MINUTES MUNCIE COMMON COUNCIL 300 NORTH HIGH STREET MUNCIE INDIANA

Transcription

1 MINUTES MUNCIE COMMON COUNCIL 300 NORTH HIGH STREET MUNCIE INDIANA DECEMBER 3, 2012 PUBLIC HEARING: 7:15 P.M. 1 5 T FLOOR, CITY HALL AUDITORIUM. ORD AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2012 BUDGET AS APPROVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL WITH RESPECT TO THE GENERAL FUND. Controller Audrey Jones states if you want to transfer between departments from one fund it needed to be advertised and a public hearing held. REGULAR MEETING: 7:30 P., 1 5 T FLOOR, CITY HALL AUDITORIUM. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by the Color Guard ROTC from Muncie Southside High School under the Direction of Master Sgt. Robert Harber and Councilperson Doug Marshall. INVOCATION: Given by Rev. Wade Allen from First Baptist Church. CITIZEN RECOGNITION: Councilperson Alison Quirk recognizes Joshua Burton and Russell Irving. Quirk states Burton and Irving devoted their time, talent and resources in restoring their neighbor's home all for the sake of educating others on historic restoration. They spent every evening and weekend for at least five months cleaning, scraping, sanding, painting, tiling and calling on numerous volunteers to restore a historic home in the Emily Kimbrough Historical District. Her reason to recognize them is to bring awareness to the ripple effect the impact of their project has had on the community. The improvements made to the home have increased the value and also helped the neighborhood and city as well. They have educated hundreds of people on the importance of restoring historical homes and encouraged others to restore other homes in the city. They invited hundreds of people from all over to come to Muncie and see the historic homes waiting for someone to love. At least 500 people came to visit the home on Adams Street. She believes the hard work of Joshua and Russell has made a lasting impression and they look forward to their next restoration project, which is being planned. Burton is a lifelong resident of Muncie and has always had a passion for history and preservation. His community involvement began when he was in middle school volunteering at Minnetrista and the Delaware County Historical Society. During his four years in High School he volunteered at the Muncie Children's Museum where he worked over 400 hours a year. When he began studying at Ball State he quickly realized Historic Preservation was something he wanted to make a permanent part of his life. He earned a degree in Interior Design with a minor in Historic Preservation. Upon graduation he jumped back into the community and became a member of the Muncie Historic Preservation Commission and continues to serve for the past eight

2 years. He has spent time as a board member and former president of East Central Neighborhood Association, East Central Reinvestment Corporation and Gallery. He helped disassemble a twelve foot stain glass stone from a building that was being demolished. He spent six months restoring windows at the restoration show house and eighteen months repainting the outside of his own historic home. He enjoys planning community events and sharing a passion for preservation. He considers the Midwest restoration festival to be his greatest event yet. Irving is a Muncie Native who returned to Muncie a year and a half ago with his partner and his son. Irving is an interior designer whose work has been featured in Better Homes and Garden, Indianapolis Monthly and Victorian Homes. He has received an award for restoration work on a home in Greenfield, Indiana. One of the main reasons Irving came back to Muncie is the restoration of his current home the 1850's Greek revival style home of the early Muncie pioneer Thomas Neely. Irving saw a need to create something at a grass roots level that raised awareness and enthusiasm interests and funds for restoration and preservations efforts in Muncie and that is why he along with Joshua and many others started the Midwest Restoration Festival. Irving states they didn't restore a home completely but took one that was in danger and changed the direction of it. There are big projects with federal money on the large scale. Their goal is to remind people that it starts with scraping wallpaper one room at a time. It gets people excited about the treasures that line their streets. This coming year they have committed to one home and possibly two that were once on the demolition list at one time and will be brought back to a beautiful structure. He states they can be followed on President Dishman states they will try and continue this program next year every month. One of the councilmembers will recognize a citizen. Councilperson Powell invites Terry Whitt-Bailey to come up and recognize Ball State students that have been collaborating with a project. Whitt-Bailey introduces her to a group of people who have also made an impact for the city. At the beginning of the year the Mayor took him upon himself to connect them with Ball State University and with the Mayor's assistant and President Jo Ann Gora they worked along with Gretchen Goodman in Governmental Affairs, Frank Sabatine Associate provost, Randy Howard Vice-President of Business Affairs and Chip Taylor Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department. They met and tried to figure out how they could better connect with each other and get students involved. One of the things was to work with students who could come out of the classroom box and learn more about what is going on in the city around them. There is one program that has been successful among others and that is relative to their employee handbook. Human Resources Director Sarah Beach states Terry and the Mayor were involved in getting the program put together and use it to benefit them. She states when she took office the handbook and policies are just a jumble. She states it was hard to look at it in a cohesive manner. She was connected with Assistant Professor Chip Taylor from Ball State. Chip Taylor states a couple of their students took on the project Joe Nelson and Lisa Scott. He thanked the City for this opportunity and Beach is a great person to work with. They are always looking for opportunities to give their students practical

