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Home My WebLink AboutDecember 7, 2020 City Council Minutes COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA December 7,2020 Regular Meeting Minutes The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana met for the Regular Meeting via teleconferencing on December 7,2020. Council President Owen along with City Clerk Gill called the virtual meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. ROLL CALL: The roll call was conducted by City Clerk Lisa Gill and those present were Council Vice President Maples, Councilperson Croft, Council President Owen;those members teleconferencing(Covid-19)were Councilperson Burns,Councilperson Paris,Councilperson Webb, Councilperson Hawkins,Councilperson Ellis. INVOCATION: Council President Owen requested Councilperson Ellis to lead the invocation. Council President Owen asked for a moment of silence in observation of Pearl Harbor.Day. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Council Vice President Maples made a motion to approve the Minutes of November 16, 2020 of the Regular Meeting,seconded by Councilperson Croft; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Council Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the Agenda as presented,seconded by Councilperson Burns; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 CLAIMS TO APPROVE: Civil City$3,264,211.17—Ms. Heather Metcalf,City Controller indicated no changes. Page 1of6 Council Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the Civil City Claims,seconded by Councilperson Croft; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 Parks$79,935.13-Ms. Metcalf indicated there was no changes. Councilperson Burns made the motion to approve the Parks Claims,seconded by Council Vice President Maples; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes • Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 REPORT OF THE CLERK: Just to let everyone know we did the last transfer for the Health Insurance which was$1,000,000. Also the contract negotiating team as well as the Mayor signed the contract. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1. Heather Metcalf—2020-OR-64 Ordinance of Additional Appropriation(Passed on 1st and 2nd reading on November 16,2020)(PUBLIC HEARING)—Council President Owen advised this is taking the CARES Act money and takes it from the federal government through the state down to local government. We had a method for handling the money and then the feds told the state to tell the local government that it needed to be changed so we have adjusted how we handle these funds.The same disbursement comes to the City and we are going to use that to pay for the added costs for.the City dealing with Covid. The City has kept very good track of those expenses through the Clerk's Office,through the Controller's office and Finance Department. All Department Heads have done a very good job of submitting those claims. You will see where this shows that we took our entire Covid disbursement and we are going to put those funds back in where they were paid from. Controller Metcalf stated the first one is from,insurances reimbursements for Jeff Police Department vehicles. We have already received that money. Council President Owen opened the Public Hearing at 7:09 pm. Council President Owen asked if anyone had submitted a comment to the Clerk's Office and Clerk Gill stated no comments had been submitted. Council President asked Mr. Reischl if anyone was present to.speak on the matter, Mr. Reischl advised nobody was down in City Hall. Council President Owen Closed the Public Hearing at 7:10 pm. Councilperson Burns made the motion to approve the ordinance on the third and final readings,seconded by Council Vice President Maples; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Page 2 of 6 Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 2. Heather Metcalf—2020-OR-65 Ordinance of Transfer of Funds Within the Same Department(Passed on 1st and 2nd reading on November 16,2020) Council President Owen advised there was an amendment. Mrs. Metcalf stated there was a transfer added for the Police Department to transfer$15,000 from equipment to SWAT supplies and that is to get what they need to purchase in the right category. Councilperson Hawkins made the motion to amend 2020-OR-65 to include the additional transfer for the Police Department,seconded by Councilperson Burns; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes " Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 Council Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the ordinance as amended,seconded by Councilperson Croft; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb--Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 NEW BUSINESS " 1.Chad Reischl—2020-OR-66 Rezone Request for Property Located at 4038 Herb Lewis Rd. R1(Low Density Residential)to M3(High Density Multi-Family Residential) Mr. Reischl stated Denton Floyd,a real estate company is the petitioner and was present to,answer any questions from the Council. They are asking to rezone an approximately 13-acre site from a R1 to a M3. This will be for construction for a 280 unit apartment development. Mr. Denton and his associate Mr.Campbell were present to speak on behalf of the request. The project is filed as Herb Lewis Apartments and will be called The Arbor Place. This will be a Class A design which includes greenspace,a clubhouse,a dog park area,and a pool. It will require the approval of the rezoning to move forward. Council President Owen opened the Public Hearing at 7:20 pm. Mr. Reischl stated there was someone present to speak on the item. Elizabeth Wood—3803 Violet Court-Objected to the single family dwelling status being changed. This will bring in 280 families in the area which will bring a lot of noise. V Page 3 of 6. Clerk Gill advised there were no comments submitted to the Clerk's Office. Council President Owen closed the Public.Hearing at 7:21 pm. Councilperson Webb stated there was concern about the set back and the developer made concessions to address those concerns. This developer does a first class job and does a good job attempting to address the concerns of the surrounding neighborhoods. Councilperson Burns made the motion to approve the ordinance contingent upon executing and recording the zoning commitment,seconded by Councilperson White; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council.Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins-Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 2. Assistant Chief McVoy—JPD Vehicle Purchase—Assistant Chief McVoy stated this was outlined in an email. This is for 12 new vehicles spread out between 2 payments in 2021 and 2022. This money is in the budget but since it extends out past a single year it needs to be approved by the Council before being taken to the Board of Public Works. Councilperson Croft made the motion to approve the vehicle lease,seconded by Councilperson Hawkins; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 3. Les Merkley 2020-OR-67 An Ordinance Establishing Fees for Copy of Body Camera Video Taken by the Jeffersonville Police Department at Accident Scenes-Assistant Chief McVoy stated the ordinance would establish the rate for body worn camera footage as requested by the general public. The State of Indiana established a statutory amount of a maximum of$150 and for the time it takes to produce the footage the City would request$150 per request for any citizen or attorney. Those funds go towards training,supplies and equipment which is established by state statute. Council Vice President Maples stated he would like to see a few things changed. On section four change the wording from shall to may and working with McVoy on how much can be charged and working with Mr. Wilder on these things. Council Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the ordinance on the first reading,seconded by Councilperson Burns; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Page 4 of 6 Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 9-0 ATTORNEY COMMENT: Corporate Counsel, Les Merkley—Not Present Council Attorney, Larry Wilder—Nothing today. DEPARTMENT HEAD COMMENT: Mr. Reischl—Recently we have had a number of requests for multi family dwellings to come in the community. Back in 2016 we had about a 30/70 split in Jeffersonville,we have permitted 2600 new dwellings in Jeffersonville and we have a 61/29 split. Many of the multifamily homes have been for senior living. Even though in the last four years we have permitted many multifamily dwellings the overall is now 33/66 so it has not changed the grand scheme of things. Mrs. Metcalf-Nothing Assistant Chief McVoy—ACharlestown Officer TJ Johnson was laid to rest today. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. He thanked both the Police and Fire departments and complimented the men and women out there doing the job during a difficult time. Mr. McCutcheon—What the Fire Department is seeking to do is upgrade their system. For the last 6 months they have run out of capabilities with their current Knock Out system, it is a VHS system converted over to digital that is over 40 years old. They have consulted with other departments to see what they are using: They would like to upgrade the 5 stations. They are currently not meeting the NFPA standards. They are not looking for additional funds. The new system would make them NFPA compliant again. The Pheonix G2 system is what they will move to. Anne Langley stated they are looking for permission so that the Council is aware because this will be financed over three years however they will not need additional funds. They are paying$100,000 directly to the vendor and then financing the remainder of the purchase price through First Savings Bank. Council Vice President Maples expressed concern that the Council had been in a similar situation and then had to fund the money when it didn't come through for the River Stage. Councilperson White made the motion to approve the contract and financing the payment for the gear, seconded.by Councilperson Webb; roll call vote: Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson.Burns—Yes Councilperson Paris-Yes Council Vice President Maples-No Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—Yes Councilperson Ellis—Yes Motion passes 8-0 Mr. Hurt—He was under the impression the contract would be discussed this evening but he was informed hopefully that will be discussed in the next meeting. He is happy to answer any questions that anyone might have. Mr.Wilder recommended that if there are any conversations to be had concerning the contract that its arranged to be done so in the same terms that the contract was negotiated, not in an open meeting. Mr. Hurt stated he would get in contact with Councilperson White, Councilperson Hawkins,and Councilperson Burns to discuss. Page 5 of 6 COUNCIL COMMENTS: • Councilperson White—No comment • Councilperson Burns—He assumes in January they will discuss board appointments. If anyone wants to serve on the Public Arts Board he would be happy to allow them. • Councilperson Paris—No Comment • Council Vice President Maples—Echoed Assistant Chief McVoy's sympathy to TJ Johnson's family and colleagues. • .Councilperson Croft—No comment • Councilperson Webb—He believed Mr. Reischl had already left the meeting but he would like to know what the tax rate per house hold is on RI vs R3and what the City is bringing in on tax - revenue. • Councilperson Hawkins—No Comment • Councilperson Ellis-No Comment • Council President Owen—We will discuss Council Appointments at our next meeting. If you can be thinking about vacancies and how they can be filled. ADJOURNMENT: Councilperson Ellis made the motion to ADJOURN the meeting at 7:58 p.m. APROVED BY: • Matt O en, resident ATTEST:. L sa Gill,Clerk Page 6 of 6