HomeMy Public PortalAbout01-13-1994 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE
CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA,JANUARY 13, 1994
1 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met at 9 a.m. Thursday, January 13,
2 1994, in the Municipal Building in said City. Chairperson Earnest Jarvis presided with Janet Hibner and Dennis
3 Grimes in attendance.The following business was had to-wit:
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6 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JANUARY 6,1994
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8 The minutes of the previous meeting were approved on a motion by Hibner, second by Grimes and carried on a
9 unanimous voice vote.
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12 CLAIMS FOR PAYMENT
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14 Claims were submitted by the City Controller's office for $1,556,696 which included $1,026,805 paid to Star
15 Bank as payment on the 1974 issue of the Sanitary Bonds and $50,000 to WCTV as part of its capital
16 improvement program.
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18 REQUESTS
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20 A. Hibner read requests for handicapped parking spaces made by Margaret A. Fisher at 318
21 Richmond Avenue, James Braughton at 504 North 18th Street, Loammia Walker at 338 South 10th
22 Street, Norman Yoder at 255 South West 3rd Street and Martha Reeve at 16 North 14th Street. She
23 moved to approve all the requests which had also met the approval of the Traffic Safety Division,
24 second by Grimes and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.
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26 CONTRACTS
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28 A. None.
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30 OTHER MATTERS
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32 A. Fire Chief James Sticco introduced to the Board Krys Newman as a probationary firefighter. City
33 Clerk Norma Carnes officiated at the swearing in ceremony after which Newman received
34 congratulations from the Board members.
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36 B. Chairperson Jarvis commented that he had been getting telephone calls about the proposed closing
37 of Hayes Arboretum Road and wished to address some of the issues involved. Hibner said a letter
38 written by Robert Goodwin, Planning Director for the City, had been received by the Board, noting that
39 the Plan Commission had met December 21, 1993 and at that point in time it was determined that the
40 issue need not come back before the Board of Works for any further actions. She read the letter which
41 further explained the Plan Commission's recommendation in which it was stated that the meeting was
42 well publicized and well attended by the petitioner and those opposed.
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44 Randy Kirk, director of Hayes Arboretum, presented the arguments in favor and presenting the
45 - opposing views was Ron Routson who presented a petition containing 1,000 names of those opposed
46 to abandonment. Jarvis said this action marks the end of the abandonment issue of Hayes Arboretum
47 Road. He added some comments for those interested in the position of the Mayor and this
48 administration on the subject. He said the Mayor had never been in favor of the abandonment and the
49 Board of Works had requested a traffic count be done in the area and over a five-day period the Traffic
50 Safety Division had clocked a total of more than 10, 000 vehicles using that road. He said he, as the
51 director of the Department of Public Works, concurred with the Mayor as did City Engineer Bob Wiwi,
52 and the Street Division Manager, Bill Smith. Fire Chief Jim Sticco agreed the closing of Hayes
53 Arboretum Road would pose a problem in that his personnel at the station located at the south end of
54 that road would be forced to use a longer route of either Gravel Pit Road or Elks Road. Jarvis stated
55 that the City does not intend to take any action to close Hayes Arboretum Road but could, hopefully,
56 find some funding to do some work on the road to make it a safer one to travel. He said the City had
57 also made it clear to the Hayes Arboretum Foundation that it would do an engineering study on the
58 road to see what needs to be done to make it a safer road for everyone to use.
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60 C. Responding to a number of calls he had received about the problems being created by the bird
61 population, Chairperson Jarvis said that thanks to Major John Farmer of the Richmond Police
62 Department the problem last year had been reduced drastically by placing plastic owls in the trees. He
63 said that had also been done this year along the Promenade, at Morrisson-Reeves Library and along
64 North 5th Street and had proved to be a deterrent to the birds.
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Board of Works Minutes Cont'd
January 13, 1994
Page 2
1 He stated that the owls cost about$15 each and the City could not afford to buy them for the entire
2 population of the City. However, he said if residents wished to purchase their own owls which are
3 available at several local businesses, the City would furnish a bucket truck and personnel to place the
4 owls in the trees in areas which are accessible from public right-of-ways.
5
6 D. Grimes moved to accept the December report and the 1993 annual report submitted by the
7 Richmond Police Department into the records, second by Hibner and the motion was carried on a
8 unanimous voice vote. Major John Farmer elaborated on the report noting that the grand total of verified
9 offenses was 2,285 and out of those in the 498 verified in the assault column, 371 had been cleared
10 which meant a little over 60 percent clearance. He added that 79 of those cleared involved the arrests
11 of other activities of juveniles.
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13 Alluding to the most recent power outage at RP & L's Johnson Street station, Jarvis said the facility is
14 taking steps to provide more security there and he is hoping that parents will cooperate with the police
15 in solving these kinds of situations. Major Farmer said the Johnson Street station problem had the
16 appearance of an initiation, although that had not been confirmed. He added that the youth involved
17 missed by about 8 to 10 inches of getting an extreme amount of voltage. He noted that the fences
18 around that area were put there for the public's safety.
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20 PUBLIC COMMENTS
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22 A. Councilmember Jane Brookbank representing District 3, said she had lived in the area 19 years and
23 in all that time she had traveled on South E Street, she had not seen an accident at the South 16th and
24 E intersection until recently. She asked Captain Danny McClure of the Traffic Safety Division, once
25 again, if a traffic signal was needed there. He responded that the intersection had been studied on
26 many different occasions and most of the time the accidents were as a result of the driver's error. He
27 added that only three out of the seven accidents in 1993 possibly could have been avoided with a stop
28 signal. He said,once again, he felt that a signal there is not warranted.
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30 Jarvis referred to a list of intersections provided by Captain McClure which showed the number of
31 accidents recorded in 1993. He said there are 16 intersections which have had as many or more than at
32 South 16th and E Streets. One of the intersections, Jarvis said, had 17 accidents and it has a traffic
33 signal. Another, he said, had 14. It also has a traffic signal. He added, however, the Board will continue
34 to work with the Traffic Safety Division in that area, assuring Brookbank that the issue in that location is
35 not a closed one. Jarvis said he has personally gone out to the South 16th and E Street intersection
36 and seen that the trees were trimmed to give motorists a better view of oncoming traffic. Hibner said
37 that she, too,travels South E Street and feels that a four-way stop would create more problems than it
38 would solve, especially in inclement weather and because of the terrain. Brookbank commented that
39 another dangerous intersection in her area is at South 22nd and Reeveston Road.
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41 Captain McClure said timing on the signals at North 9th and A Streets and South 8th and A Streets are
42 the cause of some of the accidents there even though both have stop lights. These are the two most
43 dangerous intersections having the highest number of accidents. Another place where traffic problems
44 are getting more prevalent is the entrance off East Main Street to Walmart Plaza. He said it was
45 suggested that it be made a one-way drive but an objection was raised by San Dor Corp. He added that
46 the Indiana State Highway Department of Transportation has been asked to research the area.
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48 ADJOURNMENT
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50 There being no further business, on a motion duly made seconded and passed and carried on a unanimous
51 voice vote,the meeting was adjourned.
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57 Earnest Jarvis, Chairperson
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62 ATTEST:
63 Norma Carnes, City Clerk
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