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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAUGUST 1, 2016 COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA AUGUST 1, 2016 The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana met in regular session in Room 101, 500 Quartermaster Court,Jeffersonville, Indiana at 7:00 pm,on Monday, August 1, 2016. Council President Owen along with City Clerk Conlin called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Mr. Campbell gave the Invocation and Council President Owen asked those in attendance to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL:The roll call was conducted and those present were: Councilperson White,Councilperson Zastawny,Councilperson Jahn, Councilperson Maples,Councilperson Gill,Council President Owen, Councilperson Hawkins,and Councilperson Rodriquez. Councilperson Samuel was absent. MINUTES TO BE APPROVED: Minutes from the Council Regular Proceedings July 18, 2016—Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE the minutes from July 18, 2016 with Councilperson Jahn seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-0-1. Council President Owen abstained as he was not present for the July 18, 2016 Council Proceedings. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE the agenda with Councilperson Maples seconding, PASSING on a vote,8-0. CLAIMS TO BE APPROVED: City Controller Heather Metcalf presented the Claims. There is a hand carried claim for$3098.99 from the Police Department for software. Also being paid to Nikke Murray for mileage is being increased to $195.16 for May(an increase of$10.96)and to$198.50 (an increase of$12.31). There is a claim for Tons of Fun Inflatables that needs to be moved to Contractual Services in Parks(there are 7 claims that have to be moved). Councilperson Gill said she went over all of the Credit Card Claims and it would be great if another Councilmember would like to assist with going through Claims. Also there is a transfer out of Gaming for $125,000. The Council needs to make a mental note about this because that amount was supposed to be offset by sponsorships for Riverstage. This is going to deplete our Gaming fund. Council President Owen said that the Parks Authority has put together a Finance Committee to try and get a handle on the finances and spending. He asked if the Council would like for Paul Northam to come to the next Council Meeting to go over the request for the transfer. The$125,000 was pulled for a new total$1,043,450.14. Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE the Claims in the new amount with the discussed changes. Councilperson Jahn seconded the motion, PASSING on a vote,8-0. REPORT OF THE CLERK: Laserfiche has been updated and the office is currently working on getting all of the kinks worked out. As of right now the office on making the documents searchable for the Public Database. Also the City Attorney will not be here today as he and his wife are having a baby. 1 AGENDA ITEMS: UNFINSHED BUSINESS 1. Heather Metcalf—2016-OR-43 An Ordinance Transferring Certain Funds Within the Same Department (Passed 151 and 2nd reading 7/18/16)—There have been no changes since the last meeting. Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE 2016-OR-43 on the third and final reading with Councilperson Jahn seconding, PASSING on a vote, 8-0. 2. Heather Metcalf—PUBLIC HEARING 2016-OR-44 An Ordinance of Additional Appropriation—There have been no changes since the last meeting. Council President Owen opened the Public Hearing at 7:18 PM and as no members of the community came forward to speak for or against the matter the Public Hearing was closed. Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE 2016-OR-44 on the third and final reading with Councilperson Jahn seconding, PASSING on a vote, 8-0. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Nathan Pruitt—2016-OR-45 An Ordinance Amending Portions of the Zoning Ordinance (2000-OR-61)to Align with the Recently Adopted Jeffersonville Comprehensive Plan Update (2015-OR-58)—Planning and Zoning Director Nathan Pruitt presented 2016-OR- 45. This is an update and is what was discussed during the July 2611 workshop. It outlines new standards and comes with a favorable recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission. This focuses on Market Place Corridor and Pedestrian Oriented shopping. The Overlay district is in correlation with the Plan. This will support redevelopment projects as well. This gives us the final pieces of the puzzle and formally says the direction we want Jeffersonville to head. Public Hearing was opened at 7:27 PM. Stacey Thompson —3120 Georgiann Way—She really likes a lot of things proposed in this plan, but she fears that the momentum will disappear and this area will become the forgotten part of Jeffersonville. Who