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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJULY 6, 2015COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA JULY6,2015 The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana met in regular session in Room 101, 500 Quartermaster Court, Jeffersonville, Indiana at 7:OOpm, on Monday, July 6, 2015. Council President Gill, with Vicki Conlin, City Clerk, called the meeting to order at 7:07pm. President Gill asked those in attendance to stand as Mr. Bobby Campbell gave the Invocation. Council President Gill then led all those present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The roll call and those present were: Councilperson Smith, Councilperson Zastawny, Councilperson Wadsworth, Councilperson Sellers, Councilperson Webb, President Gill, Councilperson Julius, Councilperson Owen, and Councilperson Samuel. MINUTES TO BE APPROVED: Councilperson Sellers made a motion to APPROVE the June 15, 2015, Council Regular Proceeding minute, with Councilperson Julius seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0. Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE the June 15, 2015 Council Workshop Proceedings, with Councilperson Samuel seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE the agenda, with Councilperson Sellers seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0. CLAIMS TO BE APPROVED: General Claims: Assistant Controller Heather Metcalf presented the general claims list in the amount of $1,674,180.06. There were two hand carried claims: Travelers for $21,516.45, and one from City Pride for L. Thorn Company for pavers totaling 4,513.67. This brings the new total to $1,700,210.19. Councilperson Samuel inquired about three claims prior to making a motion to APPROVE the claims with Councilperson Zastawny seconding, PASSING on a vote of 7-0-1. Julius abstained from voting. REPORT OF THE CLERK: City Clerk Vicki Conlin introduced Patsy Kiser as a new employee of the clerk's office. City Clerk Conlin also addressed the email she sent out in regards to department heads and contracts. The Clerks Offices is having difficulty obtaining the contracts made by the department heads. Council asked advice of Attorney for what the options were to enforce the resolution. It is technically the enforcing powers responsibility to enforce. Council President Gill asked about the deadlines- Planning and Zoning did not make the deadlines. Two rezoning items are not on the agenda due to them not meeting the deadline. Council President Gill stated she is going to follow through with enforcing the deadlines. 1 A. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1. Heather Metcalf — 2015 -OR -31 An Ordinance Transferring Funds within the Same Department (Passed on First reading 6/15/2015). Councilperson Samuel motioned to APPROVE on second and third reading with Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote 9-0. 2. Heather Metcalf —Public Hearing 2015 -OR -32 An Ordinance on Additional Appropriation Additional vehicle for Building Commission and supplies for the Police Department: Public Hearing began at 7:20 PM and ended at 7:21 PM with no present individual commenting on behalf of the public. The vehicle is replacing an existing vehicle. Samuel motioned to approve on second reading, Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote 9-0. B. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Assistant Chief JPD McVoy— Commended emergency responders, River Patrol has been out since Sunday and will probably be out tomorrow. This weekend exemplified the Officers' training and experience. Training Request: 1. National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) 8/4/2015- Councilperson Owen motions to APPROVE, Councilperson Sellers seconding, PASSING on a vote 9-0. 2. Investigative Resources- Councilperson Owen motions to APPROVE, Councilperson Sellers seconding, PASSING on a vote 9-0. 3. Defensive Tactics- Councilperson Owen motions to APPROVE, Councilperson Sellers seconding, PASSING on a vote 9-0. All costs associated are within the department's budget. 2. Kelly Hoffman - 2015-R-8 A Resolution Approving Statement of Benefit for Proposed Real Property Tax Abatement: Representative from One Southern Indiana, Kathleen Crawley gave an overview of the project for Voss Clark. Ms. Crawley recapped the approval from January 2014 and identified the project will be finishing the second phase later this week and the third, final phase in December 2015. Ms. Crawley introduced Joe Rhoady, representative from Voss Clark to explain the information behind the request. Mr. Rhoady explained the machine would allow their company to begin using laser welding that will cut their time from 2-3 minutes to 30 seconds at most ultimately increasing their productivity rate. Councilperson Julius stated the company is asking for a 3.7 million tax abatement and this.is only anticipated to generate 4 positions. Mr. Rhoady stated the estimate is a conservative number and this will allow their line to produce a higher capacity potentially creating more positions. Councilperson Julius addressed the Council about possibly putting in place a set of guidelines for what constitutes an abatement being approved for companies in the future. Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE with Councilperson Webb seconding, PASSING on a vote 9-0. Kelly Hoffman stated out of the remaining abatements only one company has filed the necessary paperwork. Kelly sent a letter to the remaining 4 companies still eligible (received June 22 and June 23) and gave a 30 day time frame to comply with the requirements. Will be back before the Council at the first meeting in August due to time frame. 2 3. Heather Metcalf/ Paul Northam — 2015 -OR -33 An Ordinance Transferring Certain Funds Within the Same Department: This is to transfer funds of $75,000 to cover $48,000 for a contract that was approved ($7,400 for 6 months remaining of the year). Councilperson Smith made a motion to suspend the rules on all Three Readings in anticipation of passing 2015 -OR -33 on all three readings, PASSING on a vote 9-0. Councilperson Zastawny seconded the motion. Councilperson Smith then made the motion to APPROVE 2015 -OR -33 on all three readings and Councilperson Zastawny seconded PASSING on a vote 9-0. 