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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 3, 2013COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA June 3rd, 2013 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 June 3rd. 2013. Council President Connie Sellers, with Vicki Conlin, City Clerk, called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm. President Seller asked those in attendance to stand as Bobby Campbell gave the invocation. Council President Sellers then led all those present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The roll call and those present were: Councilperson Smith, Councilperson Gill, Councilperson Zastawny, Councilperson Samuel, Council President Sellers, Councilperson Vice President Julius, Councilperson Glover and Councilperson Owen. Absent: Councilperson Payne APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Councilperson Julius made a motion to APPROVE the agenda with the addition of David Hosea under Department Heads. Councilperson Smith seconded, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. MINUTES TO BE APPROVED: Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE the minutes from May 20th, 2013 with the change of the vote under claims from 9-1 to 7-1-1. Councilperson Julius seconded, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. CLAIMS TO BE APPROVED: General Claims: Mrs. Deering presented the general claims list. Councilperson Smith requested the removal of pro -tem judge under probation. Mr. Lewis stated it is listed as services for court and PUF funds can only be used to supplement probation salaries. Councilperson Gill stated they need to pull the $13,309 from LOIT claims for police headquarters and have that billed to Redevelopment per Mr. Merkley. Councilperson Samuel questioned the bridge security and the transfer of funds of $100,000 on p. 5. Mrs. Deering stated that the transfer is for gasoline and it goes into the non -reverting fund for vehicle maintenance. Councilperson Smith stated he would like to review the Pro Media contracts because the monthly service looks to be a lot on page 7 of the claims. Mrs. Deering stated this claim is for 2 months. Councilperson Smith expressed frustration over projects being listed on the Facebook page, but not getting any notice when it is in his district. The Council decided that they had time to wait until next time to approve the claim since they stated that the amount shouldn't be coming from that fund. Councilperson Zastawny made a motion to APPROVE the general claims list with the removal of the info tech claim for 1,200, the newsletter from Pro media in the amount of $11,087.68, the monthly service for May in the amount of 9,600, the police station from LOIT in the amount of $13,309.26 and the pro tem judge from probation in the amount of $8,493. The new amount is $931,919.66 with Councilperson Gill seconding, PASSING on a vote of 6-2 with Councilperson Glover and Owen voting nay. Parks Claims: Mrs. Deering presented the parks claims in the amount of $169,853.62 for council approval. Councilperson Zastawny made a motion to APPROVE the claims as presented with Councilperson Gill seconding PASSING on a vote of 8-0. REPORT OF THE CLERK: DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS: 1 Andy Crouch- Salary Request for Drainage Coordinator to be paid out of Drainage Department: Mr. Crouch came before the Council asking for approval to offer his new employee above minimum of $18 by offering $20 per hour. This would still leave the employee below the mid-range. Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE the pay offer with Councilperson Gill seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. David Hosea- Mr. Hosea came before the council asking approval to buy a new tractor. He stated that his tractor caught on fire and is a loss. He stated he may be able to salvage it for 2,000-5,000. This new tractor will have a longer arm that increases the swing out to 20 feet and will have all wheel drive. Mr. Hosea stated the money is no longer in his budget because of the cuts. Councilperson Smith made a motion to APPROVE the purchase not to exceed $80,000 subject to additional appropriation and advertising. Councilperson Gill seconded the motion, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1. Scott Lewis — 2013 -OR -8 Ordinance Implementing a Temporary Freeze of the Use of City - Issued Credit Cards (Tabled 5/6/13 & 5/20/13): Mr. Lewis made a motion to table to allow the working group on this item to meet one more time. Councilperson Smith made a motion to TABLE with Councilperson Julius seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. 2. Kim Calabro — 2013 -OR -12 An Ordinance Fixing the Salaries of Appointed Officers and Employees For All the Departments of the City of Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana for the Year 2013 and Repealing Ordinance 2013 -OR -2 and Ordinance 2012 -OR -49. (Passed on 1st reading 5/20/13): Mrs. Calabro handed out a new version of 2013 -OR -12 that she stated should contain all the changes from the last meeting. Mrs. Calabro presented the changes that were sections 2.A. that lists the percentages and that should be just 1.5% and 1.4%. The other change is 2.H. where it should state $50 and not $505. The other change was adding the words "subject to contract" under the longevity section. Mr. Lewis stated that the section 2.A. is still not correct. Mrs. Calabro stated she would get with him to fix that error. Councilperson Gill stated that the part time person under court non -reverting needs to be removed because it is her understanding that that particular employee cannot be paid out of that fund. Mr. Lewis reiterated that the