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Home My Public Portal About10-28-1993 f a:V- BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND. INDIANA. OCTOBER 28. 1993 1 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met at 9 a.m. Thursday, October 28, 2 1993, in the Municipal Building in said City. Chairperson Janet Hibner presided with Earnest Jarvis and Dennis 3 Grimes in attendance.The following business was had to-wit: 4 5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF OCTOBER 14 AND OCTOBER 21.1993 6 7 The minutes of the two previous meetings were approved on a motion by Jarvis, second by Grimes and carried 8 by a unanimous voice vote. 9 , 10 CLAIMS FOR PAYMENT 11 12 Claims submitted by City Controller Dennis Grimes totaled $111,944.24 most of which was used for supplies 13 and contractual services.Grimes moved to approve the claims, second by Jarvis and the motion was carried on 14 a unanimous voice vote. 15 16 CONTRACTS 17 18 A. Chairperson Hibner noted that an item on the agenda pertaining to the inhumane treatment of a dog 19 hearing pursuant to Section 91.182 of the Richmond Code had been stricken. She announced that the 20 problem had been resolved with the owner relinquishing her rights to the dog and it had been turned 21 over to the HELP the Animals Inc. 22 23 B. Jarvis read a curb cut request made by Terry Bell at 612 Indiana Avenue, noting that the request 24 had gone through all the City departments and met with approval, and he moved to approve the 25 request,second by Grimes and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 26 27 C. Grimes read a request for annual administration fees from Star Bank as trustees for the Richmond 28 Redevelopment Authority for T.I.F. bond projects on Dana Parkway and Industries Road. Claims were 29 for$626.50 for the Dana Parkway project and $932.50 for Industries Road. Grimes moved to approve 30 the request,second by Jarvis and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 31 32 OTHER MATTERS 33 34 A.Attorney Robert Bever appeared before the Board with comments regarding the action taken by the 35 Board at its October 21 meeting approving the new bus stop zone for the Greyhound Bus Lines and the 36 elimination of two parking spaces on North 7th Street. He said he was not only speaking on behalf of 37 his client, Bank One,but as a business owner since his law firm is located in the Bank One building. He 38 said historically there were six spaces there.Two were eliminated for handicapped parking and with the 39 proposal of the elimination of two more that,would leave only two spaces. He said that although there is 40 a parking lot to the north and the parking garage, customers used the parking spots for short stops and 41 convenience for brief business transactions. He called it a drastic move on the part of the Board to 42 eliminate two additional spots, adding that he feels that every business owner on the Promenade 43 should be concerned since getting customers downtown is a primary concern. 44 45 He questioned the placement of the bus stop, asking why, if Ray Zaleski, owner of Phillip's Drugs is 46 going to be the agent, did he not lose his spaces on his side of the street. He added that he assumed it 47 was because the doorway of the bus would open out onto the street, and Jarvis said that was a proper 48 assumption and was purely a safety issue. Bever questioned making the bus stop anywhere downtown, 49 noting that he did not want to appear as being anti-bus. He said his understanding is that five buses will 50 be stopping daily at the present time and perhaps there will be eight more. He cited both traffic and 51 pedestrian congestion occurring if that be the case. He also said, in talking with Zaleski, that the last 52 stop for the bus will be at 11:30 p.m. which will be after Philip's Drugs is closed causing the bus 53 passengers to congregate on the Promenade. 54 55 Jarvis responded to Bever's comments, reading excerpts from the letter received from Greyhound, 56 noting that it stated there will be four stops a day and that could possibly expand to eight. All of these 57 stops,the letter stated,would be during business hours of Phillip's Drugs. Bever responded that he had 58 received his information from Zaleski and perhaps he had misunderstood the number of additional 59 stops. Jarvis said the spot initially picked for the stop was on the east side of the street, south of 60 Phillip's Drugs near the parking garage. However, Greyhound's legal authority said that was not an 61 acceptable spot because it would not allow the driver to keep the bus in view at all times. Chairperson 62 Hibner said this spot is a compromise because the spot next to Phillip's would have been the ideal one, 63 however, that would have meant that passengers would be alighting the bus into the flow of traffic 64 which was abandoned from a safety point of view. 65 o Board of Works Minutes Cont'd October 28, 1993 Page 2 1 Bever noted that he had been informed, informally,that there there is a crime increase at any bus stop. 2 Jarvis said that fact was not brought out in the report the Board had received from the Traffic Safety 3 Division at the time the bus stop was approved. 4 5 Dennis Powell, president of Bank One, said there are about 20 businesses from South A to North A 6 Street that could be affected. He cited specifically, LaForsche, which deals with the handicapped, 7 noting that that space will be moved farther north.Jarvis responded that the City's Planning Department 8 had sent LaForsche a letter advising them of its plans and had received no response. Powell said there 9 are also about 23 driveway cuts in that two-block area between North A Street and South A Street and 10 there are already traffic challenges. He added that he could picture additional challenges if there is ever 11 a problem with back to back buses. Jarvis stated that that should never happen because Greyhound 12 will be running only one bus between Indianapolis and Dayton,Ohio. 13 14 Chairperson Hibner commented that it appears that there are conflicting stories and perhaps this issue 15 needs to be checked on.Jarvis noted that Greyhound had spent months trying to find a place to stop in 16 Richmond, adding that Zaleski had been the only bidder. Powell said he could also picture passengers 17 getting off buses with suitcases and cars parked in the area waiting on passengers, noting that it would 18 definitely affect the traffic in that area. Another concern Powell said he had was that although Zaleski 19 said he will provide waiting room for bus passengers, what will happen if the bus is delayed and it is 20 zero degree weather. 21 22 He cited the noise made by the buses as a deterrent to customers on the Promenade as well as the 23 smell of the exhaust fumes, noting that the appearance of downtown is important as well as the security 24 of the businesses late at night.Jarvis asked Powell if he had a feeling about one-way traffic as opposed 25 to two way, since there had been some talk along that line. Powell said he would be opposed to that 26 since everything downtown is designed one way which presents enough problems. Jarvis said there 27 had been some thought given to that change since it would allow Greyhound to unload its passengers 28 at the door of Phillip's Drugs. Powell said he felt the cure would be worse than the alternative. Grimes 29 commented that one of the alternatives is to lose the Greyhound service and that was what the Board 30 was trying to guard against. 31 32 Jarvis commented that both Bever and Powell were talking about perceived problems and that perhaps 33 the approval for the location of the bus stop should have been made with the stiplulation it would be 34 done on a six month, or perhaps even a three month test. He added that that is something this Board 35 could certainly talk about. Powell said he had not contacted other downtown merchants, commenting 36 that his appearance here today, along with Bever, was due to reading about the approval of the stop in 37 the Palladium-Item. Bever said there had been no advance notice but agreed with Chairperson Hlbner's 38 comment that none was required for this Board to take its action. 39 40 She suggested the Board take a wait-and-see attitude on the issue with a commitment to Powell that 41 the Board will give it a trial period and evaluate it in three months to see if it is working. She added that 42 since the action has been taken the best alternative is to be aware of the types of problems Bever and 43 Powell were concerned about. Powell asked if he could come back before the Board in case problems 44 do arise and call them to the attention of the members. Chairperson Hibner said that would be most 45 acceptable,adding that this Board is trying to maintain harmony with as many persons as possible. 46 47 B. Grimes moved to accept the September 1993 Fire Department report into the record, second by 48 Jarvis and the motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote. 49 50 ADJOURNMENT 51 52 There being no further business, on a motion duly made by Jarvis, seconded by Grimes and carried by a 53 unanimous voice vote,the meeting was adjourned. 54 55 - 56 57 58 59 60 61 Janet Hibner, Chairperson 62 63- 64 65 ATTEST: Norma Carnes, Clerk