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HomeMy Public PortalAbout04-01-1996 159 P. EEDINGS-0E-THE-COMMON-eetlitet0EMIE -- tlrr•L. i-fiLei■I1.e 1 .71\I. r_' ` e D , . -} • 1, - 1 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in regular session at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 1, 2 3 1996, in the Council Chambers in said City. President Geneva "Gene" Allen presided with the following Councilmembers present: Howard "Jack" Elstro, Etta Lundy, Bruce Wissel, Sarah "Sally" Hutton, Robert 4 Dickman,Alan Stamper, Bing Welch and Larry Parker. The following business was had to-wit: 5 6 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 7 8 PRAYER BY COUNCILMEMBER WISSEL 9 0 ROLL CALL 1 2 Nine present. i3 4 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MARCH 18,1996 5 6 Councilmember Hutton moved to approve the minutes of March 18, 1996, second by Councilmember Parker i 7 and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 8 9 PRESENTATIONS.MEMORIALS,REMONSTRANCES.INTRODUCTIONS.MOTIONS. RESOLUTIONS 0 1 COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR 2 3 Mayor Andrews stated that he had none. 4 5 REPORTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS 6 7 There were none. 8 9 REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY 0 1 2 The minutes of the March 14, 1996, meeting was in the Council packets. 3 REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES 4 5 In giving a brief summary of the Parks & Recreation Board meeting, Councilmember Welch reported that it .6 was announced that the VietNam traveling memorial wall will return to Richmond and remain here for about 7 10 days. He said it will be in the same location, at the Johnson Street property in the valley. He said among 8 several other subjects discussed were the winter activities and the upcoming spring activities. He added that .9 the labor rate was agreed to by the committee for the continuation of construction at McBride Stadium and 0 noted that April 20 had been set for the gorge cleanup. Councilmember Hutton announced that since the ,1 Easter Egg Hunt had to be canceled because of the rain it had been rescheduled for Saturday at the same 2 places. 3 '5 REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES '6 7 Councilmember Stamper said the Tax Abatement Committee had met, noting that in a Committee of the 8 Whole meeting the basic jist of the public comments were that they were in favor of the abatements but 9 wanted more accountability. He said the committee had come up with a resolution which enables the Council '0 to have some accountablity. These include when asking for a statement of benefits they must be filed with 1 the City Controller which notifies the City Attorney and the head of the Tax Abatement Committee. He said '2 the committee wanted to give the company an opportunity on a yearly basis to come by and see what •3 machines and work space were abated in the past and share with the Council the future growth. 4 '5 He added that Council will keep an up-to-date file of the abatements so that Councilmembers may check the '6 file and prove that the abatements are being administered. He added that his committee wants to make sure '7 that any one who legally qualifies for an abatement continues to get it because it does not want to be `8 anti-business. He said he respects the fact that these people are willing to invest in this community but the '9 committee is going to hold them accountable. :0 :1 Councilmember Stamper said if the companies receiving tax abatements do not follow these guidelines, an :2 informal process will be established whereby the City Attorney, Mayor and Tax Abatement Committee will .3 meet with the company. If that is not sufficient then a formal meeting before Council will be held to look at :4 possibly removing the abatement. Councilmember Stamper stated that this establishes a system to show the :5 taxpayer that these companies are being held accountable. . v Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 1, 1996 Page 2 1 Councilmember Stamper presented Resolution No.3, asking Clerk Norma Schroeder to read Sections 1 and 2 2 in their entirety. (The resolution in its entirety is on file in the Clerk's office.) Councilmember Stamper 3 moved to add Resolution No. 3 to the agenda, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was 4 carried on a unanimous voice vote. 5 6 The Clerk read Section 1: 7 8 "That Resolution No. 10-1984 shall be amended by adding a Section 4 which reads as follows: 9 10 "Section 4.That in order for Common Council to determine that a deduction should be allowed, and to m-ke 11 the necessary findings so that an owner may file a deduction application with the Auditor, the owner s all 12 complete and file with the applicable City Department a Statement of Benefits form as established by I:w. 13 Upon filing and verification that it meets the technical procedural requirements, such statement shall be 14 referred to the Council's Tax Abatement Committee for review and recommendation for approval to 15 Common Council.The review by the Committee and Council, as a whole, may include a view of the own-r's 16 premises. 