3 experience and in a way they can make a contribution to the community. Beach states this has been a great asset to Ball State and the City of Muncie. Beach states with the program being so successful they will continue to have dialogue and use the program in other aspects of the city. ROLL CALL: PRESENT ABSENT Doug Marshall x Mark Conatser x Mary Jo Barton Brad Polk Jerry D. Dishman Julius J. Anderson Alison Quirk Nora Powell x Linda Gregory It is noted that Councilman Mark Conatser wasn't able to attend due to being sick. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Marshall and seconded by Powell to approve minutes. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. MINUTES APPROVED. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Dishman states Joe Winkle will come next month to give a report for the 911 Communications Center. Quirk asks Muncie Animal Care Superintendent Phil Peckinpaugh to come forward and give a report. Superintendent Phil Peckinpaugh states they have taken in year to date 3,596 animals, which is 66.8% up from last year and that is including taking on the county starting April 1st_ He states their adoption numbers are up. There were 634 adoptions compared to 423 last year, which is 49%. The amount of animals reclaimed is 389 and last year it was 283, which is up 37%. Last year the number of animals euthanized was 931 and this year it was 668, however 185 were at the request of their owners. He states last year the Shelter did 69 relocations for the entire year that were sent to other rescues. He states this year they are up to 831 and they do a lot of work with rescues. The shelter is averaging 14.2 calls a day and they have been able to bust a pit bull fighting ring. He will give the financial report at the beginning of the year. He states their donations have gone up considerably and the grant writers have been able to collect over $9,000 in grants to assist with their cruelty investigations. The attorneys are also working with other towns to bring them into their interlocal agreement. They want to cut the call time down. They have a 24/7 365 day service and they want to improve those call times. They want to hold more adoption events. They also want to bring in more volunteers. They are going to start a dog walking program on Saturdays for volunteers. He hopes to keep moving things in the right direction and making Muncie a great place for stray animals to live. Dishman thanks Peckinpaugh for their good job he is doing and he has heard a lot of good things. x

4 ORDINANCES PREVIOUSLY INTRODUCED: ORD AN ORDINANCE FOR ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE YEAR Controller Audrey Jones is present for any questions. Jones states they have the cash funds for the appropriations but not the appropriations to spend the money. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. NEW ORDINANCES: ORD AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CITY OF MUNCIE COMPREHENSIVE, ZONING ORDINANCE FROM THE R-4 RESIDENCE ZONE TO THE R-5 RESIDENCE ZONE ON PREMISES LOCATED AT 805, 809, 815 & 819 W. RIVERSIDE AVENUE, MUNCIE, INDIANA. A motion was made by Barton and seconded by Marshall to Introduce. Attorney Dan Gibson states they are seeking to have four parcels rezoned. The purpose is to develop a 14 to 15 unit apartment complex. The owners of the company are residents that own several properties in the City of Muncie and Delaware County. Three of the four properties were recently purchased from a gentleman that live in Los Angeles and feels there could be put to better use. On November 1st they went before the Plan Commission and there was a unanimously recommended the approval of the rezoning. Some of these would 2 and 3 bedroom units. It will have approximately 40 residents. One of the issues that were addressed the number of building apartments constructed in the City of Muncie. They are only increasing the units by a couple. There was no concern with that going forward. The project will blend in well in the area. There are two apartment buildings on the other side of Riverside and also a number of fraternity homes. Behind the proposed project most all of the homes are student rentals. A couple of the homes are a little run down and need a lot of work. Another concern was parking. Currently the parking for the number of units is inadequate and the plan will be to provide 31 spots which slightly exceed the requirements. Another concern was trash. This project will provide adequate dumpsters and screened in accordance with the zoning ordinance. The other concerns were storm water runoff and sewage. His client has hired someone to ensure the requirements are met regarding sewage and water runoff. They will work to make sure design requirements are met. They have a good history of property management. Anderson states he did see there were some concerns regarding sewage and states this is beginning to become saturated with new buildings and there is no problem with it but just if that area will be able to handle all of that. It's not a big concern right now but people are concerned about that. Gibson states there are several different options regarding retaining the water to the extent of overloading the system. They don't anticipate that being a major concern but if there is any Randall Miller has assured there are several options they can pursue to make sure the concerns are alleviated. Barton asked if they will know the concerns regarding the water by next month. Gibson states

