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HomeMy Public PortalAbout09-19-1994 515 PROCEEDINGS OF TH1=--COMMON=CQUNC1tOF T=HE tfY-OF—RICHMOND;INDIANA;MONDAY:SEPTTEMBER-t9;1994 1 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in regular session at 7:30 p.m. Monday, 2 September 19, 1994, in the Council Chambers in said City. Vice President Sally Hutton presided with the 3 following Councilmembers present: Howard "Jack" Elstro, Etta Lundy, Jane Brookbank, Mary Ellen Donat, 4 Don McBride, Gene Allen and Bob Dickman. Absent was President Larry Parker. The following business 5 was had to-wit: 6 7 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 8 9 PRAYER BY COUNCILMEMBER MCBRIDE 10 11 ROLL CALL 12 13 Eight answered the roll call. Vice President Hutton invited a motion to open the agenda and add two 14 ordinances. Councilmember Lundy so moved, noting the addition of Ordinance No. 72-1994 and Ordinance 15 No.73-1994,second by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 16 17 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 6,1994 18 19 Councilmember McBride moved to approve the minutes of September 6, 1994, second by Councilmember 20 Allen and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 21 22 COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR 23 24 PRESENTATIONS OF REMONSTRANCES.PETITIONS.MEMORIALS OR PUBLIC COMMENTS 25 26 Councilmember Brookbank stated that she attended the dedication of the Habitat for Humanity.House on 27 South 3rd Street on Sunday where the house keys were presented to a family. She said it was a moving 28 experience and added that appreciation was expressed for the cooperation of the City officials. Vice 29 President Hutton said she and Councilmember Elstro had attended the opening of the house on South 6th 30 Street two weeks ago. Councilmember Lundy stated that she is a charter member of Habitat for Humanity 31 which started as a memorial to a former Councilmember, Marion Williams. She said three houses which 32 were built have been dedicated and the commitment was to build five. She added that the fourth has been 33 built and the group is working on the fifth one. 34 35 REPORT FROM CITY DEPARTMENTS 36 37 REPORT FROM OTHER OFFICES 38 39 REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY 40 41 Minutes of the August 25, September 1 and September 8 meetings were in the Council packets. 42 Councilmember Dickman commented on the traffic lights being out of sync which was causing problems. 43 City Controller Dennis Grimes, a member of the Board of Works,said he would look into it. 44 45 REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES 46 47 REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES 48 49 REPORTS FROM OTHER COUNCIL COMMITTEES 50 51 Councilmember Donat reported that the Redevelopment Commission had met that afternoon and received 52 an update on the Leland Hotel demolition which will be completely finished by mid-October and it is coming 53 in under budget. She added that the deadlines for grant applications are being met in the demolition of the 54 Medical Arts building and that project is still in the running for a grant. She further stated that the feasibility 55 study for the Convention Center is moving right along. 56 57 ORDINANCES 58 59 ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING 60 61 Councilmember Brookbank moved to suspend the rules and read on first reading by title only Ordinances 62 No. 72, 73 and 74 and 75 - 1994, second by Councilmember Allen and the motion was carried on a 63 unanimous voice vote. 64 65 ORDINANCE NO.72-1994 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 72 - 1994 - A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING MAP AT 1809 CHESTER BOULEVARD 5 1 Common Council Minutes Cont'd September 19, 1994 Page 2 1 2 3 Vice President Hutton announced that Ordinance No. 72- 1994 would go to the Plan Commission. 4 5 ORDINANCE NO. 73-1994 6 7 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 73 - 1994 - A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING MAP A 8 1801 CHESTER BOULEVARD 9 10 Vice President Hutton announced that Ordinance No.73- 1994 would go to the Plan Commission. 11 12 ORDINANCE NO.74-1994 13 14 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 28 - 1994 - A GENERAL ORDINANCE ADDING CHAPTER 158 TO TH 15 RICHMOND CODE IN ORDER TO PROMOTE HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION 16 17 Councilmember Donat asked that this ordinance be held until the public hearing in October, noting th-t 18 several people wish to be heard. 