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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCM-05-20-91CARMEL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 20, 1991 7:00 P.M. CARMEL CITY HALL/ONE CIVIC SQUARE The meeting of the Carmel City Council was called to order by Mayor Dorothy J. Hancock. Councilors in attendance were Minnie Doane, Lee Lonzo, Annabelle Ogle, Tom Irvin and Alan Potasnik. City Attorney Steve Andrews and Clerk-Treasurer Susan W. Jones were also in attendance. The invocation was given by Councilor Doane followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilor Potasnik moved to approve the minutes of May 6, MINUTES: 1991. The motion was seconded by Councilor Lonzo. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Councilor Irvin made a motion to approve a transfer resolution (5- 20-91-1) in the Clerk-Treasurer's water and sewer budget in the amount of $833.33 from office equipment into recodification. The motion was seconded by Councilor Potasnik. All members voted aye. Councilor Potasnik asked if this was the final payment for Hoosier Codification. Jones stated it was. ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION/LOCAL ROADS AND STREETS/BREAKDOWN OF Nelson Steele of Butler, Fairman and Seufert COSTS/$330,000: Engineering Company provided the Council with the breakdown of costs for the various segments, right-of-way, construction costs, engineering and Indiana Department of Transportation's contingency factor. These estimated costs are for the 116th Street and Gray Road intersection project. Mayor Hancock asked Steele to address the difference in the prices from one time to the next. Steele stated on page 2 of the breakdown sheet, in the design study report the construction costs and what has happened in the meantime is an approximate 7% increase. Construction costs were based on 1989 prices with very preliminary plans and an inflation factor of 7% for a construction date in 1990. Since the public hearing, the Indiana Department of Transportation has revised the roadway section and increased the pavement thickness on 116th Street by 5 inches and 2-1/2 inches on Gray Road, which increased costs by approximately $50,000. Final construction estimates that are submitted to the Indiana Department of Transportation are revised 5% upward to provide a cushion to sell the project at the State letting. Steele also said Indiana Department of Transportation added a contingency factor of lS% of construction costs. Steele stated he hoped all the estimates are a little high and just because the City has appropriated $330,000 doesn't mean that it will all be spent. Steele stated that 15% of construction costs is for engineering and that is the maximum amount applied by the Federal Highway Administration. The federal government is paying 75% of the costs but they add 15% for construction engineering. Steele said that doesn't normally run that high and the average is somewhere between 10% and 13%. The mayor asked if the designs are kept in Steele's office and can be reviewed. Steele replied yes. The mayor asked Butler, Fairman and Seufert to address the drainage issue. Mark Orton, and engineer for the firm, stated the newspaper article in the Carmel Ledger was a gross distortion of what is going on. Orton said basically what is provided for is if the pro;ect is ever extended to the west the City can pick up drainage from approximately 2,500 feet to the west. That does not include an entire subdivision. Orton stated the drainage is within the existing right-of-way. Councilor Irvin said he appreciated the breakdown on costs and said he didn't think it had ever been done before and maybe the Council will set some kind of precedent tonight and hoped that would continue but the $330,000 that the Council approved for the 116th Street and Gray Road intersection was for that purpose only. Irvin asked if the drainage was a part of that intersection and nothing else. Orton replied yes. Orton said they have designed a trunk line from the west with a manhole so if the City were to continue on in the future there would be a way to hook-up to the sewer. Irvin said his main concern was that they were talking about the intersection only and that was his intent when he voted on the original appropriation. Steele said this is water flowing towards the intersection causing a drainage problem and is a natural part of the intersection project. The drainage project falls in the transition area to the west where the project tapers back to meet the existing pavement. Steele said it falls logically in the intersection area and Steele said he was quoted correctly in the newspaper that it does fall into no man's land but the water is flowing towards the intersection and it has to be picked up and transferred to the intersection and then to Cool Creek. Councilor Potasnik said he wanted to get this intersection done and didn't want to have to read in the newspaper something that the Council should have known about up front. Potasnik asked if this intersection could be done without having to do this additional drainage or is the Council looking at something that can be used in the future when the City does all of 116th Street. Potasnik stated his focus was on the 116th Street and Gray Road intersection only. Orton stated it was not necessary but to be prudent as to looking toward the future if something is done and if they bring drainage to the west of the intersection the city is going to have to take the drainage somewhere else. Orton said if the City doesn't provide the proper size sewer line now then the City will have to come back and parallel the existing line. Orton said there was already a lot of utilities in that location now. Orton said the City might even have to dig a part of that