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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCM-02-07-94CARMEL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES February 7, 1994 7:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS / ONE CIVIC SQUARE The meeting of the Carmel City Council was called to order by Mayor Johnson. Council members in attendance were Alan Potasnik, Frank Fleming, James Quinn, Tom Kendall, Tim Story and Luci Snyder. City Attorney Gordon Byers and Clerk-Treasurer Susan Jones were also in attendance. The invocation was given by Councilor Quinn followed by the pledge of allegiance. Councilor Potasnik made a motion to amend the APPROVAL OF MINUTES: minutes of January 3, 1994 on page to read as follows: "Councilor Kendall made a motion to appoint Councilor Quinn to the Plan Commission. Councilor Potasnik then nominated Councilor Snyder. Councilor Quinn declined the nomination. The motion was seconded by Councilor Kendall. All members voted aye. Motion carried." Councilor Potasnik then made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 3, 1994 as amended, the special council meeting and the finance meeting of January 20, 1994. The motion was seconded by Councilor Quinn. All members voted aye on the January 3, 1994 minutes. Councilors Quinn and Story abstained from voting because they were not in attendance. All other members voted aye. The minutes were approved. Councilor Kendall made a motion to approve the following CLAIMS: claims. The motion was seconded by Councilor Snyder. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Claims dated 1/27/94 in the amount of $ 52.65 Claims dated 1/16/94 in the amount of $ 7,394.13 Claims dated 2/7/94 in the amount of $13,000,000.00 Claims dated 1/25/94 in the amount of $ 2,270,134.30 Councilor Kendall gave a report and a summary from the REPORTS: Sister City Committee concerning his trip to Japan in April and asked for the support of the Council and of the Mayor. SECOND READING/ORDINANCE D-1042/AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FUND FOR EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICE AND REPORT FROM CITY ATTORNEY CONCERNING TOWNSHIP'S AGREEMENT TO PARTICIPATE: Gordon Byers stated he had talked with the township's attorney, Christine Altman, and she had no problem with the concept of this ordinance. Byers asked for the Council to wait until their next meeting before taking final action. That would allow for the Board of Trustees of the township to meet, in the meantime, and return with their determination on the ordinance. Councilor Quinn stated he wanted assurances from the township, through this ordinance, that the accounting and fiscal part of this agreement was spelled out specifically so that the township would not ask for some kind of reimbursement in the year 2005 like they did with the zoning agreement. Gordon Byers stated he thought that was possible and would also include the same type of language in the agreements for the zoning and fire protection contracts. Councilor Quinn made a motion to postpone this agenda item until the next meeting of the Council. The motion was seconded by Councilor Snyder. All members voted aye. Motion carried. CONTRACTS FOR FIRE, ZONING AND COMMUNICATIONS WITH CLAY Gordon Byers again stated he TOWNSHIP/REPORT FROM CITY ATTORNEY: had met with the township's attorney and the city's fiscal consultant, Keith Gambrel from Katz, Sapper and Miller in order to simplify the fire and zoning contracts. Byers stated the meeting was reasonably productive. Byers also stated there were two separate issues involved with the fire contract. One issue was with the current assets of the fire department and the other was fire protection. Byers stated there would be one settlement date for the joinder agreements and that as a result of the zoning contract reimbursement, all credits had been cleared out to date. Documents and draft copies of the contracts been submitted to the township's board of trustees and they would be discussing them at their next regularly scheduled meeting. Gordon stated he would send out draft copies to the Council for their consideration but the ultimate decision on the contract would fall under the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Works. Councilor Story suggested an ordinance to formalize a schedule, for nothing else, at least the accounting end of the agreements. Councilor Quinn cautioned the Council that they may be over stepping the fine line that exists between the legislative and executive branch of government. Councilor Potasnik thought the contracts should spell out the specific terms and felt perhaps a formal resolution could be issued to the Board of Public Works outlining the wishes of the Council. Councilor Snyder made a motion to postpone this item on the agenda to the next meeting of the Council. The motion was seconded by Councilor Story. All members voted aye. Motion carried. PUBLIC HEARING ON ANNEXATION/ORDINANCE C-171/BAYVIEW/60 ACRE PARCEL OF REAL ESTATE LOCATED EAST OF US 31 AND SOUTH OF EAST 146TH Councilor Potasnik made a motion to introduce ordinance C- STREET: 171 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. The motion was seconded by Councilor Kendall. James Nelson, Attorney for the petitioner gave a brief presentation of the annexation request. Mayor Johnson then opened the meeting to a public hearing, calling for anyone to speak on the annexation. Seeing and hearing no one, the Mayor closed the public hearing. Councilor Quinn made a motion to suspend the rules and act on C-171 tonight. The motion was seconded by Councilor Kendall. All members voted aye. Motion carried. After much discussion, concerning the frontage road, Councilor Quinn made a motion to amend the legal description in the annexation. The roadway on the western boundary that runs parallel will be moved to the eastern boundary of the frontage road. The motion was seconded by Councilor Potasnik. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Ordinance C-171 will we placed on the next agenda for final action. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE D-1049 AND PUBLIC HEARING FOR ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION/MVH FUND $292,550/CCI FUND $110,000/CCS FUND $112,220/FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE D-1050/AN ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION HEARING/GENERAL FUND/BPW/$15,000/GENERAL FUND: Councilor Fleming made a motion to introduce Ordinance D-1049 and D-1050 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. The motion was seconded by Councilor Kendall. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Mayor Johnson gave a brief explanation of the additional appropriations. Johnson also stated he would be coming back at the next meeting and ask for Line item #605 in the amount of $165,000 from the MVH request be removed and advertised out of a different fund. Clerk-Treasurer Jones asked if an amendment shouldn't be made at this time to delete that line item from D-1049. The Mayor said he would take care of it. The additional appropriations were as follows: MVH Fund $292,550 CCI Fund $110,000 CCS Fund $112,220 General Fund $ 15,000 Mayor Johnson then opened the meeting to a public hearing. Steve Raymont of Shoshone Drive asked for approval of the funds to be appropriated in the Cumulative Capital Storm Sewer Fund. Mr. Raymont said he was a 9 year resident of this neighborhood and had continually fought drainage problems. Mr. Raymont brought a photograph of the standing water on his property. Mr. Raymont called for action now and if the Council was unwilling to spend the money to fix his problem, asked for permission to take care of the problem himself. Terry Purcel of Sue Springs Court also expressed his concern over continued drainage problems. Purcel stated his problems began when Waterford was constructed. Mayor Johnson told the men that funds were being appropriated for engineering only and that construction appropriations would come at a later time. The Mayor then closed the hearing to the public. Ordinances D-1049 and D-1050 will return at the next meeting for a second reading. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE D-1048/ESTABLISHING A CUMULATIVE NON- Councilor Quinn REVERTING FUND FOR A SELF-INSURED MEDICAL PLAN: made a motion to introduce Ordinance D-1048 and suspend the rules for reading of the same provided the Mayor would give a brief narrative of the ordinance. Councilor Kendall seconded the motion. It was determined that the Council had not received, from the Mayor's office, the final draft of Ordinance D-1048, which spelled out who was the Plan Administrator and the Plan Supervisor as recommended by the State Board of Accounts. The Mayor stated, for the record, the Plan Administrator would be the Board of Public Works and the Plan Supervisor would be the Nyhart Company. The Mayor also stated he did not have anything in writing from the State Board of Accounts on their approval of this ordinance as yet, but had a verbal commitment. Councilor Kendall stated he thought there should be some method of checking to be sure that only those things spelled out in the master plan could be funded by these insurance pool monies. Kendall relayed the incident when the claim for disability insurance premiums were being paid from health insurance monies two years ago. Clerk-Treasurer Jones stated that monies for disability were not actually paid because she refused to pay the claim but the Mayor's office submitted a request for payment and when she questioned Nyhart on issuing a check for something other than the plan called for, the Nyhart said they would issue the check and were acting on the authority of the Mayor. Councilor Quinn asked the Mayor if he had a problem in having a plan document and all amendments to the plan on file, along with all other contracts for the City, in the Clerk-Treasurer's office. The Mayor said she already had a copy. The Clerk stated she did not have the amendments. Quinn said it really didn't matter if she already had a copy, did the Mayor object to having it put in the ordinance. The Mayor replied no. Much discussion took place concerning Section 5 (b). Councilor's Quinn concern was that if the fund had an excess amount, the BPW could increase benefits without the knowledge of the Council and deplete the reserve held for major claims. Then additional