HomeMy Public PortalAbout09-18-1989 297
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF RICHMOND. INDIANA, SEPTEMBER 18. 1989
1 The Common Council of the City of Richmond, Indiana met in regular session September 18, 1989 at the
2 hour of 7:30 P.M. in the Council Chambers in said City. President Hutton presided with the following
3 Councilmembers present: Elstro, Lundy, Brookbank, Hankinson, McBride, Parker, Morris and Paust.
4 Absent: None. Representatives of the following media were in attendance: WKBV/WFMG, WHON/WQLK
5 and Palladium Item. The following business was had to-wit:
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7 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
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9 SILENT DEVOTIONS
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11 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 5,1989
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13 Councilmember Morris moved to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as prepared, seconded by
14 Councilmember Hankinson and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried.
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16 COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR
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18 Mayor Frank H. Waltermann reported to the Council on the recent meeting of Indiana Cities and Towns. He
19 spoke of workshop on Community Progress presented by Mayor Dan Theobald of Shelbyville and Mayor
20 James Carey of Muncie and the focus on community vision and pride and the promotion of community
21 heritage.
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23 Mayor Waltermann also reported on a presentation regarding the shrinking immunity of cities and that cities
24 must now have addressed issues and be able to prove there was a plan and opinion to prevent liability. He
25 said it is no longer valid to just ignore an issue and be immune from liability, but rather the courts will give
26 consideration to immunity if a community can show they did consider and plan for issues, even though they
27 could not act upon that issue.
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Mayor Waltermann told the Council about the State Revolving Loan Fund and new grants being offered
through the Indiana Department of Commerce called Community Focus Funds with three funding cycles
31 being involved. The first funding cycle will be for water,sewer and community revitalization and there will be
32 4,500,000. in funds available. The second funding cycle will be housing, day care and business and will be
33 from 1,500,000.to 2,000,000. in funds and the third cycle remains undetermined.
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35 Mayor Waltermann said that the persons attending from the City went to different session in an effort to
36 cover all workshops important to the City.
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38 Mayor Waltermann reported that he had met with Mr. Rob Hedding and Mr. Craig Hartzler regarding
39 appointments to the State Enterprise Zone Board in order that legislation enacted by the Richmond Common
40 Council for the Deutz property could be acted upon by the State. He said the appointments will be made to
41 the State Board and they hope to meet shortly and designate the Deutz site as an Economic Recovery site.
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43 Mayor Waltermann said the Indiana Cities and Towns did adopt Policy Resolutions regarding Home Rule
44 and the importance of the relationship between the state and local governments, especially in the issue of
45 adopting state mandates with no funding mechanism. He said other resolutions involved labor relations,
46 solid waste,air pollution and acid rain.
47
48 Mayor Waltermann also commented on Housing Secretary Jack Kemp addressing the Cities and Towns
49 meeting and that he hoped Mr. Kemp's statements were not just rhetoric.
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51 Councilmember Elstro questioned Mayor Waltermann on take home vehicles and requested a list of vehicles
52 going home from the City Departments.
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54 PRESENTATION OF REMONSTRANCES, PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS
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56 Petition for Alley Repair and Resurface-First United Methodist Church
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58 Councilmember Parker presented a petition to the Council from the members of the First United Methodist
59 Church of 318 National Road West. The petition requested that repair and resurfacing of the alley behind
60 the group be given priority consideration by the City due to the dangerous state of repair and the use of the
61 church by many community organizations on a regular day to day basis.
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63 REPORTS FROM CITY DEPARTMENTS
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65 None were presented.
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Common Council Minutes Cont'd
September 18, 1989
Page 2
1 REPORTS FROM OTHER OFFICES
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3 None were presented.
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5 REPORT FROM BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY
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7 No report was presented
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9 REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COMMITTEES
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11 Committee of the Whole
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13 President Hutton reminded the Council of a joint meeting of the City Council and the County on September
14 27, 1989.
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16 REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES
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18 None were presented.