17 18 "Section 2: 19 20 "That Resolution No. 10-1984 shall be amended by adding a Section 5 which reads as follows: 21 22 "Section 5. That following the approval of any deduction application herein, the Compliance with Statem-nt 23 of Benefits form (CF-1), which must be provided annually to Common Council pursuant to state law, shall 24 also be referred to the Council's Tax Abatement Committee for review and determination whether he 25 statement of benefits information remains accurate and/or if any further review of the deduction by the en ire 26 Council is necessary. This review may include an informal meeting between the owner and the ax 27 Abatement Committee and/or other members of Council, and any other action which Council believe- is 28 necessary." 29 30 Councilmember Lundy commented that she is glad to see this come about because she feels it is q ite 31 necessary. Bever stated that this resolution is not making any change to the automatic 10-year period or 32 real estate which was in the prior resolution. He added that there is no change to the current status t at 33 Council is doing on a case by case basis for personal property which is determining five or 10-year peri+d. 34 Councilmember Dickman moved to approve Resolution No. 3, second by Councilmember Hutton and he 35 motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 36 37 Councilmember Wissel reported that he had attended his first Economic Development Corporation meet ng 38 and noted that the prospecting traffic is up. He also said the group was pleased with the Redbook arti le 39 citing Richmond High School as the best in the state because they felt that can only enhance t is 40 community's position to attract industry. There was also discussion about the Richmond State Hosp tal 41 ground which Governor Bayh signed the bill, for making the City eligible to purchase. Also discussed, he 42 said, was that there are 11 new projects of interest to develop within the community and also updates on 43 four existing prospects. 44 45 As the liaison between Reid Hospital and the City, Councilmember Parker gave some statistics about he 46 facility which included the registered nurse turnover at Reid is six percent and 12 percent nationally. He s-id 47 there is an ongoing recruitment in several areas which keeps a fulltime recruiter busy. 48 49 MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS 50 51 President Allen stated that Mayor Andrews had made his appointments to the Telecommunication Coun il, 52 noting that these included Bette Davenport of Indiana University East and Bill Foston of Grap is 53 Presentations Inc. Councilmember Hutton moved to appoint John VonPein for a two-year term, second by 54 Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. Councilmember We ch 55 moved to appoint William Sponsel Sr. for a three-year term, second by Councilmember Parker and the 56 motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. Councilmember Hutton moved to appoint Eugene Gre e 57 for a four-year term, second by Councilmember Parker and the motion was carried on a unanimous vo ce 58 vote. 59 60 ORDINANCES 61 62 Councilmember Lundy moved to suspend the rules and read Ordinances No. 22 and 23 - 1996 on f st 63 reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Elstro. President Allen said Ordinance No. 2 - 64 1996, which dealt with transferring $465 within the Council Budget for legal advertising costs, had be-n 65 resolved. Councilmember Lundy moved to strike Ordinance No. 23 - 1996, second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 16:1 Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 1;1-996 Page-3 1 ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING 2 3 ORDINANCE NO.22-1996 4 5 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 22 - 1996 - AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 1996 6 BUDGET 7 8 Fire Chief Mike Allen came forward explaining that this ordinance is needed to transfer funds to cover the 9 costs of workmen's compensation. He said the budget for this year is $5,000 and that obviously is not 10 enough since this is the second time he has appeared before Council to ask for transfer of funds into that 11 account. He said he is requesting an additional $10,000, half of which has been expended already. He said 12 he may need an additional transfer until this problem is corrected. 