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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-22-2009.~ ~~ • MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA APRIL 22, 2009 In.Mayor Galligan's absence Engineer Miller called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. and on call of the roll those members present were: City Attorney Wilder sitting in for Engineer Miller and Councilperson Wilson. Also present, were:. Vehicle Maintenance Director Drury, Building Commissioner Segraves, Animal Shelter Director Wilder, Assistant Fire Chief Lee, Parks Director Manor, Police Chief Deeringer, Redevelopment Director Robinson, Personnel Director Calabro, Executive Assistant Young, IT Director Hardy, City Attorney Wilder, Safety Director Mongarella, Growth Coordinator Lovan, Street Commissioner Hosea, and Communications Director Thomas, and Deputy Clerk Mayfield. Councilperson Wilson made the motion to approve the payroll, seconded by Engineer Miller and carried • unanimously. Councilperson Wilson made the motion to approve the minutes of 4-15-09 as presented and seconded by Engineer Miller and carried unanimously. PUBLIC REMONSTRANCE Attorney Wilder asked that the agenda be amended to include the public remonstrance involving the River Ridge Commerce Center formerly the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant. Councilperson Wilson made the motion to approve the addition of this item to the agenda, and seconded by Attorney Wilder. Attorney Wilder stated for the record that this hearing was published two times (April 5, 2009 and April 12, 2009) in accordance with Indiana Statute and not less than ten days prior to the hearing as required. .Proof of publication was turned over to the Clerk Treasurer's office. John Woodard representing Wastewater One LLC appeared to remonstrate the Resolution before the Board and with him was Mr. John Hughes who is executive Vice President of Hughes Group Inc. which owns Wastewater One LLC. Mr. Woodard asked Attorney Wilder that the affidavit of publication of notice be included in the minutes of this meeting. In addition he submitted to the Board a written remonstrance of Wastewater One LLC and asked that it be made a part of the minutes. He stated key facts as to why they are opposed to this resolution. He said there is an entity called the Clark County Regional Water and Sewer District which was established on December 8, 1999 by an order of the • Indiana Department of Environmental Management and that order is an attachment to the remonstrance that is being made today. That order gives that regional sewer district jurisdictional authority over the s • water and sewers out at the River Ridge Commerce Center. Because of that the City does not have legal authority over water and sewers out there even though the City has purported to annex that property after the district was established. Because that district was there first and providing services out there .the city does not have legal authority to control sanitary sewer service at River Ridge and because of that it doesn't have authority to make findings of public utility and need to condemn the sewers out there or the authority to condemn the sewer property. That authority is in the district and the district has not seeded that authority to the city. There is an Indiana case that speaks directly to this point called The City of North Vernon versus The Jennings Northwest Regional Utilities. In that case the Court said where there is an overlap between the service area of a regional district and the service area of a municipality the district prevails unless the municipality was already providing services to the area at the time the district service area was created. The city was not out at River Ridge providing any services before that district was created and therefore under this case it is clear that the city did not have jurisdiction and authority under the sewers there. The second major point is that some of the property that the city purports to condemn in the resolution is owned by the United States Army. The Army has legislative jurisdiction over the property it owns and there has been no retrocession of that jurisdiction and because of that the .Army hasn't consented to this and you can't come and take Army property by condemnation. proceedings unless the Army says you can and they haven't said you can. That makes this condemnation illegal. The Army hasn't consented to the taking, hasn't consented to the annexation of the property and because of that the city doesn't have the authority to proceed. The next point is that the city hasn't complied with the requirements of the condemnation statute that you are purporting to proceed under. The appraisal that the city has attached to the resolution has a number of problems. The property the city' intends to take hasn't been accurately described and is practically unintelligible. In • addition, the appraisal by Mr. Mills grossly undervalues the property. It states that it is a sales comparison appraisal but there are absolutely no sales comparisons included in the report. It is premised on a legal opinion and Mr. Mills is not an attorney and therefore not qualified to render a legal opinion. It ignores