HomeMy Public PortalAbout04-22-1993 'V
BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE
CITY OF RICHMOND. INDIANA. APRIL 22. 1993
1 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met at 9 a.m.Thursday,April 22, 1993,
2 in the Municipal Building in said City.Chairperson,Janet Hibner presided with Dennis Grimes and Earnest Jarvis
3 in attendance.The following business was had to-wit:
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6 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF APRIL 15.1993
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8 The minutes of the previous meeting were approved on a motion by Jarvis, 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 $629,472.52 most of which was used for payroll and
15 payroll taxes;and for$86,683 which included $19,459 payable to Renewed Performance,progress payment for
16 refurbishing a fire engine.Grimes moved to approve,second by Jarvis and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
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19 REQUESTS
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21 A. Grimes read a request received from Robin Chaffin and Krista Alderson on behalf of Earlhm
22 College's Womyn's Center and Genesis for a permit for a march Tuesday,April 27. The event,planned
23 in conjunction with Genesis, is a women's"Take Back the Night"march to raise awareness concerning
24 violence against women both in the streets and in the home. The march is scheduled to begin at 8:30
25 p.m. at the Wayne County Court House, traveling west on National Road to the Earlham campus by
26 way of College Avenue. It was estimated that about 40 women from Earlham and 15 from Richmond
27 will participate in the march. Grimes read a report from the Traffic Safety Division noting no objection
28 provided the marches use the sidewalks and obey the traffic signals. Grimes moved to approve,
29 second by Jarvis and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
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31 B. A letter of recommendation from the Richmond Police Department Division of Traffic Safety for the
32 installation of No Parking signs in the 700 block of South West First Street was read by Jarvis. It was
33 stated that as a result of a complaint from a resident in that area about a hazardous parking situation
34 Sgt.Janice Passmore surveyed the area and found the situation was as the resident described. It was
35 the recommendation of Sgt. Passmore and Bob Barrett of the Street Division that No Parking signs be
36 placed on the west side of South West First Street in the 700 block, beginning in front of 716 South
37 West First Street and continuing 179 feet to the south.Jarvis moved to approve,second by Grimes and
38 carried by a unanimous voice vote.
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40 C.A request from Starr Elementary School was read by Grimes asking for the removal of the bus stop 41 area in front of the school on North C Street from the corner of North 20th and C.Streets to the
42 entrance sidewalk, a handicapped parking space in the area west of the entrance sidewalk and an area
43 on the street for the school principal to park. Giving some background information Chairperson Hibner
44 said apparently there was an emergency last week where a student had to be transferred either to a
45 doctor or to the hospital and that prompted the request for the designated parking space for the
46 principal. The request for the handicapped parking space came about because the school has a
47 volunteer who is an almost-fulltime person and is handicapped. It was determined that off-street
48 parking is available in the school's parking lot. Councilmember Jane Brookbank, who represents that
•49 district,told the Board that there is ample off-street parking and she.recalled a particular complaint she
50 had received from a neighbor in that area that a teacher was parking on the street in front of her
51 residence where she operates a beauty shop. Captain Danny McClure said there is another marked
52 school bus area on North 20th Street.Grimes moved to approve the request for the removal of the bus
53 stop area, to defer the handicapped parking space request until receipt of an application, and to deny
54 the parking space for the principal,second by Jarvis and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
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56 D.Jarvis read a request from Vaile Elementary School for an addtional sign to be posted at the parking
57 lot driveway in front of the school reading No Parking From Here To Corner, the repainting of the curb
58 there and that part of the curb on South 14th Street at the back of the school be designated as a No
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Parking/Bus Stop area with the posting of appropriate signage.Jarvis noted that the curb has,since the
writing of the letter, been painted yellow but without' the Board's direction. Recommendations of the
61 Traffic Safety Division after surveying the area included painting the curb on South 13th Street in front
62 of the school from South C Street to the first street light approximateldy 100 feet north of the drive that
63 enters the parking lot, allowing four additional spaces for vehicles to park. It was also determined from
64 the survey that a 150-foot yellow curb area on South 14th Street where an additional bus loads and
65 unloads is much larger than is needed resulting in a recommendation that the yellow on the south end
of the.yellow curb area be painted over for approximately 60 feet allowing parking on the street for
three additional vehicles.