tax monies, on the employers part, would have to be deposited into the fund in order to pay claims. Quinn felt it was the duty of the legislative body to control employee benefits. The Mayor disagreed. The Mayor stated the reason the Council was having to consider this ordinance, in the first place, was because the Clerk refused to sign checks. The Mayor stated other cities had this same plan and their Clerks signed the checks. The Clerk stated, for the record, that was not true and regardless of what other Clerks did or did not do, she was not going to be put in an audit position of being responsible for this fund. She also stated this ordinance was born out of a recommendation of the State Board of Accounts. She also stated that she did not have the staff to review claims and was not in a position to issue checks to employees, doctors, hospitals, etc. without a review process. She said this ordinance was necessary to protect her personally and was directed by the SBA and it was not done because she refused to sign checks. The Clerk went on to state that the field examiner from the State Board of Accounts had said at the last exit conference, that she was ultimately responsible for the money in the fund as it was structured to date. Gordon Byers said he thought he could bring back new language that would satisfy and accommodate everyone. The Mayor asked for the Council's consideration in not hurting or damaging the plan as it now stood. He said the self insurance plan had saved the City over $300,000 and wondered why the Council never raised an issue about funding Lincoln National's plan and yet they kept all the excess money at the end of each plan year. Quinn explained to the Mayor that Lincoln National was prior to their administration and that Lincoln National was the one taking all the risks. Sometimes insurance companies made money and other times they didn't and the risk was now on the shoulders of the Council. Councilor Quinn expressed concern over the control of the insurance pool reserves because if the money was contracted away by the BPW then the Council would have to find more money to pay claims should the fund take some major claim hits. More discussion took place. Councilor Story then made a motion to suspend the rules and act on D-1048 tonight. The motion was seconded by Councilor Snyder. Councilor Quinn voted nay. All other members voted aye. The motion to suspend was defeated. Ordinance D-1048 will return at the next meeting for a second reading. REQUEST TO AMEND CITY CODE SECTION 2-49 AND SECTION 2-81 (i) Councilor Potasnik stated that after REGARDING HOLIDAY PAY: discussions with the Mayor he had learned that the Mayor is working on the issue of holiday pay. Potasnik stated the Mayor would be coming back to the next Council meeting with an amendment to current city code. Potasnik stated that at the July 1993 Council meeting, the Mayor, Clerk-Treasurer and other interested parties were directed to work together on this issue and return to the Council with an ordinance. Mayor Johnson said he was meeting with Department heads this week and would have something for the next meeting. Councilor Quinn asked to be included in that meeting because the Mayor, back in July, had assured him he would be a part of the procedure. REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION/MVH FUND/STREET DEPARTMENT/$157,500/REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION/GENERAL FUND/CFD $300,000/REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION CUMULATIVE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND/$11,000/REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL Councilor Quinn made a motion APPROPRIATION/GENERAL FUND/$7,800: to direct the Clerk to advertise for the following additional appropriations. The motion was econded by Councilor Story. All members voted aye. Motion carried. The Mayor expressed concern over the Clerk advertising prior to the requests for an additional appropriation being discussed with the Council. The Mayor asked the Clerk to not publish notice of a public hearing in advance of the request unless he directed her to do so. The Clerk said that would be fine but to add an additional 30 days on to the procedure. The Mayor said he understood all about the problems with advertising and that was okay with him. He was willing to wait but needed the opportunity to discuss the appropriations with the Council prior to setting a hearing date. The Mayor said the township called and was mad because they received a letter from the Clerk stating the hearing date for the Council had already been set and they had not had the opportunity to meet and discuss it themselves. The appropriations to be advertised were as follows: Motor Vehicle Highway Fund $157,500 Cumulative Capital Improvement Fund $ 11,000 Ball State Special Fund #105 $ 7,800 General Fund $300,000 The Clerk offered to re-advertise any of the hearings at a later date. The Mayor declined the offer and said it was okay this time but in the future wanted the ability to determine when the advertising would take place. COUNCIL'S 1994 CONTRACT WITH HAL ESPEY FOR TAPING CITY COUNCIL Councilor Quinn made a motion to approve the video