HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 21, 2014COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA
April 21, 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 Monday, April 21, 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 Councilperson Samuel 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, Councilperson Samuel, President
Julius, and Councilperson Owen.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA:
Councilperson Owen requested Pat Miller be moved from New Business #2 and placed under Report of
the Clerk. Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE the agenda with changes, with
Councilperson Gill seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0.
MINUTES TO BE APPROVED:
Councilperson Sellers made a motion to APPROVE the minutes from the Council workshop on April 7,
2014, with Councilperson Gill seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0-1 with Councilperson Payne
abstaining.
Councilperson Gill made a motion to APPROVE the minutes from the regular Council meeting on April 7,
2014, Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0-1 with Councilperson Payne abstaining.
CLAIMS TO BE APPROVED:
General Claims: Controller Amy Deering presented the General Claims list with the following changes:
remove two items under Parks — Home Depot Garden boxes for $119.92 and Chase Credit Card $109.99,
and add three hand -carried claims - a request for a City of Jeff sponsorship for $250 for Paint our Town
Purple and $1,000 from LOIT to Cherry Henault, Attorney for an FOP arbitration matter and $200 legal
fee to Judge Dan Donahue regarding a Police disciplinary matter. Councilperson Smith questioned why
the purchase of a flag for $34 for the Police Department was taken from LOIT and not their regular
operating budget and Ms. Deering stated that she would make the change. After all changes and
additions, the total claims to be approved is $367,130.65. Councilperson Owen made a motion to
APPROVE the General Claims as amended with Councilperson Payne seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-
0-1 with President Julius abstaining.
REPORT OF THE CLERK: None at this time
PAT MILLER — Presentation Jeff High Theater: Ms. Patti Miller and Mr. Michael Howard, Theater
Directors at Jeff High School, came before the Council to request City sponsorship of the JHS Theater
production "Smokey Joe's Cafe". JHS has been extended an invitation to perform at the International
Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska June 22-28, 2014. Students will have the opportunity to audition
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and interview with some of the best colleges in the country who have very strong theater programs. The
estimated cost of moving the production to Nebraska is $85,000. Ms. Miller requested the City of Jeff
become a Title Sponsor for $5,000 which entitles the City of Jeff's name to be printed on all the
programs and advertising at the Derby Dinner Playhouse Gala on May 5th as well as the grand opening
and banner ceremony to commemorate this achievement on Friday, May 9th in the JHS Auditorium.
Councilperson Glover asked what other types of fundraising efforts they will have besides the Gala and
Ms. Miller stated they will be having car washes, ticket sales at the two productions of Smokey Joe's at
JHS, and a silent auction at the Gala. They have raised a total of $11,000 so far. Councilperson Owen
stated that he was also active in the Theater Department when he attended JHS and is very envious of
their opportunity and offered them congratulations on their achievement. Councilperson Owen made
the motion for the City of Jeffersonville to become the title sponsor for the Jeff High Theater Gala for
$5,000 to come from Gaming Revenue with Councilperson Payne seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0.
Ms. Miller stated that she will see to it that the City receives complimentary tickets and seats at the
Gala.
Ms. Conlin informed the Council that there is a Council meeting scheduled the same night as the Gala.
Following discussion, the meeting time was changed to 1:00pm Monday, May 5th
DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORT:
Chief Chris Grimm — Police Administrative Assistants Request: Chief Grimm came before the
Council to request approval for two new positions: Administrative Assistant I and Administrative and
Case Management Support Specialist. Chief Grimm explained that he developed these positions
with H.R. Director Kim Calabro's help for the new Police Department. Since they will be losing
Dispatch, they will no longer have support for a lot of the day-to-day tasks and these two new
positions will help fill that gap. The Administrative and Case Management Support Specialist will be
assigned to the Detective Division which will allow detectives more time to concentrate on their
case loads and the Administrative Assistant I position will be in charge of covering the window at the
new larger facility, working with TeleStaff and other responsibilities. Chief Grimm explained that
there is no need to allocate money for these two new positions since he has money in his budget
with two employees retiring. Chief Grimm stated that he would like to fill these new positions by
June so the individuals who are retiring can help train the new employees. Councilperson Smith
asked why IDACS and NCIC can't be consolidated with Central Alarm and Chief Grimm explained that
his department needs to continue to keep it in-house and maintain the terminal because they often
need to use it to look up information. Attorney Scott Lewis stated that the 911 Inter Local
Agreement concerning positions and how many employees might be moved to Central Alarm hasn't
been determined. Chief Grimm stated that the development and hiring of these two new positions
are not entirely due to the consolidation of Central Alarm and there is a need for the new positions
regardless of what Central Alarm decides to do. Councilperson Gill asked Chief Grimm if these two
new positions are vital to the day-to-day operation and vital to the job his police officers do and
Chief Grimm stated yes, and even more so when Dispatch and the City separate. Councilperson
Sellers stated that it hasn't been made clear as to where the money for Central Alarm is coming
from and warns if the State tells the City that the money in the General Fund is to be used for the
Dispatchers, we will actually be losing money. Councilperson Payne asked Chief Grimm what would
be the consequences if these two positions weren't filled, and Chief Grimm stated that he would still
have to replace the two retiree positions and they would be understaffed at the new Police
Department causing a higher overtime payout. Councilperson Glover asked what was the pay range
on the two positions: Administrative Assistant I - $25,792 to $38,688, and the Administrative and
Case Management Support Specialist - $29,536 to $44,304. Following discussion, Councilperson
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Glover made a motion to approve two new positions in the Police Department, Administrative and
Case Management Support Specialist and Administrative Assistant I, with Councilperson Owen
seconding. Councilperson Zastawny explained that he isn't against the idea of creating two new
positions, but feels that it's a little too premature.
