember Wissel moved for
20 engrossment,second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
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22 Councilmember Wissel moved to suspend the rules and advance amended Ordinance No. 116 - 1997 to
23 third and final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Allen and the motion was carried on
24 a unanimous voice vote.
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,6 The Clerk read amended Ordinance No. 116-1997 on third reading.
°8 Amended Ordinance No. 116- 1997 was adopted on the following call of the roll:
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:(31 Ayes: Elstro, Lundy,Wissel, Hutton, Dickman,Allen, Welch and Parker(8)
•1 Nays:Stamper)1)
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3 President Dickman said since there is no urgency on adopting either Ordinances No. 118 or No. 142 - 1997
4 they could remain in the Committee of the Whole.
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6 ADJOURNMENT
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8 There being no further business,on a motion duly made,seconded and passed the meeting was adjourned.
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•5 Robert Dickman, President
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'1 ATTEST:
'2 Norma Schroeder,Clerk
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Amendments to Ordinance No. 116- 1997 as voted on at Council's December 3, 1997 special meeting:
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