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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 4, 2015COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA May 4, 2015 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, May 4, 2015. Council President Gill, with Vicki Conlin, City Clerk, called the meeting to order at 7:OOpm. President Gill asked those in attendance to stand as Mr. Bobby Campbell gave the Invocation. Council President Gill then led all those present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The roll call and those present were: Councilperson Smith, Council Vice President Zastawny, Councilperson Wadsworth, Councilperson Sellers, Councilperson Julius, Councilperson Webb, President Gill, Councilperson Owen and Councilperson Samuel. MINUTES TO BE APPROVED: Council Vice President Zastawny made a motion to APPROVE the April 20, 2015, Council Regular Proceeding minutes with Councilperson Julius seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: President Gill added Assistant Police Chief Scott McVoy under DEPARTMENT HEADS in order to discuss training. Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE the agenda as amended with Councilperson Smith seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0. CLAIMS TO BE APPROVED: General Claims: Assistant Controller Heather Metcalf presented the general claims list in the amount of $639,690.26. Councilperson Sellers made a motion to APPROVE the claims along with a request to remove the Thunder claims so they can verify that they should be paid by the City of Jeff with Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-0-1 Councilperson Julius abstain. REPORT OF THE CLERK: Ms. Conlin stated that she has given each Council members tonight two forms to read and sign regarding the Nepotism Policy which are required by the SBOA. Although these forms are not due until the end of the year, the process of getting them signed begins in June and asked members to sign and return them to her. A. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1. Scott Lewis — 2015 -OR -23 An Ordinance Amending Ordinance 2013 -OR -8 (Authorizing City Officials to Use City Credit Cards for Official Government Purchases and Establishing a Credit Card Usage Policy): Councilperson Sellers made a motion to APPROVE 2015 -OR -23 on the second reading, with Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote of 8-1 with Councilperson Smith voting NAY. 1 B. NEW BUSINESS: None at this time. CITY COUNCIL ATTORNEY REPORT: None at this time. COUNCIL BOARD/COMMISSIONS APPOINTMENTS REPORTS: None at this time. DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS: 1. Assistant Police Chief Scott McVoy — Officer Training: Requested permission for one officer to attend the Midwest Gang Investigators Association Gang Conference in Omaha, Nebraska May 17 — 20, 2015. The cost of registration is $300 and travel expense will be $200. Officer McVoy explained that it is a national conference, but information can be broken down locally with gang activity in the Louisville and Jeffersonville area. Councilperson Smith asked if this expense was within the JPD budget, and Officer McVoy stated that it is. Council Vice President Zastawny made a motion to APPROVE the training, with Councilperson Samuel seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0. PUBLIC COMMENT: None at this time. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilperson Mike Smith: None at this time. Council Vice President Zastawny: The soccer team "The Rovers" are considering a beer garden at Woehrle and needs the Parks Authority Board's approval. Council VP Zastawny explained that this is time sensitive and needs an answer by the next Parks Authority meeting which will take place May 18, 2015, at 5:30pm. Councilperson Wadsworth: None at this time. Councilperson Sellers: None at this time. Councilperson Webb: None at this time. Councilperson Samuel: Stated that some concerns have been brought up regarding "the Green Team" which would consist of four departments responsible for providing grass mowing, landscaping, bio swells, etc. Councilperson Samuel stated that this has been discussed among Council members, Parks Director Paul Northam, Corporate Attorney Les Merkley, all the department heads involved in mowing and Human Resources Director Kim Calabro for over eight months and Council appropriated over $100,000 to get this plan in motion. Councilperson Samuel stated that a hire was recently made for the leader of this team that did not meet the intent of the qualifications. Councilperson Samuel explained that the leader of the Green Team was supposed to be someone who has a very high degree of knowledge of plants, bio swells and horticulture. Councilperson Samuel concedes that the job description may or may not have clearly stated the intent and requirements for this position and suggested as new job descriptions are developed, it probably should be tightened up a little bit. The last sentence