19 20 ORDINANCE NO.75-1994 21 22 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 75 - 1994 - A SPECIAL ORDINANCE OUTLINING QUALIFICATIONS FO' 23 TAX ABATEMENT 24 25 Councilmember Allen noted her opposition to the ordinance, stating that the abatement issues a 26 authorized by the state statutes. She said that once the tax abatement is reviewed it is prudent to approve it. 27 She cited a letter from David Nixon on behalf of Nixon Tool Co. in which he said appearing before Council s 28 a waste of time. She said President Parker's statement at the last Council meeting was misleading, addin 29 that after the first year of abatement 1/10 of the total goes on the tax roles which means new tax dolla 30 come on to the tax roles that were not there before. 31 32 Councilmember Donat responded, saying that at this point there is no ordinance so there is no guarantee 33 that will happen.She stated that the tax abatement committee has been unilaterally disbanded. She broug litt 34 to Council's attention a letter from the Department of Administration which, she said, makes this ordinance 35 especially important. She said the same people who had served on that committee will be serving again slo 36 they can continue to have a good relationshp with the Wayne County Auditor's office. She added that thosle 37 people who have applied for tax abatement can be assured that that committee will be the primary decisioln 38 makers as to whether or not petitions are accepted or rejected as the state regulations now stipulate. Shp 39 said it is not a waste of time to appear before Council, but is a good thing. She added that it is only asking 40 for a half an hour of their time. She noted that at this point this ordinance is more necessary than when it 41 was in the Committee of the Whole and Council made a decision to go ahead and write it, adding that at th s 42 point there is no tax abatement committee. 43 44 Joe Kaiser, Wayne County Auditor, stepped forward and introduced Sharon Tabor, deputy auditor, stating 45 that both will be before Council in two weeks when the ordinance is to be discussed. He said he wants to 46 feel certain the law has been followed so that he knows that once his office picks up its responsibility to the 47 abated taxpayer that everything to that point has been screened and acted upon and that what comes 48 before him has been done properly. He said his office would like to be involved only to the extent that it h s 49 been informed by the City authorities about the approval of statements of benefits. He added that once th t 50 is done, the chore of relieving the tax burden to the taxpayer becomes his office's responsibility. He said 51 committee might be able to screen 80 percent of the applicants with certain assuredness and the other 20 52 percent would become a real problem. He suggested Council give consideration to handling the difficult 53 cases and not the ordinary ones, adding that is the way it works in his work area across the street. 54 55 Councilmember Dickman asked if the business or petitioner is required to meet with the tax abateme t 56 committee. Councilmember Donat answered that that will not be neccessary. She said this ordinance w II 57 assure that everything will run as it has in the past, adding that actually this ordinance does not chang 58 anything but merely solidifies and makes certain that these things will happen. She said right now, for 59 instance, the tax abatement committee being unilaterally and arbitrarily dissolved is only proof that th s 60 ordinance is necessary. 61 62 The only change this ordinance makes, Councilmember Donat said, is that it requires that a representative 63 of the business appear before Council. She said the committee felt that was important because sometimis 64 in its meetings they would have to deny petitions simply because they did not have enough information. She 65 added that this ordinance is not going to be a detriment to economic development but will assure it. 517 Common Council Minutes Cont'd September-1-9,1-994 ,go-3 1 2 3 Councilmember Dickman asked if it would not make more sense for businesses to attend the tax abatement 4 committee hearing. His reasoning, he said, is that if they were asked to discuss the nuts and bolts of the 5 issue they could, versus coming to Council where Councilmembers can not ask them much. Councilmember 6 Donat responded that although that would be wonderful, a public meeting allows the public to have access 7 to the information and see what is happening. 