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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 13, 2025 Council Minutes of Public Meeting on Establishment of Fire Protection Territory COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA March 13,2025 Public Meeting on Establishment of Fire Protection Territory The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana met for a Public Meeting for Establishment of Fire Protection Territory on March 13, 2025.Jeffersonville City Council President Stoner along with City Clerk Gill called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.The meeting was open to the public, in person, as well as live streamed via the City Website using Zoom. CALL TO ORDER The roll call for the Jeffersonville City Council was conducted by City Clerk Lisa Gill and present in Council Chambers were Councilperson White, Council Vice President Burns, Councilperson Semones, Council President Stoner, Councilperson Reed, Councilperson Webb, and Councilperson Snelling. 7 Council Members were present in Council Chambers and 2 were absent from the proceedings. Councilperson Anderson and Councilperson Hawkins were absent from the proceedings. DISCUSSION: Council President Stoner stated the intention of this meeting was to discuss the establishment of a fire protection territory. He is disappointed in the decision by the Clark County Commissioners to remove the Utica Township Fire Protection District Board the day before their critical vote on the proposed Jeffersonville Utica Fire Territory. This plan was the result of diligent work and thoughtful collaboration aimed at ensuring that the residents received the best fire emergency services possible. Council President Stoner expressed his gratitude to the first responder and the Fire Department Administration Team-Chief Grant, Deputy Chief Sharp, and Administrative Assistant Anne Langley for the tireless dedication to public safety. Council President Stoner thanked attorneys Larry Wilder and Les Merkley for their expertise and dedication and recognized Joe Jarles, Randy Leveret, and Kelly Khuri for their steadfast efforts in exposing and addressing the issues that led to the situation in Utica regarding fire coverage as well as the broader challenges everyone shares in ensuring adequate EMS coverage for Jeffersonville and Clark County. Their work has been instrumental in advocating for integrity and accountability in this process. Also thank you to Councilperson Dustin White for spearheading this initiative to build a plan that would've provided long-term solutions for our community's fire and EMS needs. While this decision is a setback, Councilperson Stoner stated he remained hopeful that the River Ridge Representatives, Mayors,Town Managers,Superintendents, County Commissioners, and County Council Members that engaged in the meetings stay true to their word and are ready and willing to engage in meaningful dialogue and action planning to solve fire coverage gaps and address the long- term sustainability of EMS services. They must continue to work together across city, county, and township lines to ensure that public safety remains the highest priority. He looks forward to finding a path forward that serves the best interest of all of their residents. Councilperson Semones said this was a very hard decision. She has supported exploring the idea of a fire territory since she learned about it last year, but it wasn't until the numbers came out in January that they were able to understand the actual impacts countywide of this new levy. If she based her decision solely on what is best for the city of Jeffersonville, then it's a no-brainer. She would have to vote yes to the creation of the fire territory. During the public hearings they had to consider the impact of the fire territory on the rest of the county. They learned about the potential impacts on the schools, trustees, and neighboring towns. They heard the calls to reduce the fire territory budget to exclude EMS services, to phase in budgetary changes over a longer time, and to seek other funding sources, including by continuing the dialogue with River ridge. She has suggested that they may need to consider instituting a new public safety tax if they want to expand city services. Councilperson Semones said she has tried to consider all options and all perspectives because her constituents have an interest not only in city services, but also in the health of the local schools, and their connections throughout the Clark County communities. Public safety is a priority. First responders are heroes. They rescue us when we have a health crisis or a house fire.They have to be able to protect their citizens, as well as visitors, and all the new residents. The experts in Jeff,those with the subject matter expertise and the historical knowledge,firmly agree that creation of fire territory with EMS is great for the city and she believed it would have a stabilizing effect on the county amid their current crisis. Councilperson Semones said she believes, despite the adverse financial impact, that the creation of fire territory would be for the betterment of the entire community. However in her opinion proceeding forward when the legitimacy of the board of trustees is in question seems to be an imprudent move, which will certainly land the City Council in litigation. The proposed creation of the fire territory was already controversial, with many of the impacted neighbors requesting that they take more time to develop a plan, look at all options and include all stakeholders.This move by the commissioners, whether they legally justified or politically motivated, will force them to do just that. At this juncture she is in favor of taking a step back to make sure that they have firm footing on the path forward. Even if this is the right thing to do, it doesn't feel like the right way to do it. Councilperson Semones said she would rather have it delayed by year and done right. Councilperson Reed said when she looks at District Five she knows that people have died in that district. People have died because they did not have EMS service. Councilperson Reed thanked the Fire Board for the services that have done in peeling back the layers of everything that went wrong that put them in this positon. She is sorry for what happened to them last night,they did not deserve that. She hopes that if any good comes from this it is everybody comes together and realizes that Utica didn't do this to themselves. She is very grateful that the Jeffersonville Fire Department has gone out and taken care of them but that's not a long term solution. It's a band aid right now but something has to be done. She hopes they can find a solution and do it quickly because they can say this fire territory was rushed but when she looks at the people who died more than a year ago, it wasn't rushed quick enough for them. Councilperson Snelling said he grew up in Utica and worries about who is going to provide the fire protection on January 1, 2026 because if this fire territory didn't go in they were not going to have fire protection. Who is going to go get on a fire truck and sit in Utica to put out a fire. Councilperson Snelling asked about their homeowners insurance and how it will be impacted on January 1, 2026. He is passionate about this. Councilperson White thanked everyone on the Council for the work they put in and understanding what this fire territory means not only to the City of Jeffersonville but also to the Utica Township and Clark County. Councilperson White thanked Mr.Jarles, Mr. Leveret, and Ms. Khuri for their diligence and all they have done since they were appointed. He would like to make it clear that Mr.Jarles, Mr. Leveret, and Ms. Khuri were not on the board when all of the controversy happened, they were appointed to the board last year. These individuals have done everything they can to identify what has been stolen, tracking down, the money, and making sure that Utica Township and the town of Utica has fire protection. They worked hard in partnership with the City to make sure this fire territory got to where it is today. He commends them for working hard to ensure that the citizens are safe. They have had four if not 8 different EMS services in Clark County over the past two decades. Having a Fire based EMS service will create stability and then it could even grow in working with other fire territories in the Council and provide a local, stable MES system for all of Clark County. This is big because it provides a complete service for the residents that they govern. He appreciates the politicians that came and talked about the money they would not receive but he also wants the public to know that there's a 3% minimum increase that each of those units would receive in each additional budget. It wouldn't' be that they would receive less money next year than they received this year. They would still receive additional funds next year just not as much. Jeffersonville accounts for 42%of the population of Clark County yet they only received 33%of local income tax. Those are funds that Jeffersonville taxpayers are paying and not receiving the benefit of those payments. What the commissioners did last night he still hasn't seen confirmation of whether or not it was appropriately advertised. There is a case Fox V. Green which talks about how when there are terms of appointments that are prescribed by law once someone is appointed they cannot just be arbitrarily removed. He thinks that case will be important and he hopes Mr. Leveret, Mr.Jarles, and Ms. Khuri take legal action. What happened to them is unfair and disrespectful. Councilperson White said he believes that when you do something big in government then you are probably going to have to go to court to defend it. He would like to leave open the possibility of establishing this territory should the Fire Protection Board members prove to be successful before the April 1, 2025 deadline. Council President Stoner asked Mr. Wilder his opinion. Mr. Wilder said the deadline is April 1, 2025 which means that between now and then if there's action taken by the individuals who were removed by getting an emergency order for a hearing and seeking a judge's determination as to whether or not the removal was appropriate and are granted a judicial order that legitimizes the board appointment they can have a meeting before April 1st to move forward. Mr. Wilder advised in his professional opinion nothing needs to be done today. ADJOURNMENT: Council Vice President Burns made the motion to ADJOURN the meeting at 4:31 p.m. 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. APP ED BY: Evan Stoner, Council President ATTEST: Lisa Gill,Clerk