is going to keep the momentum up and ensure that businesses come to the area. A lot is going on everywhere except 10th Street. She is concerned that this will hinder some businesses from coming to Jeffersonville and the empty lots will stay empty even longer. Councilperson Gill said she has the same concerns as Ms. Thompson and asked that Ms. Thompson continue to come before the Council and request updates and push them forward. Mike Hutt—2123 E. 10th Street—Mr. Hutt said he is not sure he understands this plan. All new business have to have the parking lots in the back of the business instead of the front. He wondered if this is consistent with the other end of 10th Street. This is the opposite of what everyone has been doing the last 50 years. 2 Mr. Pruitt said this is not mandated just an option for businesses to take advantage of. Only 30%of parking would be in the front and the rest would be shared parking in the back. The City cannot mandate this. Miguel Hampton—Would like to know the vision for the next 10-15 years for 10th Street. Mr. Pruitt said that one of the things he will be focusing on is specifically 10th Street. He would like to hire a long range planner and get a 10 year plan together as well as a 30 year plan. It is in the works, he just has to get the right people in place at his department to make it happen. Public Hearing was closed at 7:46 PM Councilperson Jahn said she will not be supporting this tonight for a couple of reasons. She does not think it is the Council's place to limit a certain industry. She is concerned about the vacant property and feels the City should allow anyone as it is better than vacancies. Councilperson Gill said there has been an issue in the past with Gas Stations coming in and then leaving and leaving abandoned tanks and that causes an issue with the EPA. Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE 2016-OR-45 with Councilperson White seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-1 with Councilperson Jahn voting against. 2. Heather Metcalf—2016-OR-46 An Ordinance of Additional Appropriation (PUBLIC HEARING 8/15/2016)—City Controller Metcalf presented 2016-OR-46. The first is for an insurance claim. The remaining were discussed during the Finance Committee and Workshops. Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE 2016-OR-46 on the first and second reading with Councilperson Zastawny seconding, PASSING on a vote, 8-0. 3. Scott Lewis—2016-OR-47 An Ordinance Repealing Ordinance 2016-OR-47 (Regarding the Repeal of Procedures for Approving Capital Expenditure Purchase and Leases for Remaining Calendar Year of 2016)—Council Attorney Scott Lewis presented 2016-OR-47. Because of the Circuit Breakers there was a limit on capital expenditures in excess of$5000.00 unless approved by the Council. This repeals the Ordinance that requires that rule. Councilperson Gill made a motion to suspend the rules and allow all three readings tonight assuming that the Ordinance passes. Councilperson White seconded the motion to suspend the rules, PASSING on a vote, 8-0. Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE 2016-OR-47 on all three readings with Councilperson Jahn seconding, PASSING on a vote, 8-0. 4. Ed Zastawny—Woerhle Park and Parks Authority—Councilperson Zastawny said that last week there was an article in the News and Tribune saying that the City of Jeffersonville did not own any part of Woerhle Park and a deed was unable to be located for the property and that the City was paying to maintain property that wasn't theirs. Councilperson Zastawny said that he called Clark County Soccer Association and they had not been contacted by the Parks Authority before the meeting and had been informed they had not. Councilperson Zastawny would like the Parks Authority to contact all individuals involved before taking something like that to the media because the people involved could have provided him with the information he needed. 3 Council Attorney Lewis said he was not sure why they couldn't find any information on it. All of the proceedings were done in a Public Meeting and there is record of it in minutes. He has a copy of the deed. The legal transfer is the date of the signing per Indiana Law. Not the date it is recorded in the Court. Mr. Lewis will be checking with the Courthouse to see where the disconnect is and why it has not been recorded because it was dropped off. Clerk Conlin reported that it still shows in the Recorders Office that the property belongs to Clark County Youth Soccer. Also the Clerk's office does not have a copy of the deed and it is needed in order to put it in the public database. Councilperson Zastawny stated there is a long history with this project and what the benefits are to the City. If there comes a time where the terms need to be renegotiated, the other