5 no, because they hesitate about going too far into the development of this in the event this isn't approved. That will be a part of the permitting process. Question called. A vote by acclamation showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. INTRODUCED. ORD AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 90, AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 90, AND REPEALING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 90 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF MUNCIE INDIANA. A motion was made by Barton and seconded by Marshall to Introduce. Superintendent of Muncie Animal Shelter Phil Peckinpaugh states the ordinances they currently have are pretty outdated. He states this ordinance has revised the entire Animal Code for the City of Muncie. They do work in the county and these only apply to the city. These are more updated. The fines and fees have gone up. Quirk states she is the council member who has been the liaison with the Animal Care Board and trying to work with them to bring this to the council. She withdrew the first attempt at this because the Animal Care Services had some language changes they wanted to make. She is already getting feedback on some things they may tweak a bit. She states they want to update what they have and let Animal Control have the tools and resources to go out and investigate situations. They want to make sure the animals have good living conditions that are acceptable. Dishman thanks Peckinpaugh for what he is doing because there is a lot of animal cruelty going on and his concern is the welfare of the animals. Dishman asks what is it the Animal Shelter can't do in the county that they can in the city. Peckinpaugh states there is a city ordinance that bans livestock and there are a certain amount animals you are allowed in your home and a lot of that isn't going to apply to someone that has a 40 acre farm. The county has their own set of ordinances and they will be revising those as well. Dishman states it is the wish of the council to stop animal cruelty and they are taking a hard look at this to make sure it does stop. A lot of people neglect their animals. Quirk states one of the suggestions she made was once they adopt the new ordinances and have them in place she would like for the city council to work with Animal Care Services to reach out to the City of Muncie and possibly go into the districts and educate the people on animal control. Question called. A vote by acclamation showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. INTRODUCED. ORD AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2012 BUDGET AS APPROVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL WITH RESPECT TO THE GENERAL FUND. A motion was made by Barton and seconded by Marshall to Introduce. Controller Audrey Jones states this money has already been budgeted in the 2012 budget for the general fund. They are just moving appropriations from the Board of Works so they will not have to ask the state for additional appropriations for these funds. Gregory states she wasn't aware there was $150,000 in the Board of Works electric line and thought the electric was split between each of the departments. Jones states this is for the street lights and it is paid out of this line item. Jones states there is $280,000 that hasn't been spent and they don't estimate there would need to be any more than $80,000. Gregory states one of the reasons why that haven't been used is the project that was done. two years ago to swap out traffic lights to LED fixtures, which put most of them at a minimum charge. That was part of a Department of Energy grant and that is

