HomeMy WebLinkAboutFEBRUARY2, 2015 WORKSHOPJEFFERSONVILLE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP
Monday, February 2, 2015
City Council Chambers
The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville met in a workshop on Monday, February 2, 2015.
Council President Gill called the meeting to order at 5:30pm and on the roll call members present were:
Councilperson Smith, Councilperson Wadsworth, Councilperson Sellers, Councilperson Webb,
Councilperson Julius, Councilperson Owen, and Councilperson Samuel. Absent: Councilperson Zastawny.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA=
Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE the Workshop agenda, with Councilperson Sellers
seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0.
1_ Greenspace Maintenance: Parks Director Paul Northam explained that they are starting a new
division to handle the greenspace maintenance within the City and it will fall under the Parks
Department supervision tentatively calling it the "Greenspace Maintenance Division"_
Maintenance will entail, grass cutting, weeding, landscaping, trash pickup, etc. These areas
include parks, city gateways, police headquarters, Riverside Drive, boat dock area,
Redevelopment properties, medians, islands, right-of-ways, planters, urns, raised flower beds,
detention basins, ditches, bio -swells, Aquatic Center and Restaurant Row. They would put
together a ten -person personnel where there would be one manager or supervisor, a foreman
under that manager and eight general laborers_ Mr_ Northam stated that he is working on the
job description of the Greenspace Manager/Supervisor and Liz Gross will be fine tuning that
description. There will also be four Parks employees moved over from the regular Parks
Department to the Greenspace Maintenance and there will be two Street Department
employees moved over into this new division_ The Drainage Department has agreed to convert
their two part time positions into one full time position creating a total of eight positions within
the City moving into this new division as well as the addition of the manager and a request for
one more general laborer for a total of ten. In addition to those employees, there are the City
Pride volunteers who would be involved in this division. Mr_ Northam explained that on the
financial side of this proposal, they have calculated $110,000 for new employees for the
manager and the one general laborer, including insurance and all the expenses that go into
hiring a new employee. The committee discussed allowing about $50,000 for materials and
maintenance of equipment. Equipment would be pooled from the different departments into
this one division and the first year of operation they can get by with what they have. An
estimate of $100,000 would be needed to add on to the existing storage building in the Parks
Department next year_ Mr_ Northam stated that Redevelopment had a pre -submission meeting
last Tuesday and they will be taking bids until Friday, February 6, 2015, on the Big Four Station
and downtown maintenance and that includes the Big Four Park and ramp and the area East of
Mulberry, West of Wall, South of Court and North of the Ohio River. Redevelopment will be
paying for the maintenance of that property, except for the Restaurant Row area.
Street Department Director, Mr. Clark Miles, stated that he feels that this is an important
department and is something the City needs to have. Mr. Miles stated that he intends to do
everything he can to work with them, but his only concern was some of the people he would be
moving over to this new division are people he uses to fill in for employees who are absent_
Councilperson Smith asked Mr. Northam how they came up with the number of employees from
each department and asked if the department heads were involved. Mr. Northam explained that
City Engineer Andy Crouch and Mr. Miles were involved and they broke down each area that
needed to be maintained putting an hourly allotment of how much time it would take based on
how many employees they currently had and how many hours it would take to finish the job.
Mr. Northam stated that the first year will be a learning experience. They may find that ten
hours isn't enough, or that they over estimated and only need eight. Mr. Northam explained
that he doesn't think this division will be busy twelve months out of the year. There are three
months of "down time" where the employees can be doing other things such as snow removal,
painting barricades, or any inside job and if there is a week where it rains four or five days, they
go do something else. Mr. Northam explained if Mr. Miles is short on people for trash removal,
he calls the division manager and asks for help. Councilperson Julius stated that the division will
not be free of problems, but feels that this has so much importance for the City to have
regarding the upkeep and cosmetics that it's worth the effort to try. Councilperson Smith agreed
that the City is going to have to spend money to make the parks and greenspaces look nice and
if we don't, we are wasting our initial investment in our parks.
