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HomeMy Public PortalAbout08-18-1988 BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, AUGUST 18, 1988 1 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met in regular session August 18, 1988 2 at the hour of 9:00 A.M.in the Municipal Building in said City. Mr. Barden presided with Mr.Brown and Mr.Willis 3 in attendance. Absent:None. The following business was had to-wit: 4 5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 11. 1988 6 7 Mr. Brown moved to approve the minutes of the previous meetings as prepared,seconded by Mr.Willis and 8 on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried. 9 10 APPROVAL OF CLAIMS FOR PAYMENT 11 12 Mr. Willis moved to approve claims in the amount of 210,345.98 for payment, seconded by Mr. Brown and on 13 unanimous voice vote the motion was carried. 14 15 TABLED ITEMS 16 17 Hoosier Celebration '88 18 19 It was reported to the Board that the committee for Hoosier Celebration '88 had met with the Police Department 20 and decided to utilize the public parking lots and available space in th area and shuttle with the aid of Rose View 21 Transit. The newspaper will be publishing the information on parking and shuttle service and an update would be 22 given to the Board on August 25, 1988. 23 24 Mr. Barden requested authorization from the Board for the use of parking lots,the Police Department to do traffic 25 control and the cooperation of Rose View,with no alcoholic beverages to be allowed on the City properties. 26 27 Mr. Brown moved to authorize the use'of the City Hall Parking Lot and off street parking on Sim Hodgin and in 28 Bicentennial Park with the Police Department to provide traffic control and Rose View to cooperate in providing 29 shuttle service for the Hoosier Celebration '88 event on September 2, 1988 in the Gorge Park, all events subject 30 to no alcohol on the premises,seconded by Mr.Willis and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried. 31 32 1029 Sheridan and 901 South 11th - Unsafe Buildings 33 34 Mr. Barden reported to the Board that Mr. Charles Tate, owner of record, had posted a bond to insure repairs of 35 the unsafe structures at 1029 Sheridan Street and 901 South I Street, in the form of a Real Estate Mortgage, 36 which will be released upon completion of repairs. 37 38 PUBLIC REQUESTS AND COMMENTS 39 40 101 N.W. 11th Street - Lois Burcham 41 42 Ms. Lois Burcham,20 N.W. 10th Street, informed the Board she had been trying for some time to get help on the 43 nuisances at 101 NW 11th Street. She said that she was unable to get anything done on the condition of the NW 44 11th Street property. She said the property was unsightly and had a toilet sitting outside,that has finally been 45 removed. She said this area is a nice residential area and this property is covered with piles of dirt and weeds. 46 She said that with no time limits on the completion of the construction of the structure, it could remain like this for 47 years. Ms.Burcham added that the accessory building on the property was also a mess. 48 49 Mr. Barden commented that the Board was not able to enforce any violations,since there were no requirements 50 on removing the piles of dirt. 51 52 Mr.Willis said this case has been pending since the owner was not allowed to adding onto the accessory building 53 and living in it. He said that with the construction of a new structure,the owner now had a substantial investment 54 he is allowing to sit there incomplete and probably causing a financial drain on himself. Mr. Willis said the only 55 control the City now has is to say the structure is ready to occupy. He said the fault is the issuing of a building 56 permit without a completion date requirement. 57 58 Mr.Barden said the Board would give consideration to the structure being unsafe, if it were verifiable that no work 59 had been in progress for a documented period of time. He said that Mr.Sams had appeared at the prior meeting 60 of the Board and had admitted intent to complete the work within a year. Mr. Barden said that Mr. Dennis 61 Bronston is monitoring the situation and if he can verify no work being done for a period of time, it could be 62 considered with unsafe building proceedings. Mr. Barden said as far as the piles of dirt, from a government 63 standpoint,there is nothing that can be done, but that Ms. Burcham should pursue a private nuisance action and 64 provide evidence before a judge that the property is not aesthetically pleasing to the neighborhood and it 65 damages the other properties. 19 l5 Board of Works Minutes Cont'd August 18, 1988 Page 2 1 Mr.Willis said as he recalls the lot was not attractive before construction started. 