the numerous substantial repairs and improvements that have been made to this property since 1999. It has a 15% economic functional obsolescence discount that there is no explanation for and it assigns a zero dollar value for damages to the properties that are going to be affected by the city's taking. What the resolution proposes is to take the lap plant out at River Ridge and that plant is part of an integrated system that serves a large area out there and you can't just take a portion of it. For all of the above stated reasons they object to the resolution and ask that it be rescinded. His client believes there is a way to resolve all of this and would like to resolve it. This could all result in a lawsuit if not resolved. Attorney Greg Fifer representing the Board of Commissioners of Clark County and their Regional Water -and Sewer District that this is also a formal remonstrance as required by the statute as he understands it pursuant to the process that has been undertaken. There are seven numbered objections in Attorney Fifer's cover letter and they incorporate the same arguments with respect to the existence of the district, its exclusive right to serve within the boundaries of the district and the Indiana Supreme Court case that Mr. Woodard also referenced. He points out the remainder of page two of the letter that states that the above objection having been stated we too believe that this should be a solvable issue. The Commissioners primary concern is that the city is only proposing to take the south end sanitary sewer facilities or a part of those and he is unsure if uninterrupted service would be continued to all of the existing tenants out on the south end let alone service on the north end both of which are active today under a permit issued by IDEM. This important issue has to be addressed that Reuse Authority continues to be able to fulfill its mission on an uninterrupted basis by being able to say that there is going to be reliable sewer service. The worst thing that could happen is that we repeat what this • community did a few years back with respect to the water wells and trigger a three year court battle where it is said that sanitary sewer service can be provided and pay no attention to all of the court filings. Attorney Fifer said we must find a way to do this. His letter concludes by saying that provided the City, the Reuse Authority and the District can sit down starting within the next ten days and resolve these issues which are. fixable then the public will be well served. In the absence of starting discussions within ten days or the City moving forward with the taking without addressing these issues then the Board of Commissioners would stand on its objections and initiate discussions among the District, the Reuse Authority, and the private contractor with the intent of executing a more definitive agreement for the provision of wastewater treatment service by the private contractor within RRCC. The Commissioners and the District will defer any such discussion in the event the City suspends its current efforts to take property within the District pending joint settlement discussions with the District and the Reuse Authority. The Clerk Treasurers office was given a copy of the Clark County Commissioner's remonstrance. Attorney Lisa hatriek representing the Army Corp of Engineers spoke on behalf of the Army. When notice- was received she did some- investigation and has confirmed that part of the property intended for condemnation is in fact property of the .government. and they object to that. Also there is an issue with there being a quantity distance arc which part of the sewer -plant is currently under that arc and they do not consent to. - - Attorney Jim Williams representing River Ridge Development entered in his appearance for the record and that they received notice of-the condemnation. He stated that they as well would like to get this • worked out as quickly as possible. Councilperson Wilson made the motion to close the discussion;. seconded by Engineer Miller.. Engineer Miller made the motion to table any action until next week, and seconded by Councilperson Wilson. PERMANENT PARKING SIGNS Janice Sinkhorn requested some additional 2 hour parking signs on Spring Street. Street Commissioner Hosea will check the location. HANCICAPPED PARKING SIGN/423 E. MARKET STREET Alice Eddy requested a handicapped parking sign in front of her residence. She has a handicapped child. The police department will check the location. Councilperson Wilson made the motion to approve the sign pending police approval, seconded by Engineer Miller and carried unanimously. OVERLOOK FOOD BOOTH FOR STEAMBOAT RACE Dan Christiansen of Franklin Commons requested permission to have a food booth at the Overlook during the Steamboat Race from 4:30 to 7:30 pm. He still needs to get his permit from the Health Department. Councilperson Wilson made the motion to approve the request, seconded by Engineer Miller and carried unanimously. • i ,~. • There being no further discussion to come before the Board, Councilperson Wilson made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:05 a.m:, seconded by City Engineer Miller and carried unanimously. ti AYOR AT T: ~' - CLER ASURER L~