4. Les Merkley- 2015-R-9 A Resolution Regarding the Amendment for the Falls Landing Redevelopment Plan, 2015-R-10 A Resolution Regarding the Amendment for the Inner City Road Redevelopment Plan: Les Merkley introduced a Resolution Regarding the Amendment of the Falls Landing Redevelopment Plan and A Resolution Regarding the Amendment of the Inner City Road Redevelopment Plan. Les requested to amend the economic plans to include the construction phase. As of now the Plan is still in the acquisition phase. Andy Crouch explained the status of the project. The project is still currently in the acquisition phase. Approximately 75% of the properties needed have been acquired. Once 100% are acquired utility companies will begin moving the utilities in the area. Due to previous delays caused by utilities not being moved in a timely manner the plan for this project is for the utilities to be moved before the construction phase begins to give the construction company a "clean slate" to work with. The consultant has recommended to request approval for the construction phase so the utility companies have concrete assurance that the project is going to move forward. Since the resources used to move these utilities come from the service providers themselves as opposed to the city funding the moves, providers are less likely to move them in a timely manner consistent with the phase time line if they do not have reassurance the project is going to move forward. Council President Gill stated this is a wonderful project that everyone wants to move forward however the Council has been clear in the past that the project will be approved in Phases. The first two phases (Acquisition and Utilities) has been approved. The Council's plan is to wait to approve the construction phase of the project in order to better be in line with the KIPDA time line which has the Construction bids beginning in October 2016. There is concern that if the Council approves the Construction phase ahead of the initial plan the project could potentially lose up to 2.4 million dollars funded by KIPDA. The funding will become available in the calendar year 2016 (in the month of July). 80% of this amount will be available in the year 2016 and be distributed in the year 2017. Councilperson Julius stated that he had spoken with Kathy Eaton from INDOT what stated that we will know in February or March of next year (2016) if there will be additional funding for this project and when asked stated that she did not see an urgency to pass the Construction phase. Andy agreed that, from an INDOT stand point the Construction phase not being approved will not slow anything down. Councilperson Owen stated he believed Andy was trying to accomplish is getting the utilities moved and that is the need for the Construction phase to be approved. Council President Gill stated she was unsure why the utility companies would think this project is not going to happen since the acquisition has a large part completed and the information for the plan of the project is on the KIPDA website. Councilperson Samuel asked Andy about the 152 funding sheet for the project that the Council received. The funding sheet listed 500,000 for utilities that was unmatched. Councilperson Samuel asked if this was not the case any longer. Andy stated on that particular funding sheet 3 the "Utilities" were referring to Railroad (particularly the Jeffboat Railroad). Andy stated this estimate has dropped from $500,000 to around $350,000. State law requires that when we go in and widen the road we are responsible for the changes made to the railway. This area will return to being Jeffboat's responsibility for maintenance and upkeep after the project is • complete. Jeffboat has historically provided the upkeep and maintenance for their railway and this will resume after the initial changes to the area are completed. Andy stated they would like to look at moving the utilities as soon as possible, possibly even before the acquisition phase is complete if they can find an unbroken chain in area where the process can begin and pointed out that the Council has previously approved the Utilities phase of the project and approving the Construction phase just gives reassurance to the Utility Providers that the project is moving forward and the gives them motivation to begin. Councilperson Smith recommended that Andy send a certified letter stating that we are building a road and questioned why there is not trust that this project is going to move forward when there has always been trust in the past. Andy stated he was unsure what the reluctance was for the Council to approve the Construction phase if the project is going to move forward and Les Merkley stated he may be concerned if he were them when he looked in the paper the next day and saw that the Construction phase had not been approved during the meeting. Councilperson Owen questioned what the other Councilmember's reasoning's were to not go ahead and approve the phase. Council President Gill stated her reasoning was the cost of the project changes on a daily basis with the bridge project in process and she would like to know as close to the exact cost as possible before proceeding. Councilperson Owen questioned if that response indicated if the price raised that the Council would not move forward with the project and that would be his logic if he was in the place of the Utility companies. Council President Gill stated no, that was not the case. Councilperson Samuel stated he had concern because if we had cash to fund the project then it could jeopardize the additional funding we could potentially receive because if other communities were trying to fund projects who did not have the cash then the funds would be transferred to them. Council President Gill stated this was confirmed during her last conversation with Ms. Eaton earlier in the day. This is why she recommended approving everything in phases. Councilperson Samuel stated his hesitance is not wanting to lose any KITPA funding. Andy stated there never really is an "80/20" and currently this is more likely reversed at a "25/75". Councilperson Smith recommended to make a copy of the KIPDA report and