8 9 She said some of the tax abatement meetings are called rather quickly and not on a set schedule. Those 10 meetings also, she said, are during business hours which may be a hardship on some businesses as 11 opposed to attending an evening meeting. Councilmember Dickman said that at the last Council meeting he 12 got the impression that Nixon could go ahead and buy his equipment prior to the approval. Councilmember 13 Donat said Jan Hibner did confirm that when she received the petition in her office, it is stamped with the 14 date of receipt and at that time the business can purchase the equipment and use it. 15 16 Councilmember Dickman said he felt that is like buying the equipment before you know you are going to get 17 your loan. Councilmember Donat said the first part of this ordinance speaks to eligibility. In answer to a 18 question posed by Councilmember Lundy, Councilmember Donat read a portion of the letter from Hibner 19 dated September 9, 1994. She read: "The committee that has reviewed the statements in the past will not 20 function in the future since you will be performing your own review." Mentioning the letter received from 21 Nixon, Councilmember Lundy commented on his confusion as to whether or not he could go ahead and use 22 the equipment. 23 24 Tabor said the way it has worked in the past is when those statements of benefits are stamped by Hibner in 25 the Department of Law it is okay to purchase the piece of equipment unless it is denied in the tax abatement 26 committee meeting. Tabor said Hibner goes over these with a fine toothed comb when they are brought in. 27 She said, to her knowledge, none have been denied for manufacturing equipment.Tabor said Hibner will tell 28 the business not to do anything until it hears from her and if it does not hear anything then the statement of 29 benefits is okay. Councilmember Lundy asked Tabor to look at Nixon's letter and get back with Council at the 30 next meeting. Councilmember Donat said that this new ordinance stipulates that at the conclusion of the tax 31 abatement committee meeting,a letter is sent immediately to tell the petitioner the status of the petition. 32 33 Councilmember Elstro said he felt the City administration or Hibner had jumped the gun by disbanding the 34 committee because this ordinance could sit for weeks in Council. Councilmember Donat agreed, but noted 35 that it is a good thing to happen, in that it pointed out the necessity of having this ordinance because that 36 unilateral decision could not have happened had an ordinance been in place beforehand. 37 38 ORDINANCES ON SECOND READING 39 40 ORDINANCE NO.68-1994 41 42 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 68 - 1994 - A SPECIAL ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE APPROVAL OF 43 STATEMENT OF BENEFITS FOR PROPERTY OWNERS APPLYING FOR DEDUCTIONS UNDER I.C. 44 6-1.1-12.1 45 46 Vice President Hutton declared Ordinance No. 68-1994 on public hearing.She recognized receipt of a letter 47 from Paul Lingle stating that he would be unable to attend the meeting tonight. She recognized that David 48 Nixon was in the audience along with others. 49 50 Councilmember Donat commented that she is in favor of passing the ordinance and thanked those 51 representatives of the businesses in the audience. Councilmember McBride moved for engrossment, second 52 by Councilmember Dickman and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 53 54 Nixon stepped forward,stating that he felt that a business is not going to want to come before Counci and tell 55 what it has planned for the next year. He said he liked Councilmember Dickman's idea of attending the tax 56 abatement committee meeting or having Council visit the businesses applying. He added that he felt the 57 businesses would forego the abatement rather than come before Council and state its future plans because it 58 would take the edge of competition away. He added that he felt that would be detrimental to the business 59 community. 60 61 Councilmember Lundy moved to suspend the rules and advance Ordinance No. 68 - 1994 to third and final 62 reading and read by title only, second by Councilmember McBride and the motion was carried on a 63 unanimous voice vote. 64 65 The Clerk read Ordinance No.68- 1994 on third reading. 51. • Common Council Minutes Cont'd September 19, 1994 Page 4 1 2 3 Councilmember Brookbank said things need to be worked through with the Council, City adminstratio1, 4 County and the businesses and she would hope there could be a lot of dialogue amongst them 5 Councilmember Lundy said she thought the only thing the Council was trying to do was to hale 6 representatives of the businesses attend to show support for their requests. Councilmember Hutton agreed. 