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HomeMy Public PortalAbout06-19-1997 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND. INDIANA.JUNE 19. 1997 1 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met at 5 p.m.Thursday, June 19, 1997, 2 in the Municipal Building in said City. President Robert Goodwin presided with Robin Henry, Bruce Metzger 3 and Assistant City Attorney Steve Rabe in attendance.The following business was had to-wit: 4 5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 6 7 The minutes of the June 5 and June 12, 1997 meetings were approved on a motion by Metzger, second by 8 Henry and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 9 10 CLAIMS FOR PAYMENT 11 12 Claims for payment submitted by the City Controller were read by Henry who noted they totaled $414,695.31 13 and moved to approve,second by Metzger and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 14 15 REQUESTS 16 17 A. Michael McCarver, associate pastor of North Twenty Seven Church of God, appeared before the 18 Board to request a permit for a noise variance for a 10-watt power horn to be used for street 19 evangelism,also referred to it as street preaching. He said they would be distributing flyers as well. 20 21 President Goodwin, referring to McCarver's letter, said he mentioned the hours as noon to 7 p.m. with 22 the exception of the Rose Festival and the July 4 events. McCarver said these events are where a lot of 23 people are out, adding that, on a regular basis, they would be out on Saturdays during the hours of 24 noon to 7 p.m. 25 26 President Goodwin said his primary problem was that as it relates to July 4 itself which would exceed 7 27 p.m. McCarver said that would be the only exception along with the Rose Festival. In answer to Henry's 28 question about whether or not there are time restraints on the noise ordinance, Captain Farmer said 29 there are none since it was rewritten. Metzger asked if this type of horn violates the noise ordinance 30 31 and Captain Farmer answered that it does not. He said he feels the concern is having people who don't want to hear music or the message who feel their right not to have to listen is conflicting with the other 32 person's right to express their speech. He said that is where the problem comes in and the police get 33 called in when individuals feel the music or message is being forced upon them. He said the conflict 34 comes when two people wish to enjoy their rights and they come in conflict with each other. 35 36 Metzger asked if this does not violate the ordinance, what power does this Board have, asking if there 37 is some other part of the ordinance that says this Board has a right to restrict this. Captain Farmer said 38 that is the problem he and the officers run into. He said usually when they have a complaint of a bull 39 horn, loud music or amplification, it becomes an issue of disturbance of the general peace and falls 40 umder the state disorderly conduct statute. He said that really is a problem and probably the most 41 general way to have it addressed. He added that the complaints are generally not over the content, but 42 the volume with which it is projected. 43 44 Captain Farmer said if this is done in the park during the July 4 fireworks, there may be some conflicts 45 in that the American Legion rents the park for the event and even though it's a public gathering, a bull 46 horn may conflict with the entertainment being provided. He said the request would depend upon each 47 individual instance from day to day and is a judgment call which falls upon the officer on the street who 48 answers the call because each and every one of them will possibly have different approaches. 49 50 Rabe said, as far as the constitutional issue,free speech can only be limited by reasonable time, place 51 and manner restrictions and since this Board controls the City streets and sidewalks, it is appropriate 52 for this body to place any kind of reasonable restrictions. He added that this type of activity, as far as 53 the noise ordinance is concerned, it not in violation but could arguably be so, since the ordinance is so 54 loosely written. Reading from the code, Rabe said it "prohibits any person from making or causing to 55 make any noise that unreasonably annoys, disturbs, injures, etc." He agreed that it is a borderline 56 issue. 57 58 Alludimg to a similar instance that he heard about which took place about 15 years ago which caused 59 some violence, McCarver said he felt that was someone acting in a rude manner rather than an act of 60 sincerity. He added that if a permit is given for this, there will not be things said which could bring 61 people to violence. He said he realized there would be people who are going to say they don't want to 62 hear the message and that is everyone's right. He said if any incident occurs when police officers are 63 called he and his people will comply with the officer's wishes with total respect. 