send it to the Utility providers to show that the project was moving forward and Council President Gill stated the report was not difficult to find and she was still unsure as to why the utility companies are having difficulties with this. Councilperson Julius stated one hesitancy for approving this additional phase now is the project may be eligible for additional funded dollars from KIPDA if other projects do not pan out. Andy stated that does not have anything to do with being eligible for additional dollars and the city has acquired additional funding in the amount of approximately 1.3 million dollars. Councilperson Zastawny recommended that the Council set up a meeting with INDOT and•KIPDA to discuss time frames and see if everyone could get on the same page as it seemed there was conflicting information in how different people viewed the policies. Andy stated he can do that and then pointed out that a concern of his is that if money is not used that has been set aside by the end of the year that money is lost. It no longer rolls over to the next year. Andy reiterated 4 this approval does not mean that the Construction phase is going to begin now, just shows that the City is serious about moving forward. Councilperson Smith stated this is a huge project that everyone wants to see move forward and suggests putting together a workshop with the Council, INDOT, KIPDA, and the Utility providers so that they can see that the project is going to happen. Councilperson Owen stated the way he saw it is that if he were the Utility company had he saw that yes, the City had put forth $6,000,000 but still had to come up with an additional $14,000,000 in order for the project to happen he would be leery of using his own resources to perform said move. Councilperson Sellers made a motion to table the issues pending the completion of a workshop. Councilperson Smith recommended that Andy set up the workshop by contacting the Utility companies and Council President Gill stated she would be in contact with KIPDA the following day. Councilperson Zastawny Seconded Councilperson Sellers motion to table. City Clerk Conlin requested the issues before the Council be assigned numbers since they were being tabled. Falls Landing is 9 and Inner City is 10. Councilperson Julius stated that nobody was questioning what Andy is trying to do, but the Council wants to make sure we are not in jeopardy of losing any additional funding because if we have to pull 10,000,000 to fund this project then that can cripple other projects throughout the city. Andy stated he understood and he felt like everyone has the same goal this is to keep the project moving all. Motion to TABLE with a vote of 7-2. Councilperson Owen and Councilperson Webb opposed with the rest of the Council approving. CITY COUNCIL ATTORNEY REPORT: None at this time. DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS: None at this time. PUBLIC COMMENT: None at this time. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilperson Mike Smith: None at this time. Councilperson Ed Zastawny: Provided a comparison of Officers per thousand for local communities. Jeffersonville is at 1.66 and is not the lowest nor the largest. Just information for the Council to consider. Councilperson Wadsworth: None at this time. Councilperson Sellers: None at this time. Councilperson Webb: None at this time. Councilperson Julius: Tax abatements- do we have a minimum threshold. Suggests getting with One SI to see if there is a proration out there. Suggests working in partnership with One SI to talk with the company before it gets to a public meeting. Smith pointed out that we have had guidelines before and we may need to look at formulas to see if we are being competitive in this area. 5 Councilperson Owen: Wanted to commend the Jeffersonville Police Department and Fire Department with all of the assistance they provided during the recent flash floods. Councilperson Owen was listing to the traffic radio and trucks were going to all parts of the city. There were a couple of calls that he Fire Department were able to disregard because the Police Department responded first and got the situation under control. These departments stepped up when it was necessary. Also wanted to commend Assistant Chief McVoi. It seems since the administration change there has been a lot more requests for training and any department is only as good as they are trained. There will also be a new coffee shop downtown next to the Red Yeti. Too Tired Bike and Bean - bike repair/ coffee shop. This is being opened by the same people who opened the Red Yeti and will fill needs that are downtown (Bike shop and Coffee shop) Councilperson Samuel: On July 8th there will be a dedication to the monumental pictures that were hung around the city at 300 Spring, starting at 6:30. There will also be a DVD of all pictures that were submitted. Welcome back to the City Attorney, Les Merkely. President Gill: Council President Gill and Council Vice President Zastawny with Andy Crouch and a representative from Honeywell. Honeywell would like to do a workshop on energy efficiency and current energy usage by the city. Proposed doing the workshop on July 20, 2015 at 5:30 PM. The audit shows where we are losing money with energy efficiency in the city. They have ideas on how to save money and talked about doing a performance contract (how much money we save they get a percentage). Council President Gill also sent out a request for a table 750 for the Red Cross and needs a list of names for a table of 8, please let Council President Gill know. Not sure of the date, may be in August but going to reaffirm the date. Red Cross will be sending the invoice to City Clerk Conlin. Council President Gill also commended Police and Fire, she was out in her district right after the flooding and witnessed them doing a rescue and it was executed well. There are a lot of people affected and hurting right now from that rain. Discussed next police academy class and it will be next month. The police department is going to post the information for the public. ADJOURNMENT: Council President made a motion to ADJOURN at 8:14 pm with Councilperson Owen moving the motion. APPROVED BY: isa ill, President Vicki Conlin, City Clerk 6