Board of Works Minutes Cont'd
April 22, 1993
Page 2
1 Captain Danny McClure suggested the yellow from the curb be removed completely from the front and
2 back of the school and that signs be installed designating no parking from 7 a.m.,to 5 p.m. Monday
3 through Friday at the locations where school buses load and unload.Those areas are on South 13th
4 Street from the light pole to the front of the school to South C Street and on South 14th Street taking in
5 approximately 20 feet of yellow curb from the corner of South C Street going south as well as an
6 additional 40 feet. Jarvis recommended that the request as it was stated in the letter be denied but
7 moved to take the steps as suggested above by Captain McClure, second by Grimes and carried by
8 unanimous voice vote.
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10 E. Handicapped parking requests by Rosalee O'Conner at 1726 North.B Street and James A. Bailey at
11 731 South 13th Street were approved and a request by Jack Abt Jr. at 321 North 12th Street was
12 disapproved on motions by Jarvis,seconds by Grimes and carried by unanimous voice votes.
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15 TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL PRESENTATION
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17 A. Chairperson Hibner explained that all members of the Telecommunications Council had been invited
18 by the Board to participate in this presentation. She said that over a period of time the Board had
19 received various communications from the Council regarding the present franchise agreement with TCI.
20 She added that Rich Cody, manager of TCI, had also been invited but could not attend because of an
21 all-day meeting in Indianapolis..She said Cody had advised the Board he would attend the April 29
22 meeting.
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24 Paul Miller, chairperson of the Telecommunications Council, told members that the Council felt that
25 according to the franchise agreement TCI owes the City a penalty for a late payment of its fee in
26 January. He said the franchise states that any late payments to the City are subject to a 12 percent per
27 annum penalty. At the last Telecommunications Council meeting he said Cody was asked if TCI had
28 made the late payment and he responsed that it had not been made because it was not a franchise fee.
29 Miller stated that the $50,000 payment to the City was a pre-payment of 1993 franchise fees, noting
30 that there Is a letter on file from TCI,executed at the same time as the franchise,stating that fact.
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32 The method of billing that TCI is using was also a concern of the Telecommunications Council, Miller
33 said. It is the opinion of the Council that franchise fees due the City are part of the rates TCI charges
34 but according to the billing the 5 percent franchise fee is in addition to the rates for services. The
35 franchise states that the franchise is 5 percent of TCI's gross income and does not say it is in addition
36 to. Council asked Cody again for an explanation at its April meeting and he deferred to his office
37 manager who did contact John Von Pein, another member of the Telecommunications Council,but was
38 unable to give him an answer. •
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40 Chairperson Hibner stated it was her understanding that the Councils dispute involves the 12 percent
41 penalty fee on the $50,000 payment due January 7, 1.993, but paid 12 days later, and whether or not
42 TCI owes the City a late payment fee.She asked if the payment is on 1993 franchise fees, and, if there
43 is a late fee charged is it on$12,500 which is the one quarter portion. Miller said it was agreed that the
44 $50,000 would be paid on January 7 and it is an advance payment on all four quarters. In the franchise
45 it states that all payments that are not paid by the due date are subject to the 12 percent penalty. Miller
46 explained the reason this particular sum was covered in a side letter to the franchise agreement. He
47 said it was a request by TCI which was of the opinion that occasionally other cities that they deal with
48 request copies of franchises from other TCI entities and they didn't want these side payments to appear
49 in the franchise for fear another city would request the same. Grimes asked Miller if he had figured the
50 interest and Miller answered that it was around$200, not a huge sum, but part of the franchise and the
51 franchise is a contract and both parties arebound by the franchise.
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53 Addressing the second point of contention, Chairperson Hibner asked for enlightenment on the monthly
54 charge.Jarvis said it appears that the customer and not TCI is paying the franchise fee.Grimes said it
55 would appear that it doesn't matter to TCI what the franchise fee is they will just pass it through to the
56 customers: Miller said it appears that as the bills are currently being issued all subscribers are being
57 over charged.
58 •
59 Von Pein gave some background on the negotiations with TCI. He said the two-year period during
60 . which the negotiations took place, which ended the latter part of 1991, was not an easy time. It was
61 during the last six months of those negotiations that all of the accomplishments came to fruition and as
62 the end came there were a lot of issues which had been on the table such as TCI reimbursing the City
63 of Richmond for legal fees. Von Pein said it had been an aforegone conclusion that would take place.
64 As-a last minute compromise the Telecommunications Council agreed to a-TCI proposal that instead of
65 an additional reimbursement that an advance payment on the 1993 franchse fees be made. He said
that basically reduced the commitment of TCI and the Council thought at the time it was a good
compromise.
