Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana met in regular session in Room 101, 500 Quartermaster Court,Jeffersonville, Indiana at 7:00 pm, on Monday, September 17, 2018. Council Vice President Hawkins along with City Clerk Conlin called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Councilperson Ellis gave the Invocation and Council Vice President Hawkins asked those in attendance to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL:The roll call was conducted and those present were: Councilperson White, Councilperson Jahn, Councilperson Maples, Council Vice President Hawkins, Councilperson Owen, Councilperson Ellis, and Councilperson Samuel. Councilperson Zastawny and Council President Gill were absent from the proceedings. MINUTES TO BE APPROVED: August 29, 2018 Council Budget Workshop—Councilperson Jahn made a motion to APPROVE the minutes with Councilperson Maples seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-0. September 4, 2018 Regular Proceedings—Councilperson Jahn made a motion to APPROVE the minutes with Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-0. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Council Vice President Hawkins advised there will need to be change. Dawn Spyker will be added for a Public Arts update. Councilperson Owen said he would like to just replace Julie Moreman for number 13 as she is unable to attend this evening and needs to be removed. Councilperson Samuel made a motion to APPROVE the agenda with the noted changes with Councilperson Jahn seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-0. CLAIMS TO BE APPROVED: City Controller Heather Metcalf presented the General Claims list in the amount of$1,144,020.54. Councilperson Samuel asked that it be confirmed that Papa is a street, because he is unable to locate it using Google. City Attorney Merkley advised it was probably Pampa which is street. Councilperson Jahn made a motion to APPROVE the General Claims list with Councilperson Samuel seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-0. City Controller Heather Metcalf presented the Parks Claims list in the amount of$49,028.06. Councilperson Ellis said he would like to bring it to the Council's attention that there is a claim for an employee's business for the amount of$2200 (McCoy's Nursery). He has a problem when employees are buying things from their own personal businesses and would like to see quotes obtained for those purchases to ensure the best price. City Attorney Les Merkley stated that the employee should have a disclosure statement submitted prior to any of these purchases. Councilperson Ellis said normally he would not say anything about these purchases but this is a City Employee and he is practically a Department Head as the leader of the Green Team. Councilperson Samuel made a motion to APPROVE the Parks Claims as presented with Councilperson Owen seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-0. REPORT OF THE CLERK: Clerk Conlin introduced Darryl Jackson, co-owner of SystemMax. They are a local company who has installed all of our updates and he is here to help fine tune the sound this evening. Clerk Conlin additionally sent out an email stating that thumb drives will need to be used moving forward. Mr. Jackson said he appreciated the opportunity to assist with the upgrades to the system and he will be actively working on the sound throughout the meeting. If anyone has any questions for him he is happy to answer them. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1. Lisa Gill/Heather Metcalf-2018-OR-56 An Ordinance Transferring Certain Funds within the Same Department ( Parks Activity Aquatic) Passed on 15t and rd reading— 2. Lisa Gill/ Larry Wilder—2018-OR-57 An Ordinance Rescinding Ordinance 2007-OR-50 And Replacing with 2018-OR-57 (Passed on 15t and 2nd reading) —Council Attorney Larry Wilder was absent. Councilperson Jahn presented 2018-OR-57. There have been no changes since the last reading. Councilperson Jahn made a motion to APPROVE 2018-OR-57 on the third and final reading with Councilperson Maples seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-0. 3. Lisa Gill/Heather Metcalf—PUBLIC HEARING 2018-OR-58 An Ordinance of Additional Appropriation (Amended and Passed on 1st and 2nd reading)—City Controller Heather Metcalf presented 2018-OR-58. There has been on change,the overtime was lowered by$5000. Council Vice President Hawkins opened the Public Hearing at 7:15 PM and as no members of the community came forward to speak for or against the matter the Public Hearing was closed. Councilperson Jahn made a motion to APPROVE 2018-OR-58 on the third and final reading with Councilperson Maples seconding, PASSING on a vote, 5-2 with Councilperson Samuel and Councilperson Ellis voting against. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Lisa Gill/Callie Jahn—Keeley Stingel Homeless Coalition Update—Ms. Keeley Stingel, the director the Homeless Coalition gave an update of the program. Ms. Stingel gave an overview of how the program got started. Homelessness in the City of Jeffersonville in 2015 from the Point in time Count our numbers were 298 for the 8 county region, and the primary bulk of those are in Clark and Floyd County. The Homeless Coalition identified the need for providing information sharing, case management, White Flag Emergency Shelter, and a Day Shelter. So far the White Flag Emergency Shelter has been put in place. They operate out of the Salvation Army on Green Valley Road. They have recently been granted a service coordination grant. Ms. Stingel presented the Council with the strategic plan of the Coalition and discussed the Community Partnerships. She would love to see the Council to get involved with White Flag and without their involvement they would not have been able to grow like they have. Councilperson Maples asked if the TARC rides were free in general for the riders using this service. Ms. Stingel said that is an in kind donation so that is done on behalf of TARC and does not cost the Coalition. Councilperson Maples asked if there was any restrictions on if a person from Jeffersonville utilizes the Louisville White Flag and vice versa. Ms. Stingel said there is not. Councilperson White asked if it is inappropriate to ask where people are from when they utilize the shelter, they can ask where they are from and where they last stayed. Councilperson Jahn said this was last funded under Gaming and it was added back in to the budget for next year with the understanding that it is easier to remove it if there is not support than to find the money if the Council wished to support it. Councilperson Owen said he is in support of this, however he would like to begin seeing an annual budget for the Coalition. He would also like to see the town of Clarksville become more involved. Councilperson Samuel said to him, they are talking about spending $650,000 on the animal shelter and not even $100,000 on humans. He would just like to put that into perspective. Ms. Stingel said she would be happy to send the budget to Clerk Conlin to forward to the Council. Additionally her email is kstingel@soinhomeless.org. Councilperson Jahn said there should be a discussion for what continued reporting looks like and what the Council would like to see. Councilperson White recommended coming to the Council earlier in the year also so they can prepare appropriately during budget time. 2. Lisa Gill/Nathan Samuel—Update from Dawn Spyker for Public Arts— Public Arts Administrator Dawn Spyker provided an update for the Council. There has been a lot of exciting things going on in Jeffersonville. They have had Shakespeare in the Park,the Heuser Hardware Flood Wall mural dedication, they installed and dedicated a sculptural water fountain under the pavilion. Back in December all of the 5th grade from Thomas Jeffersonville applied as a professional and 13 were chosen to become a sculpture. There are two sculptural bike racks that will be installed next month. We have transformed a parking lot that is very colorful. Steamboat nights, Friday wasn't very great but Saturday was fantastic. Additionally we have submitted the documentation to become an Arts and Cultural District and that should be announced in October. They have secured $250,000 grant at the beginning of the year. There will be a celebration of the NoCo, she hopes they will be able to come out for that. They have rented a tent for that area. There will be food, games, discussion for the lot, and what's coming up and what to look forward to. Also there is the Sugar Skull Festival,there will be authentic food. It is in great collaboration with Greater Clark County Schools. Councilperson White asked if there would be sponsors for the 5K. The Taste of Jeffersonville sponsored the whole thing. Councilperson Samuel said he would like to give credit to Dawn for all of her work and the document that was submitted. AIM did a podcast about this area and it highlighted Redevelopment and the Mayor and Dawn for all of their hard work and that is appreciated. Councilperson Ellis agreed and thanked her for the beautiful job down there. 3. Lisa Gill/ Heather Metcalf—2018-OR-59 An Ordinance Transferring Certain Funds within the Same Department—City Controller Heather Metcalf presented 2018-OR-59. This is for the Sanitation Department for Environmental Fees and should finish them out for the year. Councilperson Samuel made a motion to APPROVE 2018-OR-59 on the first and second reading with Councilperson Jahn seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-0. 