2 3 Ms. Burcham said they have tolerated the mess and the construction for an entire year. 4 5 Mr. Barden said this was on private property and Mr. Sams can do what he wants as long as it does not effect 6 public health,safety and welfare and welfare is not include aesthetic. He said if it shows demonstrable damage to 7 the property,there is private remedy and they could contact a private attorney or file in small claims court. He said 8 at this time Mr.Sams is not in violation of any law,but if it becomes obvious there is no construction for a verifiable 9 time it could be considered unsafe and Planning could proceed with that remedy. 10 11 Mr.Willis said the economics of the property should be a remedy eventually since the owner has a lot of money 12 tied up in the construction. 13 14 Ms. Burcham asked about the condition of the accessory building and Mr.Willis said that permits had been issued 15 for the construction and repair. 16 17 Mr. Bronston said that if construction has stopped for a period of sixty days,the City would have recourse. 18 19 Mr. Barden said he would entertain a motion to authorize Dennis Bronston to monitor the situation on 20 construction since this has to be obvious and verifiable. 21 22 Mr. Willis moved to authorize Dennis Bronston to monitor the property at 101 NW 11th Street to verify that 23 construction is in progress and for the Plan Department to give a status report in sixty days, seconded by Mr. 24 Brown and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried. 25 26 Complaints on Condition of Railroad Crossings 27 28 Mr. Barden asked Mr. Willis to instruct a qualified expert to inspect the conditions of the railroad tracks in 29 accordance with federal guidelines. 30 31 Mr.Willis stated that he was qualified and would investigate. 32 33 Mr. Barden reminded the Board that CSX had certified that their tracks meet all federal guidelines and he would 34 like the guidelines interpreted and compared to the conditions of the tracks. He requested a report in three 35 weeks. 36 37 DEPARTMENT REQUESTS AND COMMENTS 38 39 FIRE DEPARTMENT 40 41 Monthly Report 42 43 The July Monthly Report of the Richmond Fire Department showed a total of 136 runs with an estimated fire loss 44 of 52,666. 45 46 Chief Trotter said they were still having problems with grass fires, but that has decreased. The Chief announced 47 the Fire Works have been approved for September 4, 1988 with a rain date of September 5, 1988 and no 48 problems were anticipated. 49 50 Mr.Willis moved to accept and file the July Monthly Report of the Richmond Fire Department, seconded by Mr. 51 Brown and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried. 52 53 LAW OFFICE 54 55 Traffic Code Changes 56 57 Mr. Barden explained that several changes made by the Board to the Traffic Code were in conflict with the City 58 Code. He said that Captain Williams had assisted in drawing up an ordinance to present to Common Council to 59 conform the Code to the actual situation. Mr. Barden requested the Board to recommend to Council that this 60 ordinance be adopted and the changes be accepted. 61 62 Mr.Willis asked if the ordinance also gave authority to the Board to control the traffic situation and Mr. Barden said 63 he did not feel Council was responsive to giving the Board that authority. 64 65 Captain Williams agreed it was a good idea to have the powers over traffic control in one location and Mr. Barden Board of Works Minutes Cont'd August 18, 1988 Page 3 1 said this idea could be presented to Council on the public hearing for the ordinance and the ordinance could be 2 amended to allow the Board the authority over traffic control. 3 4 Mr. Willis moved to recommend the Council give consideration of the Ordinance for amendments to the City 5 Code regarding ratifying traffic changes, seconded by Mr. Brown and on unanimous voice vote the motion was 6 carried. 7 8 No Loitering Signs on Promenade 9 10 Mr. Barden said he had received a request regarding the placement of No Loitering signs on the Promenade. 11 Captain Williams said currently the only signs were for No Bicycles. 12 13 Mr. Barden said the No Loitering signs would address problems with hanging out without a valid purpose and Mr. 14 Willis expressed his concerns about providing a park with benches for the public and then giving tickets because 15 they were using the park. 16 17 Mr. Barden asked Captain Williams to contact the Downtown Merchants to question the purpose of the No 18 Loitering signs and see if they were needed to address a specific problem. 19 20 PURCHASING OFFICE 21 22 IU East Traffic Signal 23 24 Purchasing Director, Rita Stout informed the Board that the newly installed traffic signal at the entrance to Indiana 25 University East on Chester Boulevard would be activated this week end. The light will be on flasher for the week 26 end to familiarize the public with the light and will be fully activated on Monday,August 22, 1988. 