pay for that particular part time person cannot be paid out that fund unless they are directly involved in the alcohol education program. Mr. Lewis stated his understanding was that this position is a part time clerical position to aid the court. Councilperson Glover asked the Judge if he would like to speak on this matter since that part time employee is in his department. Judge Pierce came before the Council expressing his disappointment with what he stated was a lack of communication between him and the Council. Judge Pierce stated the position was created for high school/college kids to help out in the court with some filing and stated he can modify it so that the position works through the alcohol education program and take some work off of the probation officers. Councilperson Gill stated that they did not know this position was being filled and they are just trying to get the position to be paid out of where it needs to be paid out of. Councilperson Gill stated that they are just trying to pay it from the right fun, not eliminate the position. Mr. Lewis reiterated that SBOA had an audit of Circuit Court #3 that stated the non -reverting fund can only be used for employees in the Alcohol Education Program and the council is merely trying to be sure they are paying things out of the correct funds. Councilperson Owen asked how much was spent last year. Judge Pierce stated there wasn't much spent last year if any. Council President Sellers stated she is not opposed to having the part time employee, as long as it is coming out of the right fund. Council President Sellers asked if he can let them know how much was used in the past so they have a general idea of how much to appropriate from the general fund. Judge Pierce stated he can probably figure it out so that it doesn't come out of the general fund, yet does come out of an appropriate fund. Judge Pierce stated he can have the employee working with alcohol 2 awareness stuff and have the probation staff doing Tess work with that program. Council President Sellers just asked for him to let them know and send out an email of how much it has been in the past. Judge Pierce stated if he can keep it coming from the non -reverting fund then he isn't sure that the amount matters. Council President Sellers stated only if it is possible to keep that in the non -reverting fund. Mr. Lewis stated that person has to be working exclusively with the alcohol education program. Judge Pierce stated he understood. The Council decided to leave the part time person until next meeting. Mr. Lewis stated there was another change involving the salary of the court reporter/baliff being paid out of PUF. Council President Sellers stated she was going to bring it up with Amy since 51% of their salary needs to come from the general fund and it will need to be an additional appropriation. Council President Sellers stated that the Court Reporter/ Baliff will need to be additionally appropriated to come out of general fund instead of PUF. Judge Pierce stated that he believes she does 11% of probation services making it okay to take 11% of her salary from PUF. Council President Sellers stated that the council attorney is telling them it isn't legal and they need to listen to their attorney; however the position will not lose any pay it will only just come from the general fund. Judge Pierce stated this has never been a problem in the past four years. Councilperson Gill stated she is not going to pass something when there is any chance it is being funded inappropriately. Councilperson Julius made a motion to APPROVE 2013 -OR -12 on a second reading with the changes of section 2.A. taking out the word "of" to make it "1.4 and 1.5 times base pay", section 2.H. changing $505 to $50, adding the wording of "subject to union contract" under the longevity section, and removing the baliff/court reporter from being paid out of probation fees to the general fund under city court. Councilperson Zastawny seconded the motion, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. NEW BUSINESS 1.Dennis Julius — City Pride and Indiana Landmarks regarding Glossbrenner Garden: Councilperson Julius introduced Peggy Duffy with City Pride to speak about Glossbrenner Garden at the corner of Spring and Chestnut. Ms. Duff stated that City Pride has been maintaining it since 2005 and typically the money used is raised at River Breeze. Ms. Duffy stated that this morning thirteen employees and 6 kids from Steel Dynamics planted 300 bulbs. Currently Historic Landmarks has ownership of the garden and Mr. Lowe was working on transferring the ownership back to the City, but he is no longer with the City. Mr. Merkley stated he can prepare the deed if the council wants to go forward with transferring the property to the city. Ms. Duffy stated that they want to make sure the garden has the same protections that Historic Landmarks have had on it. Ms. Duffy stated that City Pride will 100% take care of the garden. Councilperson Julius stated that if it is just deeded to the city then it will not fall into the Parks Department responsibility. Mr. Merkley stated he will do this as a resolution for BPW if the council desires. Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE support of Mr. Merkley working with Historic Landmarks and City Pride to transfer the deed to over to the City through a resolution at BPW. Councilperson Samuel seconded the motion, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. 2.Dennis Julius — Safety Town: Councilperson Julius asked for council approval to allow officer Decker to buy a 4 way signal for $1,299 as well as a few other things from their fund. Councilperson Julius stated Officer Decker couldn't be here so Councilperson Julius is presenting this for him. Councilperson Julius made a motion to APPROVE the additional appropriation of $3,433.32 subject to advertising to go towards safety town. Councilperson Smith seconded, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. 