party is willing to do so and it just needs to be communicated. Council President Owen said the concern was finding the terms to the agreement and he wasn't sure it was necessarily an issue with the actual agreement but maybe it is. Everyone was in favor for this project. Mr. Lewis stated there is no legal dispute on when the transfer of ownership took place. It is the date that the deed was signed, not recorded. City Council Attorney Report: Internal Control Standards are supposed to be in place as of July 1,2016 however the City has until December to get this in place. There is a training component to this. It is everyone who approves claims,as well as anyone who may collect money. There is a 30 minute training video on the DLGF website. It may be beneficial to set up a time to have the video playing for a large group of people and track who has completed that way. Clerk Conlin stated that her staff has already completed this training and it has been uploaded to the public documents database in the event that State Board of Accounts comes in and needs them. Councilperson Jahn recommended that moving forward everyone gets trained during onboarding, whether their hire job anticipates working with money or not. Employees change positions and that way they are covered if they move to a different job. Department Head Reports: Nothing at this time. Public Comment: Completed throughout the meeting. Council Comment: Councilperson White—We need to discuss the appointment to Redevelopment. Kyle Williams is resigning due to moving out of City limits. Council President Owen said that he is interested in the appointment. Councilperson Rodriguez said he would like a report from Redevelopment if Councilperson Jahn could provide them with one. Councilperson Jahn said there was a meeting last week. Some of the items that were on the agenda were going through and starting the process of a new bond agreement, it will be a long process this is 4 just the first step. Also Monty Snelling the President of the Board proposed what he would like to see done with Colston Park and making that area dedicated to historical markers and bringing in historical groups such as Daughters of the American Revolution. It was a pretty short meeting in regards to the public meeting however there was an executive session before that. There are a lot of projects that are in the planning and design phase. Councilperson Rodriguez asked what kind of projects there were. Councilperson Jahn said there is the 10th Street widening, Holmans Lane,the North end of 10th Street, really they come in and see the same projects moving in a little closer during every meeting. They have met with Indiana Department of Natural Resources. There was some back and forth on which trees needed to be planted at the Marina and that was finally settled. Councilperson Rodriguez said he was curious about the 29 million dollars that they are wanting to bond and asked for more information about that. Councilperson Jahn said she would not claim to be a bond expert but it is something that is something that is being looked at for future development projects. Councilperson Rodriguez asked if that was going to be used for the widening of 10th Street and Holmans Lane. Councilperson Jahn said no that the bond wouldn't take effect until 2019 and will be used for multiple projects. Councilperson Jahn offered to get Umbaugh to answer his questions. Councilperson Rodriguez said he thinks Councilperson Jahn is there to come back to us (the Council)to answer the questions and that he shouldn't have to call the consultant. He feels like we appoint someone on a board and that person should be able to come back and tell them what's going on.The 20 million bond from what he understands will be over the debt limit so if Council President Owen gets appointed to that board he would think that would be an issue for him, because it is an issue for Councilperson Rodriguez. Councilperson Rodriguez said that come the next meeting he thinks they are going to be asked to suspend some rules. Council President Owen asked what Councilperson Rodriguez was talking about. Councilperson Rodriguez said it looked like there was a lease and he isn't sure because he isn't on Redevelopment, but there is some type of Lease Agreement. Councilperson Jahn said that was a proposed timeline and it was made very clear during the meeting that it was just a proposed timeline. Councilperson Rodriguez said that is what he is asking, he wants to know what going on with that and the other things that are going on. Council President Owen asked Councilperson Rodriguez if he had tried attending a Redevelopment Meeting. Councilperson Rodriguez said he hadn't attended one. Councilperson Jahn said the timeline he is referring to is a proposed timeline and that was in regards to the whole