intersection back up. Potasnik asked if this drainage was broken out in the costs estimates submitted. Orton said it was not but was included in the total construction costs. Orton stated that the cost of the sewer was approximately $87,000 and that you would have to have some type of sewer anyway because the curb section traps water. Potasnik again asked him where this cost was listed on the breakdown sheet. Orton stated it wasn't listed specifically on that sheet but he brought another itemized proposal with him if the Council wanted that information. Orton did not submit the other breakdown to the Council. Potasnik again said he wanted to see this intersection get underway and asked the Clerk-Treasurer if she had seen a copy of the breakdown. Jones stated she just received a copy this evening. Potasnik asked if this would satisfy the State Tax Commissioners. Jones said she hadn't had the opportunity to read all of the breakdown letter and said she thought the field officer was mainly concerned about the exact area of the project involved so that the City wasn't doing drainage down the street and relating it back to this intersection. Mayor Hancock said she spoke with the field representative, Mike Reuter today and this breakdown was put together on what she understood he needed. Potasnik asked if it was possible then to submit this and not hear about something else they needed a month from now. Hancock said Reuter wanted the Council to be comfortable with this document that sets out what things are. Irvin asked when the Tax Commissioners started requesting this type of a document. Hancock said it has not been required in the past and the City has had a lot of these appropriations go through but it was the fact that someone showed up at the field hearing and raised questions. Lonzo asked how much money would be saved by down sizing the pipes and if he hasn't learned anything in the last 3-1/2 years is that drainage has a major impact on any road construction. Orton stated he thought it would be around $5,000 to $10,000 local share savings. Lonzo said this intersection has been a top priority for him for quite sometime and there has been a certain segment of the community that seems to be "knit picking" the thing and dragging their feet on everything as if they really don't want this intersection improved and he would certainly like to see the project push ahead. Lonzo asked the clerk-treasurer if she attended the hearing. Jones said she did. Lonzo asked Jones how many people attended. Jones stated one. Lonzo asked Jones if they spoke for or against the project. Jones stated they were in favor of the project but just wanted a breakdown of the costs and why it was different over last year. Councilor Ogle asked if it wouldn't be penny wise and pound foolish to not put in the larger pipe now rather than wait until another time. Orton said the problem would be in not having to parallel the utilities and would be a very prudent expense on the part of the City to do it now. Steele said the other advantage in doing this project now is there is currently 75% federal funding and if the new highway act is passed it will drop to 60% Irvin stated he was in favor of doing this job right and fixing it like it should be fixed because he is not really for what is about to happen to 116th Street. Irvin said the Council was just putting off the inevitable and somebody is going to be facing it in the near future. Potasnik was also for getting the job done right and if all the money that was being discussed was going to be used for that intersection and not for any other project then he wanted it done. Potasnik asked Orton again if that were an accurate statement about the money being spent only on the intersection project. Orton said these figures were strictly estimates. Potasnik asked when the Council would know what the costs are and what the fees will be regarding engineering and how is that determined. Orton said that before they go to bid a LPA (local public agency) agreement will be made with the State and they will take the construction estimate and bump it 15% for contingencies and unknowns so the local agency doesn't have to go back and re- appropriate. Then they also include this 15% for contigencies and a 5% let ability percentage. This means if a project is 5% or greater over the engineer's estimate, it can't be awarded. Orton said after the first 15% is added in then another 15% is figured for the construction engineering which is the maximum allowable amount under the federal highway regulations. Design fees will be determined the day of the letting. When bids are taken, the design fee is determined on the low bid. Ogle moved to send all the details to the State Tax Board field officer and not wait for the minutes to be typed or transcribed. Councilor Doane seconded the motion. Lonzo stated that motion was in order but offered a resolution to fit with Ogle's recommendation. Lonzo moved the following resolution to be numbered 5-20-91-2: "Be is resolved that the Carmel City Common Council approves of the estimated figures supplied by way of memo from Butler, Fairman and Seufert to Mayor Dorothy Hancock this 20th of May 1991 including the drainage plan in the transition zone. Be it further resolved that Common Council requests that consideration and approval of the State Tax Board for this additional appropriation be done with all deliberate speed in order to help resolve a traffic situation which is currently jeopardizing the safety and welfare of our citizens." Ogle seconded Lonzo's motion. Lonzo stated he felt that fit with Ogle's recommendation. Hancock stated there was a motion and a second on resolution 5-20- 91-2 and called for a vote but did not call for a vote on Ogle's motion. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Hancock asked about getting the resolution typed so that it can go out immediately. Hancock said her office would take care of that. Councilor Lonzo moved to PUBLIC HEARING/Z-260/RE-ZONE/HARRY MORGAN: suspend the rules and move this item down on the agenda so Dave Coots could be available. The motion was seconded by Councilor Ogle. All members voted. Motion carried. The mayor asked the clerk- LEGAL NOTICES/ANNEXATION HEARINGS: treasurer if C-156 and C-157 had been advertised. The clerk stated they could have been advertised but she had no proof of publications. The mayor then asked for direction since the City was the one that requested the annexations. The mayor wanted to know whose responsibility it was to get these annexations advertised. The clerk then stated that C-157 had been advertised and C-156 had not but that Mr. Henke was called after the last meeting and was told he needed to do a legal notice. Councilor Potasnik said knowing all that, he was ready to proceed with the one hearing and table the other until proper notice was given by the petitioner. Councilor Potasnik moved to table the public hearing for C-156 until proper legal notice is given. The motion was seconded by Councilor Lonzo. All members voted aye. Motion carried. PUBLIC HEARING/C-157/ANNEXATION/12852 AND 12882 OLD MERIDIAN: The petitioner, Dr. Walls was not in attendance to speak to this petition. Wes Bucher, Director of Community Development stated this was a request that went directly to the Board of Public Works because of a request for sewer availability on the part of the property owner and his office would not be involved. There is no development plan on this parcel. Councilor Potasnik moved to introduce Ordinance C-157 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. The motion was seconded by Councilor Ogle. All members voted aye. Motion carried. The mayor opened the hearing to the public. There being no one wishing to speak the hearing was closed to the public and opened to the Council. Councilor Irvin moved to suspend the rules and act on C-157 tonight. The motion was seconded by Councilor Potasnik. All members voted aye. Motion carried. The mayor called for the question. All members voted aye. Ordinance C-157 passed unanimously. Andrews asked Jones to write in the common address on the ordinance for recording purposes. PUBLIC HEARING/D-697/COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE/AN ORDINANCE AMENDING D-454 ENTITLED THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE, Bill 1985/REQUEST FROM WILLIAM WENDLING TO RE-ADVERTISE: Wendling, attorney for the Plan Commission, stated that HNTB did not have a copy available for the public to review in either the Department of Community Development or the Clerk's office and asked that the public hearing be re-scheduled and re-advertised for June 3. HNTB will have copies available on Wednesday of this week and the advertisement is to run the same day. Wes stated that copies of the plan will be distributed to the Council by the Department of Community Development. One copy will be held in the office of Community Development and the other in the clerk's office for public inspection. Councilor Potasnik moved to table this item until June 3. The motion was seconded by Councilor Ogle. All members voted aye. Motion carried. PUBLIC HEARING/Z-261/8WIMMING POOLS/AN ORDINANCE REGULATING SWIMMING POOL FENCES: The clerk-treasurer stated she did not have a proof of publication for this hearing. Wendling stated he had received one from the paper and had forwarded it to DOCD. Councilor Potasnik moved to introduce Ordinance Z-261 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. The motion was seconded by Councilor Ogle. The mayor opened the meeting to a public hearing on Z-261 and asked if anyone wished to speak to this ordinance. Hearing no one from the public, the mayor closed the public hearing and opened it to the Council for questions and comments. Bill Wendling summarized the ordinance. Wendling stated he was directed to draft an ordinance that would fit within the city's zoning ordinances that would cover the public safety from private swimming pool owners. The request was specific in nature and there is a new building code ordinance that allows for swimming pool covers, however, it was the will of the Council that they wanted a 6 foot fence around the pools and that the fence was impenetrable by the enforcing authority. Wendling said people can have a pool cover but they must also have a 6 foot fence under this proposed ordinance. Councilor Potasnik stated that when it first came to the Council it was stated, in the recently changed building codes of the State of Indiana, which the City of Carmel automatically has to follow and the current city code required a 5 foot fence. Potasnik said the proposed ordinance was sent from the Plan Commission to the Council with a positive recommendation for approval and was rejected. The Council wanted to keep the 6 foot high fence and also include self latching locks on all gates surrounding the swimming pools. This directive was then sent from Council to the Land Use Committee and then on to the Plan Commission. Councilor Potasnik asked Wending to comment on what happens when the City adopts the State building codes which calls for a 5 foot fence and the local building code states it must be 6 foot. Wendling said that is an interesting problem and part of the directive from the Council was to investigate how a local ordinance could be more restrictive than the Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Code allows presently. Wendling stated there is a procedure if there is going to be a modification of the building codes that has to go through the commissioner downtown and he has to approve