13 14 He said Mayor Andrews is in the process of negotiating workmen's compensation for both the Police and Fire 15 Departments which will resolve some of his problems. He added that transfers are not pleasurable. 16 Councilmember Wissel expressed his concern about taking the$10,000 from the training account, noting that 17 he wanted to make sure it would not jeopardize services provided to the City. Chief Allen said the ongoing 18 training programs will continue and only the outside instruction in specialized areas may be affected. Chief 19 Allen said the total training budget is $25,000. He said the drain on the workmen's compensation account 20 should level off now since one person is close to the end of coverage and the other one just re-occurred so it 21 is hard to tell about it. Councilmember Elstro moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 22 - 22 1996 to second reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Welch and the motion was carried 23 on a unanimous voice vote. 24 25 The Clerk read Ordinance No.22-1996 on second reading. 26 27 President Allen declared Ordinance No. 22- 1996 on public hearing. There being no comments either for or 28 against the ordinance, Councilmember Elstro moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Welch and 29 the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 30 31 Councilmember Lundy moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 22 - 1996 to third and final 32 reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Elstro and the motion was carried on a unanimous 33 voice vote. 34 35 Ordinance No.22-1996 was adopted on the following call of the roll: 36 37 Ayes: Elstro, Lundy, Wissel, Hutton, Dickman,Stamper, Welch, Parker and Allen (9) 38 Nays:None. 39 40 ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING 41 42 ORDINANCE NO.13-1996 43 44 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 13 - 1996 - A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING MAP AT 45 433-437 NORTHWEST L STREET 46 47 Councilmember Wissel explained that the Planning Commission met to review this request to rezone a C-4 48 which is a heavy commercial parcel to an M-1 light industrial. He said the owners, Kim and Terry 49 Wuertemberger, plan to construct a building 60 by 150 to use in the expansion of in industrial tooling 50 company which is located in the existing building on the same plot. He said no one spoke in opposition and 51 the vote of the Planning Commission was 8-0 in favor,with three members absent. 52 53 President Allen declared Ordinance No. 1391996 on public hearing. 54 55 Speaking on behalf of the Wuertembergers was Attorney Robert O'Maley wo distributed a drawing of the site 56 to all the Councilmembers explaining that the adjacent surrounding properties are C-4 and in the City's 57 zoning ordinance there is not a great deal of distinction between C-4 and M-1. He said the owners have 58 come upon a unique situation to enlarge their business and want to make sure that the use is proper in a C-4 59 district. He explained they will be making a box that is steel with stantions and also small aluminum 30 stampings. He said a C-4 zoning would permit them to make these products and will provide an opportunity 31 for economic development in the City. 32 33 In answer to a question by Councilmember Welch about parking, O'Maley said the house in the pictures he 34 distributed to Councilmembers will be removed. He noted that his clients had purchased the house and have 35 no intentions of extending Fourth Street. Common Council Minutes Cont'd April 1, 1996 Page 4 1 There being no further comments in favor of the ordinance and none against, Councilmember Dickrian 2 moved for engrossment, second by Councilmember Hutton and the motion was carried on a unanimous 3 voice vote. 4 5 Councilmember Dickman moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 13 - 1996 to third and 6 final reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember Hutton and the motion was carried on a 7 unanimous voice vote. 8 9 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 13 -1996 on third reading. 10 11 Ordinance No. 13-1996 was adopted on the following call of the roll: 12 13 Ayes: Elstro, Lundy, Wissel, Hutton, Dickman, Stamper,Welch, Parker and Allen (9) 14 Nays: None. 15 16 ORDINANCES ON THIRD READING 17 18 There were none. 19 20 UNFINISHED BUSINESS 21 22 President Allen announced that Mayor Andrews has a birthday and presented him with a card singed by the 23 Councilmembers who proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday"to him. 24 25 ADJOURNMENT 26 27 There being no further business,on a motion duly made,seconded and passed,the meeting was adjourned. 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Geneva"Gene"Allen, President 36 37 38 39 40 ATTEST: 41 Norma Schroeder, City Clerk 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65