process that would need to go through for the whole time line and Les made very clear there were several things for example having a special meeting with Planning and Zoning and having the Council suspend the rules that would likely delay the process even further. Councilperson Rodriguez said he was told that the bond is for the widening of 10th Street and the Holmans Lane project. Councilperson Gill said we should not need the money for the 10th Street widening because we have the 80/20 match for that project. Councilperson Rodriguez said he just wanted clarification that that is not what this(the bond) is for. He hasn't been to Redevelopment meeting and that's his fault. But they are all being told that we are using cash to widen 10th Street and that the cash is there and for Holmans Lane but he feels as though they just got drug through the mud with the Airport Deal and Holmans Lane. So he is just asking for clarification and we are obligated to do that. 5 Councilperson Zastawny asked if Councilperson Rodriguez would like to start going to the Redevelopment meetings. Councilperson Jahn said what she asks and what she would appreciate is that if there are questions let her know ahead of time so she is able to bring the proper information with her to the meeting to share as she does not bring her Redevelopment notes to the Council Meetings. Councilperson Rodriguez said he feels that when the Council is appointed to boards they should be able to bring back updates and he doesn't mean to be disrespectful to Councilperson Jahn, he just would like to be updated with the information and not just from Redevelopment but all of the different boards. He gets those questions all of the time, maybe even send out an email update. Councilperson Owen asked for any nominations to the Redevelopment Board. Councilperson Zastawny said it seems as though Councilperson Rodriguez is interested in Redevelopment so he would make a nomination to appoint Councilperson Rodriguez to the Redevelopment Board. Council President Owen asked if there was a second. Seeing as no second was made the motion died. Councilperson Maples made a motion to appoint Council President Owen to the board with Councilperson White seconding. A roll call vote was requested. Councilperson White—yes Councilperson Zastawny—no Councilperson Jahn—yes Councilperson Maples—yes Councilperson Gill—yes Councilperson Hawkins—yes Councilperson Rodriguez—no Councilperson Owen—yes Final vote PASSES, 6-2 with Councilperson Zastawny and Councilperson Rodriguez voting against. Councilperson Zastawny said he feels as though Council President Owen is very competent he just thinks he serves on a lot of boards to begin with and he is very busy. Councilperson Zastawny—Nothing at this time. Councilperson Maples—Nothing at this time. Councilperson Jahn—Nothing at this time. Councilperson Gill—Councilperson Gill gave a reminder that tomorrow is National Night Out and she also saw that it's National Police Day. We appreciate you guys as well as the great Councilperson who is a County Police Officer(Councilperson Maples). Also in regards to the Redevelopment appointment she too was concerned about how busy Council President Owen was however they discussed it and he will come back to the Council if he begins to get overwhelmed. Councilperson Hawkins—Councilperson Hawkins has been getting fantastic photos from the Fringe Festival that the Council contributed towards. Thank all of you for supporting that. He has been looking into the budget and it is not in the happy place that he would like for it to be. We are going to gain revenue but we are still going to remain flat. We need to keep that in mind as people come forth with requests. Also in regards to the conversation with the nomination for Redevelopment,this is the first time he has heard anyone bring political affiliation in to the conversation with this Council. He would like to hope that nobody has acted in a way that it has been noted that a Democrat or a Republican has sat on a specific board. 6 Councilperson Rodriquez—Just wanted to thank Mr.Jason Jackson, Mr. Kevin Moreland, and the FOP Lodge for their donation to National Night out. If anyone goes to the National Night Out there will be a photo op set up at each location to take a photo with these guys, make sure to take advantage of that. Council President Owen—There will be an updated Council picture taken at 6:30 PM right before our next meeting. Also we need to schedule budget hearings. Dates Decided:August 24th from 6-9:30 PM, August 29'from 6-9:30 PM, September 6th at 5 PM before the Council Meeting,September 7th from 6- 9:30 PM, and September 8th from 6-9:30 PM. Adjournment: Councilperson Gill made a motion to ADJORN at 7:19 PM with Councilperson Samuel seconding. APPROVED BY: I An"i Matt , ATTEST: Vicki Conlin, Clerk 7