HomeMy Public PortalAbout02-24-1994 •
BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE
CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, FEBRUARY 24, 1994
1 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met at 9 a.m. Thursday, February 24,
2 1994, in the Municipal Building in said City. Chairperson Earnest Jarvis presided with Dennis Grimes and Janet
3 Hibner in attendance. The following business was had to-wit:
4
5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 17.1994
6
7 The minutes of the February 17, 1994 meeting were approved on a motion by Hibner, second by Grimes and
8 carried on a unanimous voice vote.
9
10 CLAIMS FOR PAYMENT
11
12 Claims submitted by the City Controller's office were for $351,153.90 most of which was for payroll and payroll
13 taxes. An additional claim of $32,419.08 was for supplies and contractual services. Grimes moved to approve
14 the claims for payment,second by Hibner and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
15
16 REQUESTS
17
18 A.There were none.
19
20 CONTRACTS
21
22 A.There were none.
23
24 OTHER MATTERS
25
26 A. A request from the "Walk America" Committee of the March of Dimes was read by Grimes, noting
27 the route they wished approved for the fund-raising event which will take place at 7:30 a.m. Saturday,
28 April 23. The walk will begin at Glen Miller Park, going west to South West 18th Street, winding back
29 National Road West to Hub Etchison Parkway, then back east along South E Street going north on
30 South 18th Street and ending at Glen Miller Park. Grimes noted that the request had been given to the
31 Trafffic Safety Division for review and it was recommended that participants should cross at National
32 Road West and South West 5th during their walk in that area. Captain Danny McClure of the Traffic
33 Safety Division said the reasoning behind the recommendation was that in the past there were people
34 who wanted to cross to the south side of National Road West where they could patronize those
35 businesses located there providing refreshments. Grimes moved to approve the request with the
36 recommendations,second by Hibner and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
37
38 B. A motion for the reinstatement of the alarm permit for Kmart West was made by Hibner, second by
39 Grimes and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. Prior to making the motion Hibner
40 noted that the Kmart West alarm permit had been revoked because of repeated violations with no
41 response and that a fine of$100 had been levied against the company for a false alarm during the time
42 it had no alarm permit. She said the $100 had been received and made her motion for reinstatement
43 based upon that and information received from Manager Tom Cole at the recent hearing.
44
45 C. City Engineer Bob Wiwi presented Board members with copies of the agreement developed by the
46 Indiana Department of Transportation at the request of the City. Wiwi said the City is asking for the
47 modernization of the traffic signal at U.S. 40 and Elks Country Club Road because of the proposed
48 extension of South 37th Street to Hodgin Road and the signal needs realigned to line up with the new
49 street. He said the state has come up with the proposed agreement to modernize the signal, adding
50 that the City will be putting up a new, modern signal at that location at the same time the road project
51 begins. In answer to a question by Hibner, Wiwi said the cost will be approximately$60,000, noting that
52 the City is responsible for the signal as a part of the South 37th Street project which has been approved
53 for federal money and the City's portion of that construction cost is 20 percent. Wiwi added that the
54 state agrees to pay the ongoing cost once the signal is up because it is responsible for the
55 maintenance in that it is located on a state highway. Chairperson Jarvis moved to approve the
56 agreement, second by Grimes and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
57
58 D. Chairperson Jarvis called Kathryn Crawley to the lecturn, explaining that she had phoned him last
59 week with several concerns about TCI and he had asked her to appear before the Board. He added
60 that he had received several other calls on the same subject and announced that any citizen who has
61 the same type of problems should put them in writing, send them to the office of the City Clerk and they
62 will be forwarded to the Telecommunications Council. Crawley gave each of the Board members a
63 letter which she said was compiled only after talking with a numerous amount of people who had
64 similar problems with TCI.
65
If LH
Board of Works Minutes Cont'd
February 24, 1994 -
Page 2
1 Items about which she expressed concern were (a) TCI failed to include in its pre-advertisement about
2 Starz and Encore that subscribers would need converter boxes at a cost of $1.21 per month for each
3 TV set; (b)All customers with pay channels must also have the converter boxes even though they may
4 have cable-ready television sets; (c) With the new boxes a pay channel cannot be recorded unless the
5 subscribers watch it which means if they want to watch Encore and record Showtime it can't be done;
6 (d) With the new boxes subscribers who want to watch Channel 7 and record Channel 2 will have to
7 purchase an A-B switch at a cost of$10 per switch per each TV set and there is an $11 installation fee.
8 Crawley said she felt that the subscribers should have been informed thoroughly about these changes.
9
10 Crawley said she is appealing to the Board to get with the Telecommunications Council to remedy this
11 situation, adding that TCI should fix the boxes and if they require extra equipment it should be provided
12 at no added expense. She said she called TCI and was told by an employee that the system is more
13 efficient for TCI because it will enable the company to correct a problem through its computer. Crawley
14 said she was tired of TCI having such a strong hold on its subscribers, adding that she felt the company
15 should be more concerned about how the consumer feels. She said after writing the letter she did some
16 more research, calling Richard Kalb at the FCC and talking to him at great length. She said Kalb told
17 her that if TCI has adopted the enforcement customer service regulations it has to give notice of any
18 rate changes, any channel deletions or additions or any program change and she considered this a
19 change in program services which is a violation. Kalb said that by the end of March or early April new
20 rules will be coming out on equipment capability and he will make those accessible to her at that time.