4. Lisa Gill/ PUBLIC HEARING -2018-OR-60 An Ordinance for Appropriation and Tax Rates—City Controller Heather Metcalf presented 2018-OR-60. This is the budget for 2019. Councilperson Owen confirmed that all of the changes were made that were discussed in the document that was handed out. Council Vice President Hawkins opened the Public Hearing at 8:03 PM and as no members of the community came forward to speak for or against the matter the Public Hearing was closed. Councilperson Samuel said he will not be in favor of this. He is not okay with spending all of the LOIT fund. Councilperson Ellis confirmed he will be voting against this as well. Councilperson Hawkins said he would like to see recommendations to fix the issues with the budget but he will be voting for to move it along, would like to see more discussion. Councilperson White said he would like to see the budget pass. Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE 2018-OR-60 on the first and second reading with Councilperson Jahn seconding, Councilperson Samuel requested a roll call. Councilperson White—Yes Councilperson Jahn—Yes Councilperson Maples—Yes Council Vice President Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Owen—Yes Councilperson Ellis—No Councilperson Samuel—No Final vote, PASSED 5-2. DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS: Heather Metcalf appreciates their help with the budget, the salary ordinance will come with the next meeting. She has an opening in her department that she would like to hire in at more than the approved rate,they will not get an increase in January. Human Resources does support it and the job was not posted. Councilperson Owen made a motion to APPROVE with Councilperson Jahn seconding, PASSING on a vote, 7-0. REPORT OF THE COUNCIL ATTORNEY Council Attorney Larry Wilder not present at the meeting. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Nothing at this time. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Councilperson White—He would like to reiterate, if we are trying to enter into an Interlocal agreement with the County to help with their shortfalls. He missed the last budget workshop due to being in an Urban Enterprise Zone meeting. Presentation from YMCA for a request for$5000. We still have $20,000 from special projects. Councilperson Maples said he would support that, been a part of the community, Councilperson Owen said he would be supportive if it's limited to Jeffersonville. Councilperson White made a motion to APPROVE the 5,000 out of Gaming Revenues, capital campaigns with Councilperson Maples seconding. Councilperson Samuel said he will vote no as he would like to be advised of these ahead of time. Motion PASSED on a vote, 6-1 with Councilperson Samuel voting against. Councilperson Jahn—She is excited about the development with the Arts. She will not be able to make the grand opening as she will be out of town. She would like to reiterate her thanks to the Homeless Coalition Taskforce. Also she knows there are concerns about the budget and how would the Council like to move forward discussing those. Councilperson Maples—He knows that he has a lot of questions about the Homeless Coalition Taskforce, but when the City contributes half of their annual budget he would like to see that budget. Also he echoes Councilperson Jahn about the pavement downtown. He is probably the only Councilperson who has a sugar skull tattoo on his arm. Councilperson Owen—Thanks to the administration for the work on the budget. Added public safety. Trim back if we need to. A lot of people are very quick to say how far Jeffersonville has come in the last 5-7 years. There has been a lot of success in the arts initiative, and Jeffersonville is taking real action against homelessness. Councilperson Ellis—In voting for the funds for the YMCA when Nathan talked about how much we spend on animals and how much we are going to have to spend over the next few years. $5000 is a very negligible amount that he sees wasted and it can go to help our Children and Senior Citizens. Councilperson Samuel—He is a YMCA member, not against their initiative. He feels it is a common courtesy,that you shoot an email ahead of time. Steamboat nights was fantastic. He would like to see a Welcome to Jeffersonville sign coming off the big 4 bridge, there isn't a sign for that. Councilperson Zastawny was trying to get here but was traveling and Council President Gill had an aunt passed away so she is with family. He appreciates the administration for putting forth the budget, doesn't believe this budget is sustainable for 2 and 3 years out. Well make it next year no problem but he doesn't think you should spend most everything that comes in only position for where he is. Council Vice President Hawkins—Thanks to Darryl for being here and working through our meeting and sound issues. ADJOURNMENT: Councilperson Owen made the motion to ADJOURN and the meeting adjourned at 8:32 P.M. APPROVED BY: Lisa ill, President ATyEST: Vicki Conlin, Clerk