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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 18, 2014COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA February 18, 2014 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 Tuesday, February 18, 2014. Council President Julius, with Vicki Conlin, City Clerk, called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. President Julius asked those in attendance to stand as Mr. Bobby Campbell gave the Invocation. President Julius then led all those present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The roll call and those present were: Councilperson Smith, Councilperson Zastawny, Councilperson Payne, Councilperson Sellers, Councilperson Gill, Councilperson Glover, President Julius, and Councilperson Owen. Absent was Councilperson Samuel. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE the agenda with Councilperson Sellers seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. MINUTES TO BE APPROVED: Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE the minutes from the February 3, 2014, regular Council meeting with Councilperson Glover seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. CLAIMS TO BE APPROVED: General Claims: Controller Amy Deering presented the General Claims list in the amount of $477,643.43 for approval. Councilperson Smith questioned two lunches charged under the Mayor's General Fund. Councilperson Sellers explained that one expenditure was a lunch meeting with a contractor and the other was a lunch meeting with a developer and there were receipts that corroborated these expenses. Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE the General Claims list with Councilperson Sellers seconding, PASSING on a vote of 7-0-1 with President Julius abstaining. REPORT OF THE CLERK: None at this time DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORT: 1. Bubby Vissing, Vehicle Maintenance: Mr. Vissing requested the board approve switching $12,000 in overtime from the Sanitation account to Vehicle Maintenance. Councilperson Gill explained that this was discussed in the Finance Meeting and it is simply moving the overtime over to where it should have always been. Ms. Deering advised that this appropriation request is included in the ordinance of additional appropriation in today's agenda under New Business. President Julius stated that they would vote on this all at once. 2. Chris Grimm, Jeffersonville Police Chief: Chief Grimm made a request for additional funds on GL numbers for utilities during the months the Police Department will be in the new building. Chief Grimm stated that the additional amounts requested are a guesstimate and are based on the Fire Department Headquarters utilities. The new building is going to have geothermal energy so 1 they are hoping that will lower their utility costs. Councilperson Gill asked Chief Grimm why he was making this request so early and he stated that he was advised to do so by the contractor. Chief Grimm stated that the numbers can be adjusted once they get into the new building and see how much the utilities cost. President Julius asked Chief Grimm when the new Police Headquarters will be complete and he stated June 1, 2014, and the facility has to be completed by August 1, 2014, or there will be a penalty. Councilperson Glover asked Ms. Deering if this request for additional utility funding could be approved later in tonight's meeting when they approve the additional appropriation under New Business and she stated yes. Chief Grimm made a request to purchase a service agreement with RCS, which is a radio communications service in Louisville, KY. Currently, there isn't a service plan in place with a radio company and RCS has been servicing all the portables, mobiles, dispatch consoles, consolets, and repeaters and it's very costly without a service agreement. Chief Grimm stated that the agreement can save money in the long run and he has talked to RCS about 911 being consolidated and assured Council that he will not sign any deal until he's certain this can be adjusted. Councilperson Glover asked if this included parts costs or just service and Chief Grimm stated just service — on-site service or anything they take to RCS. Chief Grimm explained that $20,000 was appropriated in their LOIT for software licensing that wasn't needed and would like to take the cost of the service agreement with RCS for $13,108.80 out of that line item. Chief Grimm made a request to purchase a vehicle to replace a new vehicle that was damaged in a collision. Chief Grimm stated that they have received approximately $32,000 in insurance money to replace the vehicle and would like to move the money in order to purchase a replacement vehicle for $27,900 which includes the striping of the car. Chief Grimm explained that there were three vehicles that were involved in accidents, but will not be replacing all three cars — two were older and at the end of their service life. Chief Grimm made a request to replace a retired canine at a cost of $7,000. Chief Grimm explained that one of the canines that served the city for 8.5 years developed a seizure disorder and had to be retired. Chief Grimm stated that the dogs come in trained, but Glenn Jackson, Master Trainer for the Police Department, then has to put the dog and the handler through a six week course to get them certified. Chief Grimm made a request to purchase a firearms training simulator (TI Training Corporation) that was discussed last year along with an appropriation request. The actual quote for the equipment was $74,526 and that amount is still good today. Chief Grimm explained that this simulator will greatly improve firearms and defensive tactics training in the Police Department and will be used at the Citizens Academy, which they hope to start next year. The simulator can be rented to outside parties, possibly bringing in additional revenue to the city. Chief Grimm stated that he knows this amount of money is a big hit out of LOIT, so he checked with the Leasing Group for some rough estimates to lease the equipment: 3 -year lease - $26,600 per year, 4 -yr. lease - $20,300 per year and 5 -year lease - $16,600 per year. Councilperson Gill stated that the new facility will have large meeting rooms that will enable the Police Department to have federal trainings with the simulator in-house. Chief Grimm agreed and stated that Officer Josh Lynch has filed an application for the facility to be federally certified so that they can hold more training in-house allowing officers to receive free seats at trainings that the Jeff Police Department hosts. Councilperson Glover asked Chief Grimm if they currently conduct live fire arms training only twice a year due to the cost of ammunition and he stated that was true and 2 with the simulator, they can train more often without that cost of live ammunition. Chief Grimm and Officer Josh Lynch explained that the simulator allows for 435 standard scenarios and 12 new scenarios a year. The program also shows a step-by-step review of officers' scenarios so they know how to improve the next time around. Councilperson Gill stated that the simulator and its various scenarios will help the officers with their instincts and their reactions. A. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None at this time B. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Amy Deering — 2014 -OR -5 An Ordinance of Additional Appropriation: Ms. Deering explained to Council members some of the expenses in this ordinance that had not yet been discussed in tonight's meeting: • Laser Fiche contracts - $17,000 • Cash Advisory services - $12,000 interest income for an outside firm to invest extra money for the city (pays for itself) • Gaming - $2,100 — City Christmas Party - didn't get the invoice until this year and it wasn't in this year's budget • Public Arts- Contractual Services - $100,000 — it has been placed under the 300 series. City Council, Redevelopment and UEZ have all appropriated money to the Public Arts Commission fund and this is the appropriation of that money • Park Stenographer — $1,2000 inadvertently left out of budget to pay for whoever takes care of transcribing the Parks Authority minutes Councilperson Zastawny made a motion to APPROVE 2014 -OR -5 with the deletion of the $7,000 for the canine on a 1st and 2"d reading with Councilperson Payne seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. CITY COUNCIL ATTORNEY REPORT: None at this time PUBLIC COMMENTS: Terri Hicks, President of the Crystal Springs Homeowners Association, came before the Council to give them an update on the previously -requested emergency exit for the C.S. subdivision. Ms. Hicks stated that she has been in contact with Mr. Dan Cristiani and he stated that River Ridge is moving full steam with him on the exit. Dual fences will be placed on both sides of the roadway and there won't be as much maintenance as they first thought. Once the gate is up, there will be a lock box installed and the H.O.A. anticipates giving a couple of police officers and fire fighters who live in the neighborhood the keys to the box so they will have access to it in case of an emergency. Ms. Hicks stated that Dan Cristiani and Walsh Construction do have a signed contract, but Walsh has never picked the contract up from Mr. Cristiani's desk and it was signed over a week ago. Walsh Construction has insisted on picking up the contract themselves. Ms. Hicks explained that once that contract is signed, there has to be a general meeting between Boulder Creek and C.S. Subdivisions to get their approval before anything can move forward and they are wanting to start on March 1st. Ms. Hicks asked the Council if anyone had a contact at Walsh Construction, please try to get them to move this along. Councilperson Glover stated that he serves on the Board of Public Works and Safety and Walsh Construction often attends these meetings and he will speak to them about this if they are there. 3 COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilperson Smith: None at this time Councilperson Zastawny: there is a lot of interest in the artificial turf field at the Woehrle Complex — a semi -pro football team would like to practice and play games there, a semi -pro soccer team wants to use it for possibly practice and possibly games, tournament play requests, etc. Councilperson Zastawny stated that he wanted to make a comment about "City Surplus" and put in his two cents explaining that some of the surplus is the operational budget money the city hasn't spent yet. For example, the Woehrle Complex isn't completely finished and the city has $400,000 in an account, but there are probably $400,000 worth of bills yet to pay when it's all said and done. Also, in order to be sure how much is truly surplus and how much is considered debt, suggests hiring a third party professional to take a look at it. Possibly hire someone who is not from Jeffersonville, but Indianapolis or Evansville who understands the state budget. Councilperson Zastawny stated that one of the questions that the Council could ask is what would be a good number for a Rainy Day Fund for a governmental entity. President Julius agreed that it would be a good idea to get an independent person to look into it. Councilperson Payne: None at this time Councilperson Sellers: None at this time Councilperson Gill: None at this time Councilperson Glover: stated that he was a little shocked at the statements made in the newspaper article on the surplus budget. Councilperson Glover stated that a surplus of money means that we are doing a great job fiscally and are providing services to the community that they expect. However, as this city grows, the Council is going to have to look into how they are going to be able to continue to provide services, especially in the Police Department. The two top complaints he receives from constituents are about speeding through neighborhoods and theft and his answer to that would be to put more Police officers on the streets. Councilperson Glover stated that If they do find in an independent study that there is some surplus money out there, that is something that he would like the Council to take a look at. Councilperson Owen: None at this time President Julius: stated that he scheduled a tour of Voss Clark for Thursday, February 27th at 1:OOpm. Also, after speaking with Kathleen Crawley of One Southern Indiana, a tour with Amatrol has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 25th at 2:OOpm. Amatrol is currently evaluating a number of locations to expand their operations and they are preparing a package for tax abatement consideration in case they expand in Jeffersonville. Amatrol stated that they look forward to appearing before the Redevelopment Commission and the City Council in support of this project. President Julius stated that he will send out an email to everyone as a reminder. 4 President Julius stated that he has been getting complaints about Utica Pike since it reopened concerned the road's rough surface and asked Councilperson Glover to look into that at tomorrow's Board of Public Works meeting and he stated that he will. ADJOURNMENT: Councilperson Smith made a motion to ADJOURN with Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0. Meeting ADJOURNED at 7:47pm. Vicki Conlin, City Clerk APPROVED BY• Dennis Jul; - s, President 5