27 28 Award Bid for Slurry Seal 29 30 Ms. Stout recommended the bid for various slurry seal and crack fill projects within the City be awarded to the 31 lowest bidder, Slurry Seal of Southern Ohio, Inc. She said that Mr. Hillard did an on site visit with this vendor since 32 the City had not dealt with the vendor previously and had also checked on references. 33 34 Mr. Barden asked if there were no local vendors dealing with slurry seal and Mr.Willis said there were none locally 35 and they have had good luck in dealing with out of town vendors for slurry seal. 36 37 Mr. Brown moved to award the bid for slurry seal and crack fill to Slurry Seal of Southern Ohio, Inc.at 90,376.70 as 38 the lowest bidder,seconded by Mr.Willis and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried. 39 40 CONTINUATION OF UNSAFE BUILDING HEARING - 519 SOUTH 10TH STREET 41 42 Mr. Braden opened a continuation of an Unsafe Building Hearing on property located at 519 South 10th Street, 43 pursuant to an Order issued to Mr. Carl Bradley Lindsey,Jr. and properly continued from August 4, 1988. Said 44 Order required the sealing of the unsafe building within ten days and to wreck and remove the unsafe dwelling 45 and accessory building within thirty days. 46 47 Mr. Barden requested Proof of Notification of the continued hearing and Mr. Bronston presented a return receipt 48 certified mail,signed by Mr. Lindsey. The order had also been legally published. 49 50 Mr. Brown moved to accept and file the Proof of Notification,seconded by Mr.Willis and on unanimous voice vote 51 the motion was carried. 52 53 The Clerk administered the Oath to give testimony to all making a presentation. 54 55 Mr. Bronston told the Board that the Order required the sealing of the unsafe structure within ten days and the 56 57 wreck and removal of the dwelling and accessory building within thirty days. He said an inspection made on the premises on August 16, 1988 showed very little repair done since a previous repair order issued in 1986. Mr. 58 Bronston recommended the Board affirm the wreck and remove order. 59 60 Mr. Bronston informed the Board that to repair the premises would include the electrical system and the structure 61 was also filled with litter and other combustible materials along with being vacant for several years. 62 63 Mr. Alonzo Ewbanks of 521 South 10th Street told the Board the property also had an open cistern which Mr. 64 Ewbanks said he finally filled himself. He said the property was beyond repair and depreciated the value of the 65 rest of the neighborhood. Mr. Ewbanks said that repairs would be 12,000. in materials and up to 25,000. Board of Works Minutes Cont'd August 18, 1988 Page 4 1 including labor ad there was an existing 17,000.debt on the property. He said he would like to see it wrecked or 2 removed within a certain time period. 3 4 Mr. Barden requested that the Board move to immediately record the order to have wrecked and removed to 5 insure the property not be sold without the order attached and to affirm the order to have the unsafe dwelling and 6 accessory building wrecked and removed within thirty days and secured immediately. 7 8 Mr.Willis asked if Mr. Lindsay lived in town and Mr. Bronston stated he did, but he has had no response from him 9 since the certified mail was received. 10 11 Mr. Barden also requested a copy of the recorded order be sent to Star Bank. He said with the personal signature 12 of Mr. Lindsay on the return receipt, the order recorded and copied to the Bank, he felt the Board can proceed 13 and place the burden on the property owner to stay the order. 14 15 Mr. Willis moved to affirm the Order on unsafe premises located at 510 South 10th Street to secure immediately, 16 wreck and remove within thirty days and to record the Unsafe Order as affirmed by the Board, seconded by Mr. 17 Brown and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried. 18 19 Comment on Neighborhood Clean up Projects and Mayor Waltermann - Alonzo Ewbanks 20 21 Mr. Ewbanks requested the record state his praise for the Neighborhood Clean Up project and the dedication of 22 Mayor Waltermann to the people of the community. He said he really appreciated the city employees and Mayor 23 Waltermann in the South end neighborhood and helping to clean up the community. Mr. Ewbanks said that 24 Mayor Waltermann was a"grass roots"Mayor and took care of the people. 25 26 ADJOURNMENT 27 28 There being no further business,on a motion duly made, seconded and passed the meeting was adjourned. 29 30 31 32 Kenneth E. Barden, President 33 34 35 36 ATTEST: 37 Mary Merchanthouse,City Clerk 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