MEETINGS: taping contract with Hal Espey and authorized the Mayor to sign on the Council's behalf. The motion was seconded by Councilor Potasnik. All members voted aye. The Mayor questioned why the contract was being done at the Council level. The Clerk stated it was the Council's contract and the only way she had of knowing if the Council wanted to continue to contract with Hal for taping was to bring the contract to a Council meeting. The Mayor asked if this was the way it was done last year. Kenall replied he thought it was. Councilor Kendall wanted to include, in the contract, the taping of other meetings for other governmental agencies. The Clerk pointed out that the Council could not contract other department's or agency's monies without their approval or knowledge. The Clerk suggested that the Council could pay for it, if that is what they wanted to do but there was not a consensus from the Council for that to happen at this time. TRANSFER OF FUNDS/ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT/CLERK-TREASURER AND Councilor Quinn made a motion to approve COMMUNICATIONS CENTER: transfer Resolutions CC-02-07-94-1,2 & 3 calling for transfers within the engineer, clerk's and communications center's budgets. The motion was seconded by Councilor Kendall. All members voted aye. Motion carried. FIRST READING/ORDINANCE D-1051/AN ORDINANCE ENTITLED "CANCELLATION Councilor Quinn moved to OF A REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING": introduce Ordinance D-1051 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. The motion was seconded by Councilor Potasnik. Much discussion took place concerning the necessity of this ordinance. Councilor Quinn pointed out that the legal definition of a meeting was a quorum of members and a clerk and if a quorum was not present or the clerk was not in attendance there was no meeting. Councilor Snyder defended her position of canceling a Council meeting by saying that other Presidents, in the past, had canceled meetings and that tradition gave her the necessary authority to call the meeting off. Snyder also stated she was concerned about public safety and the temperature had dipped that night to 43 below zero. Councilor Quinn then made a motion to suspend the rules and act on D-1051 that evening. The motion was seconded by Councilor Potasnik. Councilor Snyder voted nay. The motion to suspend the rules was defeated. Ordinance D-1051 will be brought back before the Council at their next meeting for a second reading. FIRST READING/ORDINANCE D-1054/AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A SPECIAL Councilor Potasnik made PROJECT FUND #105 FOR DOWNTOWN RENOVATION: a motion to introduce Ordinance D-1054 and suspend the rules for reading of the same. The motion was seconded by Councilor Quinn. Mike Hollibaugh of the Department of Community Development gave a very brief outline of the ordinance. He stated the fund would be used to conduct a study or an analysis of the old downtown area, Range Line Road and the Keystone Square Shopping Mall. It was the concern of Councilors Story and Potasnik that as a result of this study or analysis done by Ball State University that a list of what could or might be done will be presented to the Council and that everyone understood this list was merely a list of wishes and not demands. Councilor Potasnik said that in consideration of these wishes, to move forward, would be an entirely separate issue. He said he hoped the Mayor and Mike also shared his concerns. Potasnik wanted it stated for the record that from this point forward, funding of these wants and wishes would be a totally separate issue. Councilor Snyder said all the merchants were active this time around. The spirit is different she said, and they too, are just looking for a list. Councilor Quinn made a motion to suspend the rules and act on Ordinance D-1054. The motion was seconded by Councilor Kendall. All members voted aye. Motion carried. Mayor Johnson called for the question. All members voted aye. Ordinance D-1054 passed unanimously. Clerk-Treasurer Jones cautioned Mike and the Mayor stating that money could not be spent from this fund until it was appropriated by a special additional appropriation. Jones asked the Mayor if he wanted her to advertise for such an appropriation. Councilor Kendall said it was on the next agenda. Jones stated that appropriation was from the General Fund and that was for a contribution from the General Fund to this special project fund but the fund itself did not have an appropriation yet. The Mayor did not give the Clerk a definitive answer. The Council authorized the Mayor to VIDEO TAPING EQUIPMENT: purchase the video taping equipment necessary to tape the Council meetings live. The City Council canceled their regularly MEETING CANCELED: scheduled meeting for April 4, 1994 and set a special meeting for the approval of claims for April 11, 1994 at 8:00 a.m. There being no other business before the City Council, the meeting was duly adjourned. Respectfully submitted, _______________________________ Susan Jones, Clerk-Treasurer Approved, ___________________________________ ATTEST: __________________________________ Susan W. Jones, Clerk-Treasurer