it and see if it falls within the intent of the building code ordinance as it exists. Wendling said he thought there may be a problem with respect to the zoning ordinances that has to do with land development and land use. The city has adopted the building codes which really have to do with such things as electrical conduit, number of exits in a building, etc. etc. and what has been done in the past is to adopt the building code ordinances into the zoning ordinances which sets up a scenario of someone being able to go before the Board of Zoning and Appeals on a building code denial or variance. Wendling said he didn't think that was the intent of zoning ordinances to take care of building codes. Wendling says as it stands right now, the zoning ordinance is in conflict of the building code even though they are under the same jurisdiction. Councilor Lonzo thanked Wendling and all the members of the Council who serve on the Plan Commission. Lonzo stated it was another example of why the Council needs to keep the lines of communication open between the elected body and the advisory body. Lonzo understood the difficulty of the question but felt it important to error on the side of safety and push forward on this. Lonzo said that if the Council received something back from downtown that they don't like then something may have to be added to the city code and that is certainly something the Council has jurisdiction over but this matter should be a top priority. Councilor Potasnik stated this has sparked some lively debates in Land Use and some debate at the Commission level and not to be surprised if it comes back to the Council. Councilor Lonzo moved to suspend the rules and act on Ordinance Z-261 this evening. Councilor Irvin seconded the motion. All members voted aye. Motion carried. The mayor called for the question. All members voted aye. Ordinance Z-261 passed unanimously. City Attorney Andrews stated that RECODIFICATION OF CITY CODES: over the past couple of years, the City has been in the process of recodification of city codes, everything except the zoning ordinance. Andrews said Ordinance D-700 enables that codification and that it does not have to published nor does there have to be a public hearing. Andrews said the Council could go ahead and do those things if they wanted to but State statute does not require it. Councilor Potasnik moved to introduce Ordinance D-700 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. The motion was seconded by Councilor Lonzo. Councilor Lonzo also stated that in the tradition that has been set by this Council that if this is important enough, if there are members of the public who want to speak to this ordinance, he would be willing to suspend the rules and allow them to speak before a vote is taken. A second reading will come back at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Council. Mayor Hancock stated the City CREDIT CARDS/ORDINANCE D-698: does not have any gasoline credit cards as stated in the memo from the clerk-treasurer but rather the city has house accounts. Hancock said people are not carrying credit cards but rather are held within the Shell and Marathon stations. Hancock said the city has one department that holds a Sears and Mastercard and the Mayor's office has an American Express, which has authorization but there are no other credit cards. Andrews stated that the City had advertised for gasoline purchases and received no response which then allows the City to go to the open market and purchase gasoline for their automobiles. Andrews said this ordinance does not address house accounts but only credit cards and the use of credit cards by city employees. It also focuses the responsibility of those cards in the mayor's office. The clerk stated she did not have a copy of the ordinance. Andrews then presented a copy to Jones. The clerk stated there are credit cards for Sam's Wholesale Club. Wes Bucher from DOCD stated they do not. He said they did havethem for the Wholesale Club but not Sam's. He stated since the change of ownership that Sam~s does not issue credit cards. Councilor Ogle asked that before an ordinance is passed on who has credit cards that perhaps a list could be made so she could know a little bit more about it. Mayor Hancock said that when the memo went out she asked all her department heads to submit a list of credit cards that were not authorized and the only response back was from utilities and that was for Sears and Mastercard and Hancock stated they have been in use since 1988. The Mayor stated she could not find authorization for those but those are the only two she could find. Ogle said this ordinance was just to establish a procedure for what is in existence now and what can happen in the future. Andrews replied yes. The clerk-treasurer stated for the record that every year the city gets different auditor's from the State Board of Accounts to audit the records of the city and every year they all want something different. The fact remains that we have to have an ordinance to establish the use of credit cards. The auditors asked that it be taken care of and that is why it was on the agenda. Ogle then asked the clerk, in the future, when she sends out memos like this, to not make it sound so drastic and to be more specific on the problem. Councilor Potasnik stated that if that is what the field auditor's want to bring this problem into compliance then the Council should go ahead and do this. Andrews said that was it. Ogle stated that she works in an atmosphere where auditor's appear quite frequently and often make requests like this one year and the next four or five years nobody ever looks at the same fact again so she said she knew what was being talked about here. Ogle said if this would put something on record and would