AYE NAY
Councilperson Smith Nay
Councilperson Zastawny Nay
Councilperson Payne Aye
Councilperson Sellers Nay
Councilperson Gill Aye
President Julius Aye
Councilperson Glover Aye
Councilperson Owen Aye
Councilperson Samuel Aye
After the roll call votes, the motion to APPROVE the two new positions PASSED on a vote of 6-3.
Eric Hedrick — Fire Marshal Training/JFD General Training Plan 2014: Chief Hedrick gave the Council
a list of all the training that he is aware of for 2014, and pointed out that six of the ten require
travel. Chief Hedrick stated that he has money in his travel and training budget to cover these
expenses, but wanted to present them to the Council all together rather than one at a time. Chief
Hedrick explained that he spoke to Councilpersons Glover and Gill and they spoke of possibly
amending the ordinance for the travel and requested from him (and Police Chief Grimm) a list of
State agencies that his department currently utilizes for training. Councilperson Glover stated that
he has witnessed a lot of frustration from the department heads as to what needs to come before
the Council for travel approval and suggests they look at the ordinance and see if they can find ways
to make it easier. President Julius stated that the Finance Committee requested Attorney Scott
Lewis to look into creating broader language in the ordinance to make it easier on department
heads. President Julius explained that it's not Council's job to micromanage, but a lot of the
departments and even the administration, became so Ioosey goosey that Council had absolutely no
control, and it's their job to rein it back in and fix it and that's what they were trying to do. City Clerk
Vicki Conlin stated that she and Ms. Calabro have been working on creating a travel policy and have
already collected information to include in the policy such as per diem rates. She and Ms. Calabro
intend to confer with Mr. Merkley and have forwarded the information to Mr. Lewis for his review
as well. Councilperson Samuel asked Chief Hedrick about the overtime budget and stated that in his
opinion he can send his firefighters to as much training as he can so long as he has money to pay for
it in his budget. Chief Hedrick explained that employee overtime is dependent upon days off and the
position they hold. Chief Hedrick stated that he has calculated a comparison of overtime and they
spent $2,000 more this year than last year at this time so it's pretty comparable. The cost for
overtime at Thunder was $8,250. Councilperson Smith made a motion to APPROVE Chief Hedrick's
JFD 2014 General Training Plan so long as it doesn't go over their budgeted travel and overtime,
with Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0. Chief Hedrick remarked to
Councilperson Sellers that determining overtime is an extremely difficult thing to predict because
they don't know what's coming in the future. Councilperson Sellers stated that she knows it's
difficult and reminded him that Council has never denied overtime to them, but they just want him
to watch it closely, and Chief Hedrick agreed to do so.
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A. UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
1. Les Merkley — Inter Local Agreements (TABLED 4/7/14): Councilperson Smith made a motion to
once again TABLE Inter Local Agreements, with Councilperson Sellers seconding, PASSING on a vote
of 9-0.
2. Les Merkley — 2014 -OR -15 An Ordinance Authorizing and Approving First Supplement to Trust
Indenture (Armstrong Farm Apartments): Mr. Merkley explained that Council approved this at the
last Council meeting and it is in reference to a bond that was done back in 2000 for the development
and construction of Armstrong Farms Apartments. The City is not obligated, but the holder of the
bond, Armstrong Apartments, is wanting to rework the bond to adjust payments and interest.
Councilperson Zastawny made a motion to APPROVE 2014 -OR -15 on the 2nd and 3rd reading, with
Councilperson Payne seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0.