of the job description for the leader of the green team says "equivalent education, experience, skills, knowledge may be considered," which leaves it open for anyone to give them credit. Councilperson Samuel explained that if we don't have the right person heading up this team, we are setting it up for 2 failure and stated if that is the case, then he would rather pull the funding and put things back to where they were before. Council VP Zastawny stated that the intent was to hire someone who understands horticulture, and possess a level of education, experience and professional knowledge to be able to identify plants, soils and beautify our city while being more efficient with the plants. Council VP Zastawny suggested having an independent third party make the decision for the city as to whether or not the individual hired to lead this team is sufficiently qualified. Council VP Zastawny suggested having him take a certification test through the American Society for Horticultural Sciences which accesses horticultural knowledge stating there is a test that might fit the timeline of July 14, 2015, in Columbus, OH, with an application deadline of June 6, 2015. Council VP Zastawny stated that he isn't sure this testing certification is the best solution, but was just trying to find a third party to verify qualifications. Councilperson Smith asked H.R. Director Kim Calabro if the city didn't pay Ms. Liz Gross to create a job description with these requirements and Ms. Calabro stated that they did create the job description based upon the recommendations that council gave them. Ms. Calabro explained that the caveat was added at the end to keep an employer from having to so narrowly define who you're hiring that you eliminate people who would be good candidates. Ms. Calabro stated that it's not uncommon in Human Resources to have that in job descriptions. Councilperson Julius stated that everyone supports hiring from within the city if at all possible, but doesn't see where council is going to benefit themselves by waiting 2.5 months down the road before this individual can even take the certification test. Councilperson Julius stated that they are stepping out of the box and there is political influence regarding this which is a shame, because it is destroying what everyone spent eight months trying to accomplish. Councilperson Julius asked what will they do if this person doesn't pass this certification test and then they will have to put him back where he was working before, so long as that position hasn't already been filled and if it has been filled, what do they do with this person. Councilperson Julius suggesting going ahead and defunding the position and wait until next year to get a qualified person to fill it. Councilperson Samuel suggested putting forth the motion to revert back prior to implementation of this Green Team, put them back where they need to be and pass this on the first reading with the expectation that something will be resolved before they have to vote the rest. Ms. Calabro stated that these positions have not been filled. Council Attorney Scott Lewis suggested waiting for the paperwork to be in -hand prior to making any motions. Councilperson Samuel made a request to have the Salary Ordinance placed on the agenda for the next council meeting and requests Ms. Calabro modify that ordinance and have it ready for the meeting. Councilperson Samuel expressed good luck to all the Council members who are running for re- election tomorrow. Hopes it's a favorable outcome. Councilperson Julius: Expressed good luck to everyone who is running, some for the first time. Councilperson Julius also expressed again his disappointment in the Green Team leader position stating this started out as a good thing for Jeffersonville and wasn't political in any way. Things get twisted around and now the employee who was hired for has been put in a precarious position. 3 Councilperson Owen: Best of luck to everyone tomorrow. Knows that it is nerve wracking for most. President Gill: Expressed concern to Ms. Calabro about the two employees who came from Director Len Ashack stating that council doesn't control employees but would hate to see someone lose their job and not have a job to go back to. Does not want to put people out of work. Ms. Calabro stated that Mr. Ashack is aware of the situation and it appears as though he will do the right thing by them. Councilperson Julius questioned council as to what they will do if in two weeks the person who has been hired comes back and states that they do not qualify to take the certification test and council members answered "defund". President Gill scheduled a workshop for June 1, 2015, at 5:30pm prior to the 7:OOpm regular Council meeting to clean up the wording the Salary Ordinance per SBOA. ADJOURNMENT: Councilperson Smith made a motion to ADJOURN at 7:48pm with Councilperson Webb seconding, PASSING on a vote of 9-0. STE BY: Vicki Conlin, ity Clerk APPROVED BY: Lisa Gill, President 4