64 65 President Goodwin said this Board has had requests from Earlham College from time to time asking for a noise variance for a specific time and date but, to his knowledge, this Board has never issued an open-ended noise variance. Board of Works Minutes Cont'd June 19, 1997 Page 2 1 McCarver said he could give the Board specific times and they would abide by those times his people 2 would be on the streets. He stated that they would be there on Saturdays throughout the summer 3 between noon and 7 p.m.with the exception of the Rose Festival events and July 4. 4 5 Metzger said his concern is the volume level of the bull horn, noting that one of the places mentioned is 6 West 13th Street where the Municipal Swimming Pool is located, adding there are residences there and 7 the bull horn could be disturbing. McCarver asked if there was a certain distance they would have to 8 keep from the residences and Captain Farmer said that would be difficult to state because it depends 9 upon the atmospheric conditions as to how far and where the noise carries. He suggested that the 10 Board might possibly want to address the issue on a semi-regular basis and have McCarver bring the 11 issue up for continuation. He said if it is limited to two weeks or a month, it can be tracked, and if there 12 are any complaints his officers can perhaps work with the church to see if there is a conflict or a 13 problem to keep it from becoming a major problem. 14 15 President Goodwin stated that the places mentioned until now are all park areas which would fall under 16 the control of the Park Board, making this issue a little different than it appeared at the beginning. He 17 said this Board may only be able to approve those areas outside the park such as the sidewalks. Rabe 18 stated that this Board cannot prohibit McCarver from spreading his message constitutionally but it can 19 place reasonable restrictions and if the bull horn gets to be a problem this Board would have the 20 authority to prohibit its use if it is considered annoying or disturbing to others. Rabe said the ordinance 21 does not set a decibel level and is extremely vague. 22 23 McCarver said they would remain on the sidewalks outside the park with the bull horn but would want to 24 pass out flyers throughout the park. 25 26 President Goodwin said this Board could probably look at a trial period and invite McCarver back with a 27 continuation request. Metzger said he would like to keep the hours from noon to 7 p.m.during the Rose 28 Festival and Henry agreed. President Goodwin suggested that McCarver check with the Park 29 Superintendent or the Park Board for any regulation they may have for handling out pamphlets. Captain 30 Farmer reminded McCarver,who had mentioned the areas of the Municipal Pool, McBride Stadium and 31 the softball diamonds,that all those are under control of the Park Board. 32 33 Metzger moved to approve the request subject to the conditions of a one-month trial period to take 34 place from noon to 7 p.m.primarily on Saturdays, except for Rose Festival times and July 4,to occur on 35 public sidewalks and subject to a review in a month,second by Henry and the motion was carried on a 36 unanimous voice vote. 37 38 B. Captain Farmer brought before the Board a request for a residential handicapped parking space for 39 John McCoy at 1207 Crosshall Street, noting that the residence had been inspected and found to meet 40 the requirements of the ordinance. He recommended approval of the request. Metzger so moved, 41 second by Henry and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 42 43 C. Captain Farmer said he had reviewed a request made by the Reeveston Neighborhood Association 44 to block Reeveston Road from South 19th Street to South 21st Street from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, June 45 29. He said his only concern is with the hours and being unable to predict the lighting. He said he would 46 like to see some lighting on the barricades which he believes could be provided by the Street Division. 47 He also stated the rain date is June 30 and noted that this request was originally for Sunday, June 48 22nd, but with the Rose Festival Parade scheduled for that day, the Police Department had requested 49 the event be rescheduled. Metzger moved to approve the request, second by Henry and the motion 50 was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 51 52 D.Another request for a block party was brought before the Board by Captain Farmer who stated that a 53 letter had been received from Frank Fonseca,owner of Frank's Corner Market at 228 North 17th Street, 54 asking approval to close the 1600 block of North C Street from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 5. He 55 stated that beginning at noon there will be live music and Fonseca will construct a stage/shelter for the 56 bands, which will not be on the street. He said Fonseca also stated there are no plans for alcohol at the 57 party and he would like to hire two off-duty police officers for security at the party to be there from noon 58 until 4 p.m. during the time of the live music. He said Fonseca also had presented a petition signed by 59 residents in the area supporting his request. 