B. NEW BUSINESS:
1. Dennis Julius — Hiring of Two Fire Fighters: President Julius stated that this issue goes back to the
Finance Committee meeting that they had on the hiring of fire fighters. One fire fighter is retiring at
the end of May and one at the end of June. President Julius stated that he knew Chief Hedrick would
like to wait until Fall to replace the fire fighters, but it was the consensus of the Finance Committee
to go ahead and start the process of hiring. Councilperson Owen explained that when he spoke with
Chief Hedrick, he felt that he expressed a valid argument for waiting until the Fall to hire the
firefighters based on some new restrictions and requirements. Councilperson Owen explained that if
they hire the firefighters now off of the current list, they will be responsible for their testing and if
they fail, they get 30 days to retest and if they fail again, they get another 30 days to retest. And, the
last time they hired off of the old list, they waited 90 days for a top -of -the -list candidate that
ultimately didn't get hired because he/she couldn't pass the test. The new list of candidates are
required to have this testing prior to applying, so there is no risk of failure. Chief Hedrick stated that
the new list of candidates who have already passed their testing will be available in July and
explained that they don't have to wait until Fall to hire, mid-July or early August would be fine. The
old list expires in July and the new list will be ready by mid-July. Councilperson Samuel made a
motion to recommend starting the hiring process of two fire fighters and recommends that the Fire
Merit Commission take into high consideration the importance of certifications when they are going
through the hiring process, seconded by Councilperson Gill.
AYE NAY
Councilperson Smith Aye
Councilperson Zastawny Aye
Councilperson Payne Aye
Councilperson Sellers Aye
Councilperson Gill Aye
President Julius Aye
Councilperson Glover Aye
Councilperson Owen Aye
Councilperson Samuel Aye
After the roll call votes, the motion to recommend starting the hiring process PASSED on a vote of 9-
0.
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2. Kim Calabro — 2014 -OR -19 An Ordinance Amending 2014 -OR -12 Fixing the Salaries of Appointed
Officers and Employees for all the Departments of the City of Jeffersonville for the Year 2014:
Ms. Calabro and Animal Shelter Director Charlie Heavrin came before the Council to get approval for
an Animal Shelter Operations Coordinator position and title for Tonya Ellis. Mr. Heavrin stated that
between Director Sarah Green and himself, Ms. Ellis was running the shelter, but her title is Animal
Control Officer. Mr. Heavrin, Ms. Calabro and Ms. Ellis worked together to create a job description
for this position. Ms. Ellis is being paid from the Animal Control Officers funding and Mr. Heavrin
explained that he will move that money over to this new position and will use additional money that
he has in his overtime budget to give her a pay increase. Ms. Calabro stated that she would go from
a pay grade 2 to a pay grade 3. Ms. Calabro explained that would then take the number of Animal
Control Officers from three to two and if Charlie would need any additional officers, he would come
back to the Council and request it. Councilperson Smith made a motion to APPROVE 2014 -OR -19 on
the 15t and 2nd readings with Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0.
3. Amy Deering — 2014 -OR -20 An Ordinance of Additional Appropriation: Ms. Deering explained to
the Council that the first two items are salary -related items under the Engineer. Mr. Crouch has an
employee who changed from exempt to non-exempt and there wasn't an on call and overtime
budgeted for this year. Ms. Deering stated that this is the amount of money that Mr. Crouch
estimates will get him through the rest of the year. The next two items were presented to the
Finance Committee by Ms. Calabro and they were given a favorable recommendation, and the last
item was the CodeRED, which Ms. Deering stated she was asked to put back on and it was
renegotiated for a two-year contract. There was discussion concerning the on call pay and Mr.
Merkley stated that the administration is working on fixing the employee handbook concerning on
call pay due to the fact that it has gotten the City into some legal issues in the past. Mr. Merkley
stated that there will be a public hearing on May 5, 2014. Councilperson Smith made a motion to
APPROVE 2014 -OR -20 on the first reading, with Councilperson Payne seconding, PASSING on a vote
of 9-0.
CITY COUNCIL ATTORNEY REPORT: None at this time.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Mr. Ed Hack came before the Council concerning a comment his girlfriend made
on facebook stating what a fine job the Mayor is doing about the sewer and it's the Council's fault
that it's not coming along better. Mr. Hack explained that he wanted the Council members to know
that he educated her on that issue stating that he knows how hard they work to help them. Mr.
Hack stated that the Council members are good people and they get accused of things that aren't
their fault. Mr. Hack apologized on behalf of his friend. Council members thanked Mr. Hack for his
kind comments.
