Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09.16.24 CC Meeting Minutes1 City of Carmel COMMON COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2024 – 6:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS/CITY HALL/ONE CIVIC SQUARE MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Council President Anthony Green, Council Members: Jeff Worrell, Ryan Locke, Rich Taylor, Adam Aasen, Teresa Ayers, Matthew Snyder, Anita Joshi, and Deputy Clerk Jessica Komp were present. Council Member Shannon Minnaar was not present. Council President Green called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. AGENDA APPROVAL The agenda was approved unanimously. INVOCATION Reverend Kenneth Locke of Orchard Park Presbyterian Church delivered the Invocation. Carmel Elementary School 5th grader Cameron Lobo led the pledge of allegiance. RECOGNITION OF CITY EMPLOYEES AND OUTSTANDING CITIZENS Rupal Thanawala, President of the Asian American Alliance, presented their 25th Anniversary Partner Award to the City of Carmel. The Asian American Alliance is an umbrella organization that represents over 200 Asian American Organizations, and was founded, and is headquartered, in Carmel. Their mission is to empower and encourage Asian Americans to lead and serve in business and community. RECOGNITION OF PERSONS WHO WISH TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL Zachary Kulsrud spoke to Council about Ordinance D-2730-24, which would add speed humps to Heatherstone Place. As a resident of this street, Mr. Kulsrud shared his and his neighbors’ experiences with fast drivers, as well as the results of the speed study that was conducted. Mr. Kulsrud asked the Council to please vote yes on this ordinance to ensure the safety of those living on and traveling down this street. Warren Johnson, President of S-Mart Real Estate, spoke to Council regarding the development deals that have been taking place in Carmel. Mr. Johnson’s company was responsible for the recent development at the southeast corner of Rangeline Road and 116th Street. He stated that he did not receive any assistance from the city to do this project. He had approached the Redevelopment Commission to ask if he could be loaned the capital to develop this project, with the CRC acting as a bank, and was told no. Mr. Johnson does not agree with what he sees as “giving the store away” to large developers, while smaller developers do not receive the same benefits. Docusign Envelope ID: 98451C03-3FDF-4CC1-89D2-C5902F8C15A4 2 COUNCIL AND MAYORAL COMMENTS/OBSERVATIONS Councilor Locke said hello to James Locke, who was watching the livestream of the meeting. Council President Green thanked Councilor Aasen for his work in putting together the City of Carmel’s annual employee appreciation luncheon. Cameron Lobo gave the Mayor’s update to Council. The Mayor looks forward to getting the Council’s feedback after the budget workshops next week. The process to select a retirement advisor continues, and an announcement should happen in October. The Mayor is pleased to partner with a variety of City Councilors on various outreach activities. Councilor Aasen served on the Carmel Housing Task Force, whose report and recommendations are on the City’s website. Councilor Aasen and Minnaar are serving on the Branding Committee, which is working to finalize the visual aspects of the brand platform. Councilor Taylor is co-chairing the Senior Living Commission, which will hold a Voice of Aging Seminar in December. More details on that will be coming soon. Councilor Joshi is chairing a Diwali Committee, and the city will hold its first Diwali event on Saturday, October 26th, from 5 – 8 p.m. in Midtown Plaza. Councilor Snyder is chairing the Veterans and Military Affairs Commission, which will hold its first meeting soon. Our State of the City Presentation will be on October 29th. More info can be found at onezonechamber.com. Mayor Finkam also stated that the City is very honored to have received the Asian American Alliance Partner award, and thanked Stephanie Kim of Telamon for being such a great community and corporate partner and for housing the Asian American Alliance headquarters within their office space. Mayor Finkam also shared a letter received from the Department of Defense’s United States Vietnam War Commemoration Department, commending the City of Carmel for our being in the top 15% of its more than 13,000 commemorative partner organizations by selflessly hosting five or more events that thanked and honored our Vietnam Veterans and their families. Mayor Finkam then spoke to Council about the Proscenium III project, stating that it will give the city much needed office space and a hotel, and will bolster the surrounding restaurants. The project will also provide much desired Senior housing. Mayor Finkam requested that the Council support this