Board of Works Minutes Cont'd
April 22, 1993
Page 3
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1 In addressing the issue of the franchise fee charge on the monthly bill, Von Pein read from a section of
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the franchise agreement: "Grantee shall pay to the city an annual amount equal to five percent of its
gross revenues receipts. . ."He said the Council's position is if you show the franchise fee on the bill it
4 • has to be included in the rate being charged.As'an example, he used his own bill,which came to a total
5 of $22.02, noting that the franchise fee should be $1.10 which TCI added on top of the 22.02 then
6 added 5 percent sales tax on top of that. He said the way he calculated it he was getting overcharged
7 $1.17 per month. He also told of repeated efforts to get answers from TCI with no success and said he
8 had reached the conclusion that there is a computer program that is generating these bills that needs to
9 be rectified.
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11 Chairperson Hibner stated that it is the Board's position to gather information and it will continue to do
12 so,planning to hear from TCI at a later date.Von Pein said he did not personally feel it is TCI's intent to
13 conceal or defraud. He feels it is a case where it is a big company and the billing program needs to be
14 amended or adjusted to this particular franchise.
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16 Jarvis said the Board of Works will support the Telecommunications Council in every way it can and he
17 appreciated the efforts of the members to bring these things to its attention.Councilmember Gene Allen
18 appeared before the Board, stating that she feels this is an unfortunate situation and probably why
19 people get angry with TCI. She also checked her bill and concluded that TCI is not advertising its true
20 rate. She gave examples to back up her statement. Councilmember Brookbank commented that she
21 felt that TCI is not attempting to defraud but is a large conglomerate and needs to fit its computers to
22 this community and get it straightened out because it does irritate the customers.
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25 DRIVEWAY AND CURB CUT PETITION
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27 Chairperson Hibner reported that the petition for a driveway and curb cut by Christ United Church at 3490
28 Backmeyer Road has been reviewed and approved by all necessary City departments. She moved to approve,
29 second by Jarvis and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
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32 CONTRACTS
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34 A. A series of utility agreements for the extension of Industries Road from North West Fifth Street to
35 U.S. 27 were presented by Chairperson Hibner. She noted they are with the Sanitary District, Indiana
36 Gas, TCI, RP & L, and Indiana American Water Co. Chairperson Hibner said the agreements have
37 been signed by the utilities involved and now require signatures of the Board members. She moved to
38 approve,second by Jarvis and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
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40 B.A recommendation for the appointment of Matt Nepote Jr. and Tom Dickman as appraisers to meet
41 the requirements of Ordinance No.30- 1993 to acquire the former Wayne Corp.property was made by
42 Chairperson Hibner.She noted that Common Council had adopted the ordinance at its April 19 meeting
43 and that was part of the provision of that ordinance. She moved to appoint Nepote and Dickman to
44 make their appraisals and return their results to the Board of Works by May 20, second by Grimes and
45 carried by a unanimous voice vote.
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47 C. Chairperson Hibner moved to approve a resolution to authorize the City Attorney to prepare an
48 agreement per the requirements of the City Engineer to provide temporary access on South 37th Street
49 to build the new bowling lanes,second by Jarvis and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
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51 On a positive note, Chairperson Hibner commentd that particularly the last two projects are all positive
52 economic development additions to the City, as well as the construction of the new church on
53 Backmeyer Road.Jarvis also commented that the company which bought 40 Lanes is going ahead with
54 its construction.
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57 FIRE PREVENTION REPORT
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59 Jarvis noted a few of the items which appeared in the fire prevention report for March 1993 submitted by Wayne
60 Jackson, Fire Prevention Chief for the Richmond Fire Department. Re-inspections were up to 78 and had been
61 at 33 the previous month. Year-to-date re-inspections numbered 186.Jarvos moved to accept the report for the
62 Clerk's files,second by Grimes and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
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Board of Works
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1 PUBLIC COMMENTS
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3 Jarvis read a letter from Townsend Community Center'which was a reminder of the Teddy Bear parade and
4 picnic.to take place Saturday, April 24. The parade route will start at noon from the Municipal Building parking
5 lot, east on the Promenade and end at the amphitheater where the picnic will be held.The purpose of the eveni
6 is to celebrate pre-school and day care children.
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8 Captain Danny McClure reminded citizens that the 2200 block of South A Street will be closed Saturday night for
9 the Richmond High School Prom which is being held at Test Middle School. He also reminded those attending
10 the Prom that the Richmond Police Department will have extra patrols out watching for teenage drinking and
11 drunk driving.
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14 ADJOURNMENT
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16 There being no further business, on a motion duly made seconded and passed and carried on a unanimous
17 voice vote,the meeting was adjourned.
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24 Janet Hibner, Chairperson
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31 ATTEST:
32 Norma Carnes, City Clerk
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