3.Dennis Julius — South Side Road, Veterans Parkway: Councilperson Julius stated that on one of the lists of the mayor's project is the south side road that runs by Southeast Christian Church up 3 behind the old Beef o Brady's. Councilperson Julius asked the council how they feel about approving this project. Council President Sellers stated she has other projects she wanted to talk about in her comments at the end and can bring it up for approval then. 4. Josh Rodriquez- JNLA National Night Out: Mr. Rodriguez addressed the council regarding funding for this year's National Night Out that is scheduled for August 6th, 2013. Mr. Rodriguez stated he is requesting the same amount as last year which is $6,000. Mr. Rodriguez stated he has received a private donation of $2500 so he believes the $6,000 will suffice for this year. They are currently in the process for tax exempt status and hope that once that is granted they will be able to raise the money to cover the costs next year. Mr. Rodriguez stated he also applied for a grant and if it is not awarded in time for this year that he will apply it to next year. Councilperson Julius made a motion to APPROVE $6,000 out of gaming for national night out subject to additional appropriation and advertising. Councilperson Smith seconded the motion, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. 5. Matt Gullo - Animal Shelter Sign: Mr. Gullo from Kovert Hawkins came before the council for approval of a new animal shelter sign that will work with the current ordinance. Mr. Gullo stated that they will still need to get building permits. The price estimate is $14,000 including labor and material with the exact location to be determined in the field. Mrs. Deering stated the money is there and gaming is a good option. Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE to advertise for the additional appropriation to come out of gaming for the animal shelter sign. Councilperson smith seconded, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. 6. Kelly Phillips — 2013-R-16 Resolution Finding Substantial Compliance with Statement of Benefits for Tax Abatement for 2013: Ms. Phillips came before the council requesting approval of a resolution for the 2013 tax abatements report. Councilperson Samuel made a motion to APPROVE 2013-R-16 with Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. 7.Amy Deering- 2013 -OR -15 An Ordinance Amending Ordinance 2012 -OR -48 Ordinance of Additional Appropriation: Mrs. Deering came before the council requesting to table this ordinance to include all the other advertisements needed from tonight. Mr. Merkley stated the next meeting he will have resolution with these and all one needing advertisement from tonight. Council President Sellers stated that the city will pay 51% for the probation officers and the difference of that change will need to appropriated and advertised. Councilperson Owen made a motion to TABLE 2013 -OR -15 with Councilperson Julius seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. PUBLIC COMMENT None COUNCIL COMMENT Councilperson Smith: briefly read a letter that is attached to these minutes regarding the marina. Councilperson Smith expressed his concerns about the comments made about the council at a press conference and stated they are taken out of context. Councilperson Smith stated he believed everything she mentioned in the letter is true. Councilperson Smith stated he believes the council wants to get on board with this project but there are a lot of questions needing to be answered. Councilperson Zastawny: none Councilperson Gill: attended a listen and learn session with the lieutenant governor for elected officials and found it to be very helpful and very well received. Thanked the Lieutenant Governor for that. Also thanked the community for raising $32,000 for the Crusade over the weekend. Councilperson Glover: Thanked Ms. Hilton from the last meeting and the effort she put into getting the temporary sign made for the animal shelter. 4 Council President Sellers: stated she didn't know about the press conference either and does support the marina, however there are so many unknowns. Council President Sellers asked Mr. Lewis to work on a resolution for the council to go ahead and approve Alison -Brooke Park because the mayor chose to remove the pond, south side road, and 10th street widening up until 2016 in hopes of more KIPDA funding in the future. Council President Sellers also asked that the resolution includes that the plans need to go before redevelopment especially in regards to the police station. Council President Sellers also requested a resolution come to the Council at the next meeting in regards to how much they want to fund from LOIT towards the police station. Councilperson Julius: Clarified a few things about an article in the paper regarding the boat docks downtown and needing the Council support. Councilperson Julius clarified that when something is proposed to the council, it is the council's job to run the numbers, make sure it is fiscally possible, and talk to the constituents. Councilperson Julius stated he feels the council does a great job of due diligence regarding any projects presented to them for support. Councilperson Owen: none Councilperson Samuel: none Councilperson Smith made a motion to ADJOURN at 9:01 P.M. with Councilperson Julius seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. Connie Sellers, President ATTESTED BY: dtCL 11 - Vicki Conlin, City Clerk 5