6 probably where the bulk of that money came from. Question called. A vote by acclamation showed 7 yeas and 1 nay. (Gregory). INTRODUCED. RESOLUTIONS: RES A RESOLUTION APPROVING DEDUCTION FROM ASSESSED VALUE OF NEW MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT IN AN ALREADY DECLARED ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AREA (DELAWARE DYNAMICS, LLC). A motion was made by Barton and seconded by Polk to Adopt. CEO of Delaware Dynamics Ryan Haas states they manufacture Die Casting Molds, which is almost 100% automotive. Their client base is mostly domestic, Ford, Chrysler, General Motors, Nissan and Hyundai work. This work is for frames, suspensions and very critical structural. Most of the technology was developed in Germany. Audi started this in their cars in President Obama earlier this year passed the cafe standards and that is a fuel fleet average for each auto manufacturer. It basically doubles by One of the best ways to improve fuel economy is reduce the weight in cars. You have a lot more production locally. They have manufacturing and die casting on site. They can design the tool, build it and produce it and it makes it unique. Their current business with Honda is a very good potential customer in the long run. They want to create jobs here. He states in 2010 they had 81 employees and today they have 109 employees. They are looking at a potential of twelve jobs. Dishman asks what the starting wage is. Haas states $10.00 starting out and is progressive. Anderson thanks him for bringing jobs to Muncie and asks if they are high tech jobs. Haas states they are high skilled. A lot of the applicants come in from trade school or they do training on the job. Anderson states this could be good recruiting with the graduates from Ivy Tech and local areas. Dishman congratulates them for bringing business in Muncie and he knows they are competing with other countries. Barton asks if the check they are looking at for the taxes paid for the fall. Haas states that is just for the fall only. He states for personal property taxes they paid a total just under $100,000. He states their total tax bill for 2012 was $173,000. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. RES A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITYOF MUNCIE, INDIANA APPROVING AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT FOR MUNCIE CITY COURT PROSECUTOR. Delaware County Prosecutor Jeff Arnold states for the past eight months he has been working with Judge Bennington, Police Chief Steve Stewart and Mayor Tyler and his staff to try and do a better job in City Court. He states City Court runs at the discretion of the Prosecutor and is an important court and he supports it. He states they are about 600 cases above than what they were last year. They have developed a good program once they get it running for domestic violence. He states they will be expediting those cases and getting them into court faster. He states the faster you can get a domestic violence case into court the more willing the victim stays. They are worked on those ideals but they need to get someone full-time. As they continue to file more cases in City Court they will be generating more income. He states they are filing a lot more

7 cases but the revenue isn't seen until the fines and costs are paid. He knows how many cases it takes to make ex amount of dollars for City Court. He states everyone has to pay a new public defender fee. He states they have moved Driving While Suspended cases to City Court because they are starting a program with that also. It helps them get their license quicker and it generates money for the court. He states with the Title 12 program there wasn't a user fee and they researched that and there is now a fee for that program. They can justify the expenditure he is asking the council to enter into with the county. He states they will pay for themselves within the next year or two. He and John Quirk help write this agreement. He has the support of the Police Department because they are putting on two officers will help with domestic violence issues. He is asking the city to help with their portion of city court where many years Delaware County has paid. Gregory asks if they need to work about any line item or appropriations. Arnold states they ask for two semi-annual payments. Gregory states it wasn't approved in the budget and it will need an appropriation at some point. Quirk states she use to work for A Better Way and agrees this should be expedited as quickly as possible. A victim can only stay 45 days to stay in an environment away from the abuser and she appreciates this program. Arnold states the numbers of domestic violence have gone up and the police department is more active now than they were in tbe last couple of years. He states the excise also has federal grants now and the numbers will stay up. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. RES A RESOLUTION MAKING TRANSFERS WITHN THE POLICE PENSION DEPARTMENT. Controller Audrey Jones states she has eight transfers and states in prior years it was done by department and she has researched it and it can be done by one full transfer. She states this is to keep them from being in the negative. The funds are there it is just transferring from one line item to another. She wants to thank anyone that had questions and her office is always open for questions. Gregory questions the account number and wants to know if it is correct. Jones states it is correct. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. RES A RESOLUTION MAKING TRANSFERS WITHIN THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT. Controller Audrey Jones states these transfers are all just housekeeping to make sure the line items aren't in the negative. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. RES A RESOLUTION MAKING TRANSFERS WITHIN THE COMMON COUNCIL DEPARTMENT. Gregory asks what is the other insurance line item. Jones states it is for maintenance for the building or insurance for workman's comp. She states it was divided by department. Polk asks about the council insurance. Jones states the line item is the