satisfy what these examiners were asking for and it is not creating any problem for anybody, she would move to accept Ordinance D-698. Andrews then wanted to point out that this ordinance doesn't just satisfy the State Board of Accounts and pass it on with a stamp but the Council needs to be aware that authority is being put into this and someone is responsible by this procedure. Andrews said that if the Council doesn't like the way the ordinance is drafted and the Council wants to amend it then it should be changed. Andrews stated the responsibility of these credit cards is not in the clerk's office but in the mayor's office and not with the mayor. The mayor stated there was motion to adopt D-698 and then stated the ordinance had not yet been introduced. Ogle then moved to introduce Ordinance D-698 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. Councilor Lonzo seconded the motion. Lonzo then asked Ogle to wait before she made the motion to suspend the rules and act on D-698 tonight. Lonzo said he would feel better along the lines of what Andrews talked about to hold this off for another two weeks. Lonzo's only problem with that is that the clerk has stated through her memo that she is not going to make any payments on these credit card purchases until she receives authority from Council and he didn't want to put the local vendors in jeopardy for any outstanding bills they might have but still wanted to wait until the next meeting. Andrews explained to the Council CHANGE FUNDS/PETTY CASH FUNDS: that the City has apparently six departments that have change or petty cash funds for which the State Board of Accounts could not find an ordinance authorizing the creation of those funds. Andrews stated this has come up during this audit and the SBA have requested the Council enact an ordinance establishing those funds in order to justify their existence. Councilor Ogle moved to introduce Ordinance D-699 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. The motion was seconded by Councilor Potasnik. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Councilor Lonzo made a motion to suspend the rules and act on D-699 tonight. Councilor Irvin seconded the motion. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Mayor Hancock called for the vote. All members voted aye. Ordinance D-699 passed unanimously. Councilor Potasnik moved to COMMUNICATIONS CENTER CLAIMS: approve the following claims for the Communications Center. The motion was seconded by Councilor Lonzo. All members voted aye. Motion carried. World of Dinettes $399.00 G.E. Mobile Comms $120,118.16 Best Locking Systems $439.20 MEDISCO $528.50 Jack's Tool Rental $177.08 Curley Building Material $130.60 Lee Supply Corporation $29.76 Carmel Ace Hardware $44.91 American Aggregates $11.25 Stoney Creek Stone $161.17 PUBLIC HEARING/ORDINANCE Z-260/RE-ZONE FROM B-4 TO B-l/MORGAN PROPERTY LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF RANGE LINE ROAD, SOUTH OF WINONA DRIVE, NORTH OF GRADLE DRIVE AND EAST OF CARMEL-CLAY Dave Coots, attorney for the petitioners FIRE DEPARTMENT #1: Harry and Richard Morgan presented the re-zone to the Council. Coots explained this was a site consisting of 1.77 acres and was the location for the old Morgan Pharmacy. This passed the Plan Commission with their favorable recommendation. The request was a re-zone from B-4 to B-1. Coots stated the Plan Commission basically asked the owners of this property to consider going to this classification because it did not fit the definition of a B-4 zone which is a minimum 10 acre tract designed for a shopping center type use. Coots said certain covenants attended to the re zone application that would give the Plan Commission control over the architectural design, lighting, signing and landscaping were made since the property was in the City's side yard. Coots stated the Morgan's agreed to that. Councilor Lonzo moved to introduce Ordinance Z-260 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. The motion was seconded by Councilor Potasnik. Mayor Hancock opened the meeting to a public hearing calling for questions or comments. Hearing none the hearing was closed to the public and opened to the Council for questions and comments. Councilor Potasnik stated outside storage was also agreed to and was done at land use. Coots stated that the owner of the bicycle shop had a problem with the drainage so as a part of the approval, the Morgan's agreed to install sub-surface drainage along the north east area that would serve as a catch basin and then pipe that water to the west between the fire station and the back of the property. The rear of the property will also be re-done so that those looking out the front door of the fire station will look at something else besides a dumpster and a concrete rear door. Councilor Lonzo made a motion to suspend the rules and act on Z-260 tonight. The motion was seconded by Councilor Ogle. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Mayor Hancock called for the question. All members voted aye. Ordinance Z-260 passed unanimously. PUBLIC DEPOSITORY/FIRST OF AMERICA BANK-INDIANAPOLIS/1305 SOUTH Councilor Potasnik moved to accept RANGE LINE ROAD/CARMEL: First of America Bank as a public depository. Councilor Irvin seconded the motion. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Councilor CIVIC SQUARE CENTRE/ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETING AGENDAS: Lonzo reported his committee was continuing on with the Wednesday meetings. This week they will be interviewing for office space and the next week will be on the arts. The meetings are held at 5:00 p.m. in the Caucus rooms. There being no further business before the Council the meeting was duly adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Approved ATTEST: