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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 4, 2021 Council Minutes COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA January 4,2021 Regular Meeting Minutes The Common Council of the City ofJeffersonville, Indiana met for the Regular Meeting via teleconferencing on January 4,2021. 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 President Owen and Councilperson Croft;those members teleconferencing(Covid-19)were Councilperson White, Councilperson Burns, Councilperson Paris,Council Vice President Maples,Councilperson Webb, Councilperson Hawkins and Councilperson Ellis. INVOCATION: Council President Owen led the invocation. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilperson Burns made a motion to approve the Minutes of December 21,2020 of the Regular Meeting, 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 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Council President Owen stated there are a couple of things. Mr. Merkley is unable to join this evening and he asked that the Council table number 9 again. And then also he failed to put on the agenda the election of the Council President and Vice President for 2021 and he would like that right after Report of the Clerk. Council Vice President Maples made the motion to amend the Agenda tabling number 9 and adding Election of Officers right after Report of the Clerk,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 Page 1 of 6 Couricil Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the amended agenda, 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 CLAIMS TO APPROVE: Civil City$1,993,039.79—Ms. Heather Metcalf,City Controller indicated there are no changes. 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$78,093.69-Ms. Metcalf indicated there was no changes. Council Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the Parks Claims,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 REPORT OF THE CLERK: Happy New Year to everyone and HR is here,we finally have the whole agreement signed so HR will be discussing the Salary Ordinance. ELECTION OF OFFICERS for 2021 Councilperson Webb stated he sees how much work goes into being the President and being the Council, they are budget conscious of everyone's pay but he thinks the Council members should consider giving up maybe$250 of each of their pay to go toward the President making$2000 more because there is a lot going into that position and it might make more people more enthused to do it. He would like for the Council to think about it. Council President Owen stated as the person who has been in that seat for the Page 2 of 6 last year, he appreciated the sentiment but he doesn't know if that is appropriate or if it can be addressed since they are in the new year already. COUNCIL PRESIDENT Councilperson Burns made the motion to nominate Matt Owen to remain as Council President, 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—No Motion passes 8-1 COUNCIL VICE PRESIDENT Councilperson Croft made the motion to retain Scottie Maples to remain as Council Vice President, seconded by Councilperson Burns; Councilperson Webb made a motion to close the nominations,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 Roll call vote for nomination of Scottie Maples for Council Vice President: 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 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1. Les Merkley 2020-OR-67 An Ordinance Establishing Fees for Copy of Body Camera Video Taken by the Jeffersonville Police Department at Accident Scenes Tabled during approval of agenda Page 3 of 6 NEW BUSINESS 1. Kim Calabro Salary Ordinance 2021-OR-1 Change Requested for Fire, Police,and Finance -Mrs. Calabro stated this reflects the most recent Contract changes for Fire and Police but on page 2 under the Finance Department one of the things that Controller Metcalf decided to do is not replace the Accountant position that was vacated at the end of this past year and instead she would like to add an additional Accounts Payable Clerk and not hire the Accountant. The pay grade stays the same but this will allow them to be a little more efficient in the Claims processes. Currently they average around 17000 claims a year and currently the Administrative Assistant does some of the backups but if the Account Payable Clerk goes on vacation or is out it makes things difficult. Mrs. Calabro outlined the changes under the Fire Department as well as the Police Department. Mrs. Calabro stated she would need to also remove the Accountant under the Wastewater Department as well since that was a split position. Councilperson Burns made the motion to approve the ordinance on the first and second reading,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 2. Matt Owen—Council Appointment Discussion Council President Owen stated this was an old bullet point. He thought there was one appointment that was missed but there is not an appointment that is needed to be made. Additionally, Councilperson Ellis would like to discuss further some of the action at the previous meeting. Councilperson Ellis stated at the last meeting when the Council voted to remove Mrs. Hardaway because some of the Council members stated they had just cause, he was never informed as to what the just cause is and neither was Mrs. Hardaway informed as to what the just cause is. He has talked with some of the members of the Urban Enterprise Zone and they feel that Mrs. Hardaway was done an injustice. He feels Mrs. Hardaway was removed because someone had slandered her name and also put a block on her integrity and he would like to see the Council reinstate Mrs. Hardaway as a member of the Urban Enterprise Zone. Councilperson Ellis made a motion to reinstate Mrs. Hardaway to the Urban Enterprise Zone. Councilperson Paris seconded the motion. Council Vice President Maples asked Mr.Wilder if the Council could make a motion to reinstate someone without removing someone who has already been instated. Mr.Wilder stated he believed that the Council has propagated the membership of the UEA and when they did that they did that by removing a member and replacing that member. He believes Councilperson Ellis is questioning whether or not Mrs. Hardaway should have been removed for cause and Councilperson Ellis confirmed that was his question. Councilperson Ellis stated he would like to remove the person who took Mrs. Hardaway's place. Mr. Wilder stated this was the reason he asked for the record the during the last Council meeting if each Councilperson had a cause for voting each way they did. Mr.Wilder confirmed that the statute says only a member can be removed for just cause and that was the reasoning behind him confirming the Council's vote for the record. The issue now is moot for what each member of the Council's reason was for the cause. The vote reflected that the individuals voted to remove Mrs. Hardaway voted that way believing there was cause. Mr.Wilder,stated that he believes that only Mrs. Hardaway or the UEA Page 4 of 6 could challenge the Council's decision. Mr.Wilder stated he did not think that the Council could now remove someone that they appointed without cause. Councilperson Ellis stated that the UEA at an earlier time and questioned if the UEA could do that again. Mr.Wilder stated he thinks that is something that the UEA can do but the Council has the right to determine if the reason is just cause. Mr.Wilder stated his request was that each Councilperson not discuss their reasoning in a public meeting: Councilperson Ellis stated he would like for it to be said in a public meeting that he voted in the negative and he supports Mrs. Hardaway. Councilperson Croft stated since the last meeting he has had several phone calls asking what the reason was and that was something he couldn't answer. He does not know of anything that she did wrong and it just got over his head a little bit when it happened. Council President Owen stated there was a motion made and a second but he believes that can not be voted on because there was not a vacancy to reappoint Mrs. Hardaway to and asked Mr.Wilder to confirm that was correct. Mr.Wilder suggested there was not a vacancy and the only method to make a change would be to make a motion to remove someone they appointed and go through the process but it would have to be for just cause: Councilperson Paris stated as far as he knew everything was running smoothly at the UEZ and he did not hear one bad thing.about Mrs. Hardaway and the job she was doing and he felt it was unfair that she was moved off the board. Councilperson Ellis made the motion to remove Councilperson White from the UEZ and reappoint Mrs. Hardaway. Council President Owen stated the motion died for lack of a second. Councilperson Hawkins stated this was the meeting that he had to leave early and for the record he doesn't really know Mrs. Hardaway, no one has ever expressed anything to him about anything she had done and he would not have voted to remove her. There were enough votes to remove, but he wanted to say that as well. ATTORNEY COMMENT:' Corporate Counsel, Les Merkley—No present Council Attorney, Larry Wilder=He hopes in 2021,we all get to see one another and have live Council Meetings. DEPARTMENT HEAD COMMENT: Mrs. Metcalf—No comment COUNCIL COMMENTS: • Councilperson.White—Happy New Year to everybody. He is looking forward to a year and to working with the Council and make sure we keep the City moving in the right direction. • Councilperson Burns-Happy New Year • Councilperson Paris—No comment • Council Vice President Maples—Wished Larry Wilder a happy birthday. • Councilperson Croft—He reiterated what has been said and will be happy when they can-get back to normal and happy birthday to Mr.Wilder. • Councilperson Webb—Happy new year everyone and congratulations to re-elect President and , Vice-President. Good luck to Mr. Hawkins on his operation. Happy birthday to Larry and he is looking forward to 2021. .. . • Councilperson Hawkins—Happy New Year to everyone and he hopes they continue doing the good business they have been doing. ' • Councilperson Ellis—Bill Burns also had a birthday this week so he would like to wish him a happy birthday.y as well as Mr.Wilder a happy birthday. Page5of6 • Council President Owen—He would like to echo his thanks for the reappointment as the President. He appreciated Mr.Webb's thoughts before that vote but completely unnecessary but he appreciates the sentiment. He had an email from the Clerk's Office about Public Comment which has been difficult with Zoom meetings and Covid restrictions. We do have in progress some changes to the Council Chambers at City Hall that will hopefully allow us to get back in person for meetings and offer an in person and zoom meetings to allow for Public Comment. We have opened the Council Chambers for Public Hearings. We have approved the funding for those changes out of the Covid funding and we have a contractor set to get started on those changes. Councilperson Ellis stated he would like to add that he would like to encourage everyone to take the Covid vaccine when it becomes available for us. That is one thing we can do to protect ourselves and the people of the City. ADJOURNMENT: Councilperson Burns made the motion to ADJOURN the meeting at 7:43p.m. APROVED BY: Matt we Pr i nt ' ATTEST: isa Gill,Clerk Page 6 of 6