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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 20, 2024 Council Minutes COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA May 20,2024 Regular Meeting Minutes The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana met for the Regular Meeting on May 20, 2024. Council President White along with City Clerk Gill called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. The meeting was open to the public in person as well as live streamed via the City Website using Zoom. INVOCATION: Led by Councilperson Burns Pledge of Allegiance: ROLL CALL: The roll call was conducted by City Clerk Lisa Gill and present in Council Chambers were Councilperson Burns, Councilperson Semones, Councilperson Anderson, Councilperson Reed, Council President White, Councilperson Webb, Council Vice President Hawkins, Councilperson Snelling and Councilperson Stoner. Let the record reflect that all 9 Council Members were present in Council Chambers. APROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilperson Semones made a motion to approve the Minutes for May 6, 2024, seconded by Councilperson Burns; motion passed, 9-0. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Councilperson Burns made a motion to approve the Agenda, seconded by Councilperson Reed; motion passed, 9-0. CLAIMS TO APPROVE: Civil City$955,926.19 Mrs. Metcalf advised the Civil City Claims were in the amount of$955,926.19 and there were no changes. Councilperson Burns made a motion to approve the Civil City Claims, seconded by Councilperson Webb; motion passed, 9-0. Parks$70,897.44 Mrs. Metcalf advised the Parks Claims were in the amount of$70,897.44 and there were no changes. Councilperson Semones made a motion to approve the Parks Claims, seconded by Councilperson Burns; motion passed, 9-0. REPORT OF THE CLERK: UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1. Heather Metcalf 2024-OR-31 Cash Change Ordinance Mrs. Metcalf advised there were no changes since last meeting. Councilperson Webb made a motion to approve 2024-OR-31 on the Third and Final Reading, seconded by Councilperson Stoner; motion passed, 9-0. 2. Heather Metcalf 2024-OR-32 (Public Hearing) Ordinance of Additional Appropriation Mrs. Metcalf advised this Ordinance was for the Police Department and there were no changes from last meeting. Council President White opened the Public Hearing at 6:07 PM; no one was present in Council Chambers to comment for or against the matter. Council President White closed the Public Hearing at 6:07 pm. Councilperson Burns made a motion to approve 2024-OR-32 on the Third and Final Reading, seconded by Councilperson Stoner; motion passed, 9-0. NEW BUSINESS: 1. (Donna Reed)-Jeffersonville City Council Youth Advisor Council President White advised that he had been working with Councilperson Reed on Jeffersonville City County Youth Advisor program. According to State Statue, the Council President can make the appointment of a Youth Advisor. In the Council packet, there are a number of documents that include requirements, qualifications and an application. This version is not final,they would like input on this from everyone and then the final version will be drawn up. Councilperson Reed advised one of the biggest responsibility is to mentor the next generation to be responsible and wonderful to take our seats someday. This would give someone the opportunity to sit with the Council for a school year, not a calendar year. They will not have voting rights,the will not be hired, however, a couple of soft commitments have been worked out from a local University. This position will be sponsored with scholarship dollars from local universities,there is a local nonprofit that will be providing a small transportation stipend for the student to make sure that transportation is not an issue. Council President White has the right to appoint someone, however he has agreed to allow other Council Members to be involved is selecting someone to make sure it's transparent and a well-earned position. There is a soft timeline of August 1, 2024 but it can be pushed back a couple of weeks if need be so everyone has an opportunity to review it and students have an opportunity to apply. Council President White asked the Council to look over the documents and email him with any questions. Councilperson Semones advised she's really pleased with the revisions that have been made so far in developing this initiative, it looks great. 2. Larry Wilder 2024-R-7 Resolution Approving& Recommending the Mayor Sign The Amended Contract Agreement Between The City of Jeffersonville and The Jeffersonville Order of Police Lodge#100. Council President White advised this Resolution was for approving and recommending the Mayor to sign the amended contract agreement between the City of Jeffersonville and the Jeffersonville Order of Police Lodge 100. FOP President Anthony Stewart advised they are very happy and appreciate all the hard work and how fast this resolution was brought before Council. With having all the officers here tonight, you can see they all are very proud of the work that the Council and the FOP have done together. They all are excited to get this thing going. Councilperson Reed asked Mr. Stewart to explain how this contract will help the City have a competitive edge when hiring and retaining officers. Mr. Stewart advised one of the first things would be longevity, investing in people that stay with the department. That is a commonplace thing in the industry right now is you generally are trying to pull officers from other departments, so they want to make sure their officers