7 Councilmember Donat stated that it was never intended that the Council become the review committe-, 8 adding that she had no idea why that was done. 9 10 Ordinance No. 68- 1994 was adopted on the following call of the roll: 11 12 Ayes: Elstro, Lundy, Brookbank, Donat, McBride,Allen, Dickman and Hutton (8) 13 Nays:None 14 Absent: President Parker 15 16 ORDINANCES ON THIRD READING 17 18 ORDINANCE NO.56-1994 19 20 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 56 - 1994 - AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE FIXING THE ANNU L 21 COMPENSATION OF ALL ELECTED CITY OFFICERS FOR 1995 22 23 Ordinance No.56-1994 was adopted on the following call of the roll: 24 25 Ayes: Lundy, Brookbank, Donat, McBride,Allen, Dickman and Hutton (7) 26 Nays: Elstro 27 Absent: President Parker 28 29 ORDINANCE NO.58-1994 30 31 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 58 - 1994 - AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE TO BE KNOWN AS TH 32 1995 BUDGET 33 34 Grimes explained the memo he had given to Councilmembers, stating that this ordinance had been revis d 35 according to the agreement reached between Council and the Mayor on contractual services for stre t 36 paving in the 1995 budget. 37 38 He encouraged Council to entertain a motion for suspension of rules to decrease the CAGIT revenue in t e 39 general fund by$87,000 and increase the CAGIT revenue in the motor vehicle highway fund by$47,000 and 40 increase the Parks and Recreation CAGIT revenue fund by$40,000. Grimes explained that inasmuch as th s 41 ordinance is on third reading, the recently revised Richmond Code Chapter 30.08 G states that "each 42 ordinance shall be read by title only on second reading at which time it shall be open for amendments." He 43 said the next question will be ordering it engrossed, which was done at the last Council meeting. He sad 44 there is no amendment except to strike out"shall be in order after engrossment of an ordinance, unless by a 45 unanimous consent." He added that he would encourage Council's unanimous consent so this adjustment 46 can be made. 47 48 Vice President Hutton asked Grimes what would happen if this ordinance does not pass. Grimes answered 49 that additional cuts of$47,000 in motor vehicle highway and 40,000 in parks and recreation would be mad . 50 He said what has happened is the budget estimates cannot be raised nor can the budget levies be adjuste , 51 adding that normally what happens is that you advertise extrememly large amounts of budget estimates a d 52 levies as well as rates and you are able to move these around. However,the City advertised only what it f It 53 the budget would be. 54 55 Councilmember Dickman moved to suspend the rules and decrease the CAGIT revenue in the general fund 56 by $87,000, and increase the motor vehicle highway fund by $47,000 and increase the Parks & Recreation 57 fund by$40,000,second by Councilmember Allen and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 58 59 Councilmember Lundy asked Grimes if she understood correctly that this ordinance will allow the City to ,o 60 what it wants to do with the streets and Grimes answered in the affirmative. Councilmember Elstro askeld 61 how much money that leaves in the street department for blacktopping and Grimes said it leaves none. 62 63 Ayes: Lundy, Brookbank, McBride, Allen, Dickman and Hutton (6) 64 Nays: Elstro and Donat(2) 65 Absent:President Parker 51-9 Common Council Minutes Cont'd September 19, 1994 N-age-5 ORDINANCE NO.60-1994 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 60 - 1994 -AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING PAYMENT FOR SERVICES FROM THE MOTOR VEHICLE HIGHWAY FUND TO THE GENERAL FUND IN 1995 Ordinance No.60-1994 was adopted on the following call of the role: 1 Ayes: Elstro, Lundy, Brookbank, Donat, McBride,Allen, Dickman and Hutton (8) 11 Nays: None 1 Absent: President Parker 1 1 ORDINANCE NO.62-1994 1 1 The Clerk read Ordinance No. 62 - 1994 - AN APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY 1 OF RICHMOND TO RECEIVE PAYMENTS FOR SERVICES TO BE RENDERED TO THE RICHMOND 18 SANITARY DISTRICT IN 1995 19! 201 Ordinance No.62-1994 was adopted on the following call of the roll: 21 2 Ayes: Elstro, Lundy, Brookbank, Donat, McBride,Allen, Dickman and Hutton (8) 23 Nays:None 2, Absent:President Parker 25 26 OLD BUSINESS 27 28 MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS 29 30 ADJOURNMENT 31 32 There being no further business,on a motion duly made,seconded and passed,the meeting was adjourned. 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Larry Parker, President 41 42 43 44 45 46 ATTEST: 47 Norma Carnes, City Clerk 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 520