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20 REPORTS FROM SPECIAL COUNCIL COMMITTEES
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22 None were presented.
23
24 MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS
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26 City Code
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28 Councilmember Elstro asked about the City Code update and the City Clerk indicated the changes had been
29 completed and it would be presented to the Council for action in the near future.
30
31 Sample Landlord Registry Ordinance
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33 Councilmember Parker presented his comments on a sample landlord registry ordinance that had been
34 included in packets for comments. He said he felt this particular ordinance would be difficult to enforce and
35 was very rough on landlords. He was opposed to the idea the way the sample ordinance was written.
36
37 President Hutton said the Council would have a Committee of the Whole for discussion of any landlord
38 registry ordinance before it would be presented to Council in final form. She suggested a date be set for this
39 at the next meeting of Council.
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41 Water in Garage-522 South 'th Street
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43 Councilmember Elstro requested that Mr. Larry Parks be allowed to address the Council.
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45 Mr. Larry Parks, 522 South 7th Street, spoke with the Council about a problem with rain getting into his
46 garage after the alley to the rear had been paved. He said he has talked with the Street Department and
47 tried to speak with the Mayor and the problem is still not resolved, even though it was done eight months
48 ago. He said the Street Department did comment that possibly the paving should have been angled to the
49 west and they have tried to p'it in a ridge to prevent the water from coming into the garage, but it has not
50 solved the problem. Mr. Parks said he would like to have something done about this.
51
52 Litter Violations
53
54 Mr. John Cornelius of Centerville, told the Council he owned a property in Richmond that he was selling on
55 contract that that he had received a litter citation. He said when the tenants were contacted they said kids
56 had dragged the chair and mattress up and put it on this property. Mr. Cornelius said that if somebody
57 throws trash in a yard that who should be responsible and this City was not giving the landlord any rights.
58 Mr. Cornelius said the property at 1811 North E was kept clean by the tenants, but kids caused the litter and
59 he did not feel the landlord or tenant should be responsible for someone else's trash.
60
61 President Hutton said the citations started in response to the Council saying the City needed cleaned up.
62
63 Mr. Cornelius asked why the parsons making the mess was not ticketed.
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65 Councilmember Elstro told Mr. Cornelius the Council would be looking into the Ordinance and trying to do
66 some changes. He said he felt there should be a five day warning period prior to a fine being charged.
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Common Council Minutes Cont'd
September 18, 1989
Page 3
1 Mr. Cornelius asked about the ticket he had just received and Councilmember Elstro said that would need to
2 be taken care of.
3
4 Mr. Bill Austin of 2224 NW 16th Street said he had not received any tickets yet, but he does own rental
5 properties and is now policing his properties in fear of getting cited. He suggested also that the persons
6 creating the litter problem get the tickets.
7
8 Councilmember Parker stated that he felt these were legitimate complaints and he also disagreed with the
9 way tickets were being given out. He ask if this could be discussed at a Committee of the Whole with
10 Planning and the Inspectors. He said there should be a better solution.
11
12 Councilmember McBride said the ordinance should name the occupant and not the owner.
13
14 President Hutton commented that someone had to be responsible and some occupants do not remain in a
15 premises very long.
16
17 Councilmember Hankinson said they should start looking at the current ordinance and change it.
18
19 President Hutton announced that a date for a Committee of the Whole on this subject will be set at the next
20 regular meeting of the Council.
21
22 RESOLUTIONS
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24 None were presented.
25
26 ORDINANCES
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28 ORDINANCES ON FIRST READING
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30 None were presented.
31
32 ORDINANCES ON SECOND 2EADING
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34 None were presented.
35
36 ORDINANCE ON THIRD READING
37
38 None were presented.
39
40 ADJOURNMENT
41
42 There being no further business,on a motion duly made,seconded and passed,the meeting was adjourned.
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47 Sarah L. Hutton, President
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50 ATTEST:
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52 Mary Merchanthc•use,City Clerk
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