stay with the department. From the national FOP down the messages are that the staffing problem was a retention problem first and then a recruitment problem, so with taking the steps to get longevity right, that helps with the retention of the officers,followed by the schedule change and the financial dollars that the Council put forward. Schedule changes, one of, maybe two that are similar to it in the country that he knows of and he has done a lot of research on it, he thinks Jeffersonville is leading the way in the scheduling, which helps a lot to get the right people here. Councilperson Stoner asked if things have changed as far as moral wise for policing after Covid. Mr. Stewart advised that from 2020 to recent, depending on where you live in the country,that low moral still lingers based on everyone's world has changed. As far as policing, everything went really costly after Covid and not being able to get things done sooner to make the officers more fairly compensated,just because of the way contracts work. It was just a tough few years, but there's a lot of optimism around tonight's meeting. Councilperson Semones asked if the terms that were negotiated were approved by membership. Mr. Stewart advised yes with a 77 to 3 vote out of 87 possible members to vote, 80 took part in the vote, which is very rare to get that kind of support. Councilperson Reed thanked the negotiating committee as well as the FOP expeditiously and with fiscal responsibility. Mr. Stewart thanked the negotiating committee for the flexibility to help get the FOP to where they needed to be, the best agreement was made with what they had to work with. Council Vice President Hawkins thanked the team that worked hard on the contract to not only make it competitive but to set a new standard for law enforcement. Thanks to Mr. Stewart for an absolute professional job, it was a challenge. Thanks to the FOP representation. Council President White read a statement in regards to the FOP Contract (See attached). Council President White moved to approve 2024-R-7, seconded by Councilperson Semones; motion passed, 9-0. 3. Heather Metcalf 2024-OR-33 Ordinance of Additional Appropriation Mrs. Metcalf advised this Ordinance was to re-appropriate an insurance reimbursement for the Building Commission. Council Vice President Hawkins made a motion to approve 2024-OR-33 on the First and Second Reading, seconded by Councilperson Webb; motion passed, 9-0. ATTORNEY COMMENTS: Larry Wilder-Absent Les Merkley-Absent DEPARTMENT HEADS: JPD Detective Todd Hollis-Detective Hollis, on behalf of JPD Chief Kavanaugh expressed his appreciation for the support the Council has shown the agency during negotiations. He has a very positive attitude towards how this contract will give the ability not only to hire, but retain law enforcement officers in the future. JPD Detective Hollis advised he had the privilege of attending Southern Police Institute's an OC class with other officers, command staff from all over the country. All agencies are in the same situation to where hiring and retention is at the forefront. Chief Kavanaugh believes with this contract, it will help Jeffersonville come out to the forefront, be able to hire and retain great officers. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Missy Smith-Jeffersonville Ms. Smith advised she would like to speak about the Juneteenth event that her and her partner spoke about at the last Council Meeting. This event will be held on September 14, 2024 on Michigan Street in Jeffersonville. Last year's event was incredible. One experience from last year was a gentleman came up and advised he was so thankful that his City had put on an event like this for him. Ms. Smith advised him that the City did not put this event on, but she was glad that he was there. She would like to be able to say to all of the attendees that the City does support this event. She is excited to have the opportunity to celebrate the history of Black Jeffersonville and celebrate the entrepreneurs and artist in the community. She had discussed the budget with Councilperson Stoner and any support from the Council would be helpful. Councilperson Stoner asked if the UEZ supported the event last year. Ms. Smith advised yes they did, but when the Council was approached,they did not. Councilperson Reed asked if the UEZ was supporting this year. Ms. Smith advised yes,the same amount as last year. Council President White advised the UEZ has a quorum next week, it is likely they will contribute a $250.00 sponsorship. Councilperson Stoner asked Ms. Smith to explain what she meant by supporting health and safety and what kind of vendors will be there. Ms. Smith advised that the first half of the day will be focused on family and children. There will be bouncy houses, Fire Department bringing a truck for the kids to roam, Norton's will be bringing free safety items including bike helmets, safety locks, etc. They are also seeking vendors for face painting and chalk art. Local artist will be there reading their books and the library will be there to read books throughout the day. Councilperson Reed asked if the vendor's that set up pay a fee. Ms. Smith advised yes, a small fee. Councilperson Stoner advised that the Council may not have supported this last year, however, the City did in multiple ways. Ms. Smith agreed. Councilperson Semones asked that Ms. Smith explain what the artist stipend is. Ms. Smith advised there will be an entire arts display, a museum style exhibit inside the art canter and all of the artist are coming for free. There are many other artist that would like to come, however they cannot give up