Reverend Kenneth Gallahar came before the Council to ask if they could pull together for the
homeless on the streets and at Haven House. Rev. Gallahar goes to Haven House to "bring them the
word" and described it as being in a saddened condition. Rev. Gallahar explained that he called the
Mayor's Office and they directed him to speak to someone from the Homeless Task Force, but that
representative couldn't (or wouldn't) give him answers to all of his questions. Rev. Gallahar stated
that he isn't here tonight to request money, he is just asking if the City can pull together and do
something to help the homeless condition in Jeffersonville as well as Clarksville and New Albany.
Councilperson Samuel stated that they were in the midst of taking action with Councilperson Owen
helping to organize a meeting in Indianapolis to determine what a shelter needs to look like in
Jeffersonville when the Mayor created the Task Force, so the Council stepped back to see what the
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Task Force could accomplish. Following discussion, it was suggested that the Homeless Task Force
come to a Council meeting and give them an update. The Council thanked Rev. Gallahar for bringing
their attention to this on-going problem. Rev. Gallahar offered to help in any way he can and asked
the Council to call him for any assistance. Council members thanked Rev. Gallahar for coming to the
meeting and speaking about this issue.
COUNCIL COMMENTS:
Councilperson Smith: two fire fighters are going to be retiring who have been with the department
for many years —Joe Lee and Steve Case. Both men are old -school fire fighters that will be hard to
replace and they will be missed.
Ed Zastawny: this coming Friday at 6:30pm there will be a ribbon cutting at the Premier Turf Field
at the Woehrle Athletic Complex. After the ceremony, there will be a game played and hopes
everyone can stick around.
Councilperson Sellers: stated that Trivia Night is the same night as the ribbon cutting and it starts
at 7:OOpm. Please let her know after the meeting who can attend. Councilperson Sellers stated that
she and Councilperson Gill go through the claims every two weeks and are still having issues with
the credit cards. Receipts are not being itemized with information as to what it was for and who
attended. She and Amy Deering called Chris with the SBOA and he confirmed to them that all
names, the nature and purpose of the claim has to be clearly stated and legible. Councilperson
Sellers read the "Expense Reimbursement Itemization" from the SBOA:
All claims, invoices, receipts, accounts payable vouchers, including those presented to
the governing body for approval in accordance with IC 5-11-10, should contain adequate
detailed documentation. All claims, invoices, receipts, and accounts payable vouchers
regarding reimbursement for meals and expenses for individuals must have specific
detailed information of the names of all individuals for which amounts are claimed, in-
cluding the nature, name, and purpose of the business meeting, to enable the governing
body to authorize payment. Payments which do not have proper itemization showing the
business nature of the claim, may be the personal obligation of the responsible official,
employee or other person for whom the claim is made.
Councilperson Sellers stated that she has instructed Ms. Deering to ask Chad not to accept receipts
that have not been signed and dated properly. Councilperson Sellers stated that this is not a new
procedure, it has been done this way since she her first year on the Council in 2004. Councilperson
Sellers warned if she and Councilperson Gill come across any more receipts incorrectly turned in,
they will pull the claim, and any late charges will have to be assumed by the person who used the
card.
Councilperson Gill: stated that she wants to make it public record, if it's not a LEGAL claim, they
will pull it. Also, wants to follow through on the Homeless Task Force coming before the Council
and is going to visit Haven House and wants to know if any Council members would like to join her.
Councilperson Glover: warned Council members that they may get some calls from constituents
complaining about the intersection of highway 62 and Utica-Sellersburg Road being closed with
traffic being re-routed through Stoney Brook Subdivision. It's been a very busy situation with so
many cars flowing through there and also having to cross over highway 62 to get to highway 265.
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Stated that he will be going to go to BPW meeting on Wednesday to see if they can possibly close
the street from 9:OOam to 5:OOpm and open it to allow home traffic to get in and out.
Councilperson Owen: Wants to thank the Council for supporting the Theater Department at JHS.
Nathan Samuel: stated that they are starting to get more and more hand -carried claims brought to
the Council meetings. In years past, it was supposed to be only for emergency claims that come up
at the last minute and even with those, they like to be notified of them before the meeting.
Wanted to let everyone know that in the future, if he votes against a hand -carried claim it's
because department heads and staff are just turning them in late.
President Julius: None at this time.
ADJOURNMENT:
Councilperson Owen made a motion to ADJOURN with Councilperson Payne seconding, PASSING on
a vote of 9-0. Meeting ADJOURNED at 9:01pm.
Vicki Conlin, City Clerk
APPROVED BY:
Dennis Julius esident
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