60 61 Captain Farmer said he had spoken to Chief Bill Shake who said he would allow officers to work the 62 event, however, Captain Farmer said that was not a guarantee officers would be there, it only meant 63 that they would be allowed to if they wanted to. In answer to a question by Metzger, Captain Farmer 64 said he felt that having the officers there was not a bad idea since the event seems more for the young 65 people in the neighborhood rather than a family block party. He said that meant the event is open to individuals outside the neighborhood as well because it would be difficult to keep them from coming in. Board of Works Minutes Cont'd June 19, 1997 Page 3 1 Captain Farmer said that being the case, the potential for problems increased. Henry asked if there 2 would be a need for granting a noise variance and Captain Farmer responded that the chances are that 3 there will be amplified sound and that would be from noon to 4 p.m. during the time the officers were 4 requested. Henry moved to approve the request with the conditions that two off-duty police officers be 5 hired and a noise variance be granted, second by Metzger and the motion was carried on a unanimous 6 voice vote. 7 8 E. A request was made by Captain Farmer for a stop sign at South P Street at its intersection with 9 South 2nd Street. He explained that there is no stop sign at that location where it enters the parking lot 10 at the Senior Community Center, adding that it is a slightly unusual intersection in that traffic coming off 11 South P Street enters directly into the parking lot in front of the center at a distance of less than 100 feet 12 from the main entrance. He said the seniors park in the lot and walk across it to get to the center and 13 traffic from South P Street comes directly into the lot. He said anyone unfamiliar with the area going 30 14 m.p.h. getting to the top of the hill is not going to be able to stop their car quickly. He said the staff at 15 the center has told him there have been a couple of near misses, making this come down to strictly a 16 safety issue. He recommended a stop sign be installed for South P Street at the intersection with South 17 2nd Street. Metzger so moved, second by Henry and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice 18 vote. 19 20 AGREEMENT 21 22 A. Speaking for the agreement between Birth-To-Five and the Richmond Community Schools contract 23 with the City of Richmond was Margie Alexander, executive director of the Birth-To-Five program, who 24 explained that the agreement between R.C.S. and the Board of Works for the City defines the 25 arrangement. She said R.C.S. receives a grant to provide developmentally appropriate pre-school 26 services and they subcontract that to the City through this agreement. In addition, she said, there is an 27 ancillary agreement which authorizes Birth-To-Five employees to carry out those responsibilities to 28 provide the pre-school services. She said the procedure is to go to the R.C.S. Board and ask for its 29 approval, which was done in May, then arrange to have this request placed on the agenda to get the 30 Board's approval. She said the ancillay agreement further defines the relationship between the City and 31 Birth-To-Five. 32 33 Rabe said he had reviewed the agreement and noted it is the same contract as in the past, stating that 34 the ancillary agreement provides that if for some reason the funding from R.C.S. ceases, the City is 35 under no obligation to continue funding Birth-To-Five so the City is not incurring a financial liability. He 36 added that it is all funded by this grant through R.C.S. Alexander said the amount of the grant was 37 $68,952, with R.C.S. keeping $2500'for indirect costs, making the actual total $66,542 and that is the 38 same as it has been for a number of years. Metzger moved to approve the agreement, second by 39 Henry and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. Alexander stated that she feels this has 40 been a rewarding relationship for R.C.S. and the City. 41 42 MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS 43 44 A. President Goodwin read a request for a Change Order for the Uptown Redevelopment Project, 45 calling for Cole & Associates to design a drinking fountain and also design the base for the telephone 46 booth with locations in different places. He stated that the cost will be$3,000 for the design only, adding 47 that funding is available. Henry moved to approve the request, second by Metzger and the motion was 48 carried on a unanimous voice vote. 49 50 ADJOURNMENT 51 52 There being no further business, on a motion duly made seconded and passed and carried on a unanimous 53 voice vote,the meeting was adjourned. 54 55 56 57 58 59 Robert Goodwin, President 60 61 62 63 64 ATTEST: 65 Norma Schroeder, Clerk