Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 19, 2021 Council Minutes COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY JEFFERSONVILLE, INDIANA January 19,2021 Regular Meeting Minutes The Common Council of the City of Jeffersonville, Indiana met for the Regular Meeting via teleconferencing on January 19,2021. Council President Owen along with City Clerk Gill called the virtual meeting to order at 7:02 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: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Council Vice President Maples made a motion to approve the Minutes of January 4,2021 of the Regular Meeting,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 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Council President Owen stated number nine would need to continue to be tabled. Council Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the Agenda with number nine being tabled,seconded by Councilperson Webb; 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$1,046,555.22— Page 1 of 5 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$77,793.40- Council Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the Parks Claims,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 REPORT OF THE CLERK: For those of you who have not signed your Nepotism letters please come in and sign those,they are in your mailbox. 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. 2. Kim Calabro Salary Ordinance 2021-OR-1 -Council President Owen asked Mrs.Calabro if there were and changes and she stated there were not. Everything is the same as she presented but she is happy to go over those changes if requested. Council Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the ordinance on the third and final reading, 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 Page 2 of 5 NEW BUSINESS 1. Heather Metcalf 2021-OR-02 Ordinance of Transfer of Funds Within the Same Department—Mrs. Metcalf stated this is a transfer requested by Vehicle Maintenance to transfer$20,000 from the Motor Vehicles Supplies to their Vehicle Maintenance Service account. Its just to move money from one category to another. Council Vice President Maples made the motion to approve the ordinance on the first and second reading, seconded by Councilperson Ellis; 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—Discussion on Council Chambers-Council President Owen has spoken with most of the Council if not all of them regarding this. Since they have been in these virtual meetings they have talked about what it would look like once life started to get back to normal;once they see the vaccine become widely available,the flattening of the curve,and the local community start to get back to a little bit of normal. They have discussed what it would look like to get back to in person meetings and reopen to the public and what kind of changes would need to happen between now and then so that when that happens they are ready and able to be more transparent for the public and-how can they fit some of the ways they have done business during the pandemic and how can they take those concepts and move forward with them once they resume in person meetings. There have been recommendations to change so they can continue proper social distancing as well as upgrading some equipment so they might be able to continue streaming the meetings. Council President Owen stated they may have put the cart before the horse but they would like to do some renovations, upgrade the equipment and extend the platform. He stated he. believed the Mayor's Office was open to some of these changes but they do not want to push opening and getting back to in person meetings too quickly. If this is something the Council would like to see move forward they need to have the discussion and then take it to the Building Commission to approve the contract to get that taken care of. They are looking at putting in nine separated work stations so that they can social distance as well as upgrading the video equipment and connection. There is money from last year that is appropriated for this. They worked with the Finance department to make sure that these expenses'were acceptable for the Covid money. He just wanted to get the Council's thought on this. Councilperson Ellis stated he tried to return Council President Owens phone call and was unable to reach him so this is the first time he has heard this presentation. He went in to sign his papers and was able to see what has been done in the Council Chambers so far and he agrees that they have put the cart before the horse because he does not believe that the City Council can legally sign a contract with anyone except the Council Attorney and he doesn't think that any member of the Council has the authority to sign a contract with anyone. He thinks this needs to be addressed so that going forward they are doing things in the legal way. Council President Owen said he agrees and a contract has not been signed. If there are any objections they can certainly go a different direction. Councilperson Ellis stated he would appreciate it if Council President Owen was unable to reach out to him if Council Vice President Maples would reach out to him with the information. Councilperson Hawkins asked if the State put any dates on guidelines to how long they are going to be able to hold virtual meetings or when they will reexamine the issue. Les Merkley stated the Governor's executive meeting is tide to the State of Emergency and that is reexamined every 30 days. Council Vice President Maples asked if the Administration was seeking a motion to move forward Page 3 of 5 with that. Mr. Merkley stated the Mayor is not comfortable moving forward without hearing from the Council. They want to make sure they are not opening for the public until it is safe. Additionally, Planning and Zoning normally packs that room. These changes are going to make that room even tighter with less seats for the public to be socially distanced. Councilperson Paris asked if there was a breakdown for the cost on this. He would be for updating the equipment but he does not agree with changing the Council Chambers. He really likes the room, he thinks it flows very nicely. He hasn't seen a breakdown of the numbers. Council President Owen said they could send the breakdown over, he did not have it in front of him. Council Vice President asked if this was going to be included in the CARES Act and Council President Owen confirmed it would. Council Vice President Maples made the motion that the Council vote to request that the Mayor and the Jeffersonville Building Authority proceed to execute all contracts and agreements necessary to effect the Council's proposed modifications of and remodeling of the Council Chambers pursuant to the design that has been submitted. Moreover,that we request that the Mayor and Building Authority purchase the necessary equipment to update the communications devices for the continued use of the Council, seconded by Councilperson White; roll call vote: Councilperson Hawkins confirmed they are taking this upon themselves to design a way that they can all be separate from each other when they resume in person meetings. Council Vice President Maples stated it was also taken into consideration to have workstations that lock as well as space out further. Councilperson White-Yes Councilperson Burns—Yes - Councilperson Paris-No Council Vice President Maples-Yes Councilperson Croft-Yes Councilperson Webb—Yes Council President Owen-Yes Councilperson Hawkins—No Councilperson Ellis—No Motion passes 6-3 ATTORNEY COMMENT: Corporate Counsel, Les Merkley—Nothing at this time. 'Council Attorney, Larry Wilder—Thank you all for another opportunity to serve the Council. DEPARTMENT HEAD COMMENT: • Chad Reischl—2020 Annual Report—He would like to share the 2020 annual report. Development in Jeff hasn't slowed down and is still moving along. In 2020 they saw an 8%increase in their case load over 2019. They approved 2.4 million square feet in commercial and industrial in the City of Jeff with 60%of that being in River Ridge. They also approved 1300 new residential units-around 1000 new multifamily units and about 300 new single family homes. They issued 85 zoning certificates. We are excited to see the new buildings and business go up in the next year or so. COUNCIL COMMENTS: • Councilperson White—No comment. • Councilperson Burns—No comment. • Councilperson Paris—No comment. • Council Vice President Maples—No comment. Page 4 of 5 • Councilperson Croft—No comment. • Councilperson Webb—No comment. • Councilperson Hawkins—No comment. • Councilperson Ellis—He would like to encourage everyone to get their covid-19 vaccine as soon as they become available. • Council President Owen-No comment. ADJOURNMENT: Councilperson Ellis made the motion to ADJOURN the meeting at 7:35 p.m. APROVED BY: Matt Owe sident ATTEST: its Gill,Clerk Page 5 of 5