Councilperson Samuel stated that initially the fire stations weren't included in this plan because
they maintained their own grounds and asked Fire Chief Eric Hedrick if it was correct to include
them in this plan. Chief Hedrick explained that it used to be easier for them to maintain their
grounds themselves when there were just a couple of stations. They now have five and it proves
to be costly to have a piece of equipment at each location or transport one around to each
location. Councilperson Sellers asked how long it takes to cut grass and maintain the properties
that Redevelopment owns and pays Parks to maintain and Mr. Northam stated with two
employees working it takes approximately two to three days a week. Councilperson Sellers
stated if Redevelopment is contracting out the Big Four they need to add these properties to
that contract. Councilperson Sellers made a motion (since Redevelopment is already contracting
out the downtown Big Four) to go ahead request that Redevelopment also contract out the
canal properties, CASI Building and Allison Brook properties with Councilperson Julius seconding,
PASSING on a vote of 8-0.
Councilperson Smith stated before voting on this new Greenspace Maintenance Division, he
would like to see a breakdown of the employees, a contingency plan, where the equipment is
coming from, and a list of the properties. Councilperson Julius explained that everyone needs to
have all the information they need, but warned that there is only about 60 days to prepare.
Councilperson Smith stated that he doesn't want to hold this up, but wants something to
physically look at. Mr. Northam stated that he will get something together for Council's review
with the week and email it out to them.
2. Credit Card for Emergency Usage: Safety Director Amir Mousavi came before the Council
explaining that in cases of emergency when City Hall offices are closed, there is no way to access
a City credit card to purchase whatever is needed in an emergency — from hot coffee to
equipment. Mr. Mousavi stated that a solution needs to be created to be able to spend money
when needed in an emergency disaster such as tornado or flooding. Mr. Mousavi suggests
having a couple of credit cards assigned to Public Safety at their disposal to use for catastrophic
events. Councilperson Samuel suggested the possibility of amending the existing credit card
ordinance to accommodate this request. Mr. Mousavi explained that the credit cards that are in
the Finance Department have a spending limit of about $2,500 and if first responders need to
order something, it might not be adequate. Fire Chief Eric Hedrick explained that these Public
Safety credit cards would be sitting in a "break the glass in an emergency only" type of situation
and would be used only when City Hall is closed such as Saturday, Sunday or at night.
Councilperson Sellers suggests taking one of the cards that we already have in the Finance
Department and issue it as a Public Safety card instead of creating an entirely new card for this
purpose. Councilperson Sellers stated that in her opinion these cards should not be carried on
their person. There should be one central location for them to be able to access the credit card
and recommends just amending the ordinance, not create a bunch of new cards. Assistant
Police Chief Sumter explained that in some instances officers may be working a scene out in
frigid temperatures and they are unable to go out to get something warm to drink or eat.
President Gill stated that Controller Amy Deering could designate one of the cards for
emergency only and raise the credit line. Chief Hedrick explained if they had one single card that
was kept at the Fire House or Police Headquarters, assessable 24/7 and had a limit on it of
$10,000 that would solve the access problem and the credit card limit problem. President Gill
stated that in a lot of the State of Emergency situations, the City is reimbursed by the State and
Federal agencies. Chief Hedrick agreed and stated that he would want the credit card to be used
for the purpose of State and Federal reimbursement as indicated by President Gill. Mr. Lewis
stated that he would look at the credit card ordinance that is already in place and will decide
how to appropriately amend it as an emergency only credit card with a higher limit and
President Gill stated that she will speak to Controller Amy Deering.
Councilperson Samuel made a motion to ADJOURN at 6:32 with Councilperson Owen seconding,
PASSING on a vote of 8-0.
is Gill , resident
Vicki Conlin, City Clerk