21
22 After the boxes had been distributed, Crawley said a very small article appeared in the Palladium-Item
23 about the $1.21 charge. She said she had gone to Radio Shack and spent $40 on equipment to try to
24 get her stations back but it didn't work. She added that the Radio Shack sells the switch for$4.95 that is
25 offered by TCI for$10. She did note that Kalb had told her he was having the same problem she was
26 having and he had been forced to buy two converters. Hibner told Crawley that she should contact her
27 Congressional representative "who made the mess in the first place."Crawley responded that she had
28 called the Attorney General's office and was told there was nothing they could do about it. Hibner
29 reminded her that it is the Congressional body that created the first problem that is bringing on this
30 situation. Chairperson Jarvis commended Crawley for putting her concerns in writing and told her he
31 would send a copy of what she had submitted to this Board to the Telecommunications Council. He
32 reminded the public to put their concerns in writing and send them to the City Clerk, who, in turn, would
33 see that they were forwarded to the Telecommunications Council which would take action and try to
34 work with TCI to resolve the problem. City Clerk Norma Carnes said the next meeting of the
35 Telecommunications Council is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 10, in the Board of Works room and
36 Chairperson Jarvis added that Rich Cody, Manager of TCI, attends those meetings and it would be an
37 opportunity to meet him face to face and ask questions. The City Clerk assured Crawley that an
38 announcement of that meeting will appear in the Palladium-Item.
39
40 E. An unsafe building hearing for the structure at 226 North 4th Street was conducted by Hibner who
41 announced that pursuant to I.C. 36-7-9 the City is required to hold an unsafe building hearing for any
42 home which is found unsafe for living purposes and is not salvageable as far as repair. She said all
43 parties who have a financial interest in the house have been notified by certified mail and in this case
44 that is only one person who is Delbert Thompson. She said the notification was sent to him on January
45 20 in care of the Golden Rule Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and she had a return receipt noting
46 that it had been received January 22. She said several other parties had been sent a courtesy
47 notification and these included the Area 9 on Aging and Aged as well as a niece. Hibner said at this
48 time this is considered a hearing on the matter and she asked those in favor of having this order
49 accomplished,which is that within 60 days the structure be demolished,to step forward.
50
51 Chris Barker, a building inspector for the City of Richmond, said he is in favor of ordering the structure
52 demolished. He said Indiana Code establishes 15 definitions for an unsafe building and if any one of
53 those is met the building could be demolished. He added that the structure at 226 North 4th Street
54 conforms to 12 out of 15 of the definitions and is far beyond reasonable salvageability. He said the roof
55 structure is basically nonexistent,there is extreme rot and the structural condition is to the point where
56 not much can be done with the house. He said he has received bids for demolition and they are over
57 $5,000 because the house has asbestos siding. He said the work will have to be put out for public bids
58 and he would like to see that happen after the time period has expired. Chairperson Jarvis noted that
59 the photographs that he had been given were dated 1991 and 1992 and it was evident the home was in
60 terrible condition then. Barker explained that in 1992 two inspectors had visited the premises which
61 was occupied at the time by Thompson who was living in one room under a piece of plastic and they
62 postponed taking any action until Thompson could be relocated and that has happened. Hearing no
63 comments in opposition, Hibner said the Board could take three positions--to affirm the order, rescind
64 it or modify it. Based upon the information she had received today she moved to affirm the order,
65 second by Grimes and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
:-. ( ( r(
Board of Works Minutes Cont'd
February 24, 1994
Page 3
1 Chairperson Jarvis noted that the order had been issued by the Department of Law, Permits and
2 3
Inspections. He invited anyone who felt they might have any influence to step forward, noting that Nixon
Tool had sold the house for$1 back in 1985 to Thompson, an employee and friend of Nixon. He added
4 that Nixon Tool has offered to buy the property back for$1 and would pay for the demolition, however,
5 Thompson has refused the offer. Chairperson Jarvis said it would be a savings to the City if the
6 property would revert to Nixon Tool because the company would pay for demolishing the structure and
7 the taxpayers would not have to foot the bill. He added that he had talked with Nixon Tool on
8 Wednesday, noting that the property is of no value and no one wants to buy it and he would like to see
9 it deeded back to Nixon Tool.
10
11 ADJOURNMENT
12
13 There being no further business, on a motion duly made seconded and passed and carried on a unanimous
14 voice vote,the meeting was adjourned.
15
16
17
18
19
20
21 Earnest Jarvis, Chairperson
22
23
24
25
26
27 ATTEST:
28 Norma Carnes, Clerk
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65