8 same. Polk asks why are they increasing common council line item 41106? Jones states they were short on their wages. Gregory asks is it because of 26 pays. Jones states it is based on a bi-weekly salary. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. RES A RESOLUTION MAKING TRANSFERS WITHIN THE STREET DEPARTMENT. Barton asks what are street cages. Jones states it is a line item for equipment and actually salt is coming out of that line item. Jones states when they changed the system over to New World from Keystone they had to change the descriptions so a line item in her budget said one thing and they made a generic line item for the new system. Gregory states she is looking at a budget printout from august 3rd of this year and it only had $2,000 in that line item and she is questioning where they got $19,000. Gregory states it is in line item Jones states they are not in 101 and they are in 220 for the street department. Jones states is the Animal Shelter. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. RES A RESOLUTION MAKING TRANSFERS WITHIN THE BEECH GROVE DEPARTMENT. A motion was made by Barton and seconded by Polk to Adopt. Controller Audrey Jones states they only have one month of gas to pay, which is the Vectren bill. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. RES A RESOLUTION MAKING TRANSFERS WITHIN THE BOARD OF WORKS. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. RES A RESOLUTION MAKING TRANSFERS WITHIN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. Polk asks if this is for a truck. Controller Audrey Jones states yes and there was insurance from another vehicle and it was added back as well. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. RES A RESOLUTION MAKING TRANSFERS WITHIN THE MERIT COMMISSION DEPARTMENT. Polk asks if this is a part-time position. Controller Audrey Jones states that perf isn't supposed to be paid out because it is part-time. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED.

9 A motion was made by Polk and seconded by Marshall to Suspend the Rules for Resolution A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED. RES A RESOLUTION APPROVING DEDUCTION FROM ASSESSED VALUE OF NEW REAL PROPERTY IMPROVEMENTS IN AN ALREADY DECLARED ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AREA. (MUNCIE REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION ON BEHALF OF SALLIE MAE, INC.). Bruce Baldwin states the resolutions were filed by the MRC on behalf of Sallie Mae because the Redevelopment Commission owns the real estate at this time. Jeff Walmington is available from Sallie Mae as well as Terry Murphy from Economic Development Alliance. Terry Murphy states this is for Sallie Mae to add square footage to the building and add an additional 200 jobs. The Capital Investment in real estate is $3,325, and equipment $850,000 and investing another $725,000 that there isn't an abatement on, which is furniture and fixtures. The company would hire 200 new employees by the year ending 2014 at an average rate of $37,000 for someone that is been with the company over one year. They will retain all existing jobs and use their best efforts to use local contractors when competitively priced. They are in competition with other communities with projects like this. Jeff Walmington states they first brought the project before the council in They are ready to break ground. The project design is complete with their architect. Polk thanks him for the project and adding jobs. Walmington states they have had 720 jobs at one time and they have exceeded the capacity in what they projected. Dishman asks how they do their hiring. Walmington states they did outsource their recruiting but they have hired employees to do their recruiting and they are Sallie Mae employees. They have part-time staff but that is the choice of the employee. The benefit package will be a lot better in 2013 than it was in Anderson states providing the approval tonight what is the completion date? Walmington states he has put the pressure on his construction team to have everything done to bring in employees by July. Dishman states he appreciates them considering local contractors. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. A motion was made by Polk and seconded by Marshall to Suspend the Rules for Resolution A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. MOTION CARRIED. RES A RESOLUTION APPROVING DEDUCTION FROM ASSESSED VALUE OF NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT IN AN ALREADY DECLARED ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AREA. A motion was made by Barton and seconded by Barton to Adopt. Gregory states she thought all of the IT abatements were three years. Hunter states it is three to five years. Question called. A roll call vote showed 8 yeas and 0 nays. ADOPTED. Dishman recognized Bruce Baldwin for his retirement and wishes him Good Luck.

10 OTHER BUSINESS: Council Attorney Joseph Hunter states he has two of the three union contracts that need to be voted on. He asks they have a special meeting when he gets the third contract. Quirk states last evening along with Muncie Community Schools and Downtown Development, they hosted the light of downtown. She thinks everyone done a great job and it was a really good event and thanks everyone that helped with it. A motion was made by rshall and seconded by Polk to Adjourn. Motion carried. Pre Cle t of the Muncie Common C ncil