another opportunity to get paid to come here for free. It would be nice to be able to offer a stipend for them to attend an all-day event. Councilperson Semones asked how much the stipend would be. Ms. Smith advised the Visual Arts would be $1,200.00 and the Performing Arts would be $1,800.00. Councilperson Webb asked how many other sponsors have been acquired. Ms. Smith advised 7 for a total of$5,750.00 which is not enough to cover everything. Donations are still being sought out. With the bouncy houses, the same vendor is being used, so they gave a great deal on a second bouncy. Councilperson Burns asked if the Depot was not available this year. Ms. Smith advised the rental on the Depot went from $500.00 a day to$4,000.00 a day, which clearly pushed them out of their budget. Councilperson Stoner asked Ms. Smith to explain a little bit about the historical significance of that area. Ms. Smith advised the area where the Depot is, was the historically black Jeffersonville, also Jeffersonville Black High School across the street on Spring Street. There were a lot of elder people that attended and talked about old days in that school. Councilperson Reed advised that the City has supported Juneteenth in the past and plans on supporting it this year. Councilperson Reed advised that she volunteered in the Art tent last year.There was a lot of support by law enforcement last year also. Councilperson Semones advised that the original request to support this event was$5,000.00. Councilperson Semones made a motion to put forth $3,000.00 toward the Art Stipend for the Juneteenth festivities that will be hosted by F5 Enterprises, LLC seconded by Councilperson Snelling. Councilperson Stoner advised those funds should come from the Riverboat, Special Project fund. Roll call: Councilperson Burns: No Councilperson Semones: Yes Councilperson Anderson: Yes Councilperson Reed: Yes Council President White: No Councilperson Webb: No Council Vice President Hawkins: No Councilperson Snelling: Yes Councilperson Stoner: Yes; motion passed, 5-4. Anthony Stewart-FOP President advised that the FOP members present in Council Chambers will be making a $500.00 donation to the Juneteenth Block Party. COUNCIL COMMENTS: • Councilperson Burns—No Comment • Councilperson Semones—Sitting on the negotiating committee has given her a real eye opener to how the City and the Police work together and how the City supports the community. Thanks to you all. • Councilperson Anderson—No Comment • Councilperson Reed—Thanks to everyone for their support in creating Youth Mentorship, she has enjoyed helping with that. • Councilperson Webb—Thanks to the Police Department for their service and dedication to the City of Jeff, also to the Fire Department. • Council Vice President Hawkins—No Comment • Councilperson Snelling—He is overwhelmed with the support of the Fire and Police Departments,the City workers, staff and directors. It is amazing how Jeffersonville operates and he appreciates all of it. DISCLAIMER: These minutes are a summary of actions taken at the Jeffersonville City Council meetings. The full video archive of the meeting is available for viewing at www.cityofjeff.net for as long as this media is supported. APROVED BY: it)1 V W) Dustin White,Council President ATTEST: isa Gill,Clerk FOP Contract Statement by Council President Dustin T. White, Esq. I first want to thank the Negotiation Committee, Jacky Snelling,Amy Semones and Scott Hawkins for their hard work over the past two months. Back in March, when we were approached by FOP#100 President Anthony Stewart, we were not sure where discussions would go. After hearing the needs of our Police Department and the difficulty they've had in attracting and recruiting higher quality candidates due to base pay, the Negotiation Committee decided to act. Each member poured over various financial scenarios, reviewed budgetary documents and weighed the pros and cons of what we have before us today. We contemplated the fiscal sustainability of the numbers and realized that, to do what is necessary, we have to think differently. Let go of the status quo and find new ways of moving forward. This contract is what change looks like. Change is hard but to remain the best, change is required. The people of this great City expect us to lead. They expect the Jeffersonville Police Department to protect them. For these two things to continue in a safe and professional manner, we must take bold decisions to ensure we continue to have the best staffed, trained and equipped police department in Southern Indiana. But it is also incumbent upon us to compensate our officers with a wage that reflects their excellence, and to allow for a retirement that rewards them for risking their lives, in order to protect ours. We are Jeffersonville, the Clark County Seat of Government, and being so means we must act as an industry leader. It is us who ought to set the example. Other municipalities ought to look toward us for examples of how to govern. It is what leadership demands, and this contract is what leadership requires. With the signing of this contract, police officers of the Jeffersonville Police Department will have the #1 retirement in the State of Indiana, base pay of$66,000, and a 32-hour per week work schedule. But this is not enough. The work continues and as we negotiate a new four-year contract, we must be mindful of what it takes to be a police department that implements 21s' Century policing. We must do what it takes to attract the best, if we want to remain the best. Again, thank you to the Negotiation Committee for your hard work and with that, I move to approve 2024-R- .