project. CONSENT AGENDA Councilor Aasen moved to approve the consent agenda. Councilor Taylor seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. The consent agenda was approved 8-0. a. Approval of Minutes 1. August 19, 2024 Regular Meeting 2. August 29, 2024 Claims Meeting b. Claims 1. General Claims - $1,811,055.84 and $43,620.22 (purchase card) 2. Wire Transfers - $3,296,816.70 ACTION ON MAYORAL VETOES Docusign Envelope ID: 98451C03-3FDF-4CC1-89D2-C5902F8C15A4 3 There were none. COMMITTEE REPORTS Councilor Worrell reported that the Finance, Utilities and Rules Committee had to cancel their September 10th meeting, as the roundabout data was not ready. However, the committee will be meeting to discuss the data on Monday, September 30th at 6:00 p.m., here in Chambers. Councilor Snyder reported that the Land Use and Special Studies Committee met on August 21st at the Carmel Clay Public Library to continue the UDO review, focusing on Section 7. The next meeting will be this Thursday, September 19th at 6:00 p.m. at the Carmel Clay Public Library, in the 2nd floor Board Room. The committee will discuss the Interlocal agreement, and anything else assigned tonight. OTHER REPORTS Henry Mestetsky, Carmel Redevelopment Director, gave the monthly report to Council. The Wren and the Windsor are making great progress. The office space at First on Main is fully open, the condos are still under construction. The Magnolia is working on their next two buildings. The Muse is currently leasing out, we hope to have more updates on those retail tenants in the near future. The Signature is leasing out. Construction continues at Hamilton Crossing, which is the Republic Airways headquarters. Proscenium II continues its construction, and we look forward to some retail announcements there. The façade along Rangeline is currently under construction at 111 South Rangeline. The first floor will house the 1933 Lounge and corporation headquarters, some of which are relocating from Indianapolis. Icon on Main is at the concrete phase of construction but will have beautiful architecture and a public plaza when completed. AT&T site redevelopment is under construction. The Township Project is looking great. Councilor Aasen asked if the Housing Task Force’s recent report will inform the Redevelopment Commission in the future when it plans housing. Director Mestetsky responded that the findings of the report showed that citizens do not want multi-family housing to be the focus of future projects, and that the Proscenium III project is an example of muti-family being kept to a minimum. Councilor Taylor asked Mr. Mestetsky if there has ever been an instance of the city, or the CRC, lending cash to a developer, acting as a bank. Mr. Mestetsky responded that no, that is not something we have done, or would do, as we would not take on that risk. Mr. Mestetsky stated that Warren Johnson’s project at Rangeline and 116th Street is a great project, but not at public private partnership scale. Councilor Aasen thanked Mr. Johnson for investing in our community and stated that while the CRC might not be the avenue to help projects of that scale, the city can probably do more to help the smaller developers. Stephanie Kim gave the final report for the Carmel Cable and Telecommunications Commission. Ms. Kim updated Council on what the commission has accomplished over the last five years that she has been involved. The commission has focused on expanding broadband access, improving service quality, and fostering community engagement. Most notably, the commission has succeeded in expanding high speed broadband internet access across Carmel by spearheading initiatives to extend service to underserved areas to ensure that residents and business alike have access to reliable and fast internet service. This has not only increased connectivity, but has supported local economic development and educational opportunities. Andris Berzins gave a report on behalf of the Latvian Sister City Police Exchange Program. Last year two police officers from Jelgava, Latvia came to stay in Carmel for two weeks to learn from and train with the Carmel Police Department. The Latvian police officers were able to experience the type of community interaction that our police officers have with the citizens of Carmel, and take that experience back to Jelgava. They also got to work with our drug task force and spend a day with IMPD. In exchange, Carmel Docusign Envelope ID: 98451C03-3FDF-4CC1-89D2-C5902F8C15A4 4 P.D. Officers Anna Vasquez and Mike Morely have gone to Jelgava, as well. In July of this year, two additional officers visited Carmel from Jelgava, furthering the exchange of ideas and policing practices between the two sister cities. Additionally, there will be a Latvian Folk Dance Ensemble traveling here for the Carmel International Arts Festival. Thet will have a special performance on September 27th at 7:00 p.m. at Carmel Middle School. OLD BUSINESS Council President Green announced the seventeenth reading of Ordinance D-2696-23; An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, Adding Chapter 8, Article 4, Section 8-44 to the Carmel City Code; Sponsor(s): Councilor(s) Worrell and Aasen. This remains in the Finance, Utilities and Rules Committee. Council President Green announced the fourth reading of Ordinance D-2719-24; An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, Authorizing the Issuance of Economic Development Tax Increment Revenue Bonds to Support the Proscenium III Project, and Authorizing and Approving Other Actions in Respect Thereto; Sponsor: Councilor Aasen. This item was held over from the last Council meeting, in order to give the Carmel Redevelopment Commission time to answer questions from the Council concerning traffic, parking, and the apartments. Director Mestetsky then spoke to Council. He reiterated that this is a developer bond, which has no risk to taxpayers or impact on the tax rate. He stated that 30-40 apartment units will be age-restricted to those 55 and above. There will also be parking reconfigured, and curbing added to more clearly define Veteran’s way, which runs between the proposed project and the City Hall parking lot. Mr. Mestetsky explained how the parking garage will flex during different times of the day and different days of the week to accommodate office workers, residents and hotel guests. Tony Birkla, of Birkla Investment Group, stated that this will be a 80/20 split, with 80% of the parking spaces open to the general public, and only 20% reserved as private parking. Mr. Birkla shared that the age-restricted apartments will have higher-end finishes, but that all of the apartments would have access to the amenities of the hotel, such as the exercise room, etc. Councilor Taylor expressed his appreciation of the transition to 40 age-restricted apartments. Councilor Aasen expressed that he felt the positives of having a world-class hotel, office space, and age-restricted apartments outweighed the negative of adding more apartments to the city, and for that reason, he would be voting in support of this project. Councilor Snyder expressed that he would not be voting in favor of this project, as he feels very strongly that we must slow down on adding apartments. He had offered up three alternative concepts for this project which would remove the apartment component, but none were accepted. Councilor Ayers also expressed that it is difficult for her to vote in favor of adding more apartments. Councilor Joshi stated that while the age-restricted apartments are needed, and will be beautiful, they may not be affordable for our city’s Seniors looking to downsize. Councilor Worrell stated that he will be voting in favor of this project because of what it will bring to our core in terms of office space, a hotel, and a parking garage. Additionally, this type of project benefits our citizens in terms of keeping taxes low. Councilor Aasen moved to approve this ordinance. Councilor Taylor seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Ordinance D-2719-24 approved 5-3. (Councilors Ayers, Snyder, and Joshi opposed.) Council President Green announced the second reading of Ordinance D-2726-24; An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, Approving and Adopting a Third Amendment to Interlocal Agreement; Sponsor(s): Councilor(s) Snyder and Taylor. This items remains in the Land Use and Special Studies Committee. Council President Green announced the second reading of Ordinance D-2728-24; An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, Amending Chapter 3, Article 1, Division II, Section 3- 30 of the Carmel City Code; Sponsor: Councilor Snyder. This ordinance, which would remove the Carmel Docusign Envelope ID: 98451C03-3FDF-4CC1-89D2-C5902F8C15A4 5 Cable and Telecommunications Commission’s report from the Council agenda, was held over from the last meeting so that the commission could give one last report to Council, which was just given by Stephanie Kim. Councilor Snyder moved to approve this ordinance. Councilor Joshi seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Ordinance D-2728-24 approved 8-0. Council President Green announced the first reading of Ordinance Z-693-24; An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, rezoning three parcels at 452, 502, and 5089 E. Carmel Drive, Carmel, from the B8/Business to the C2/Mixed Use District; Sponsor(s): Councilor(s) Minnaar and Snyder. Councilor Ayers moved to introduce the item into business. Councilor Joshi seconded. Councilor Snyder presented the item to Council. Mike Hollibaugh, Director of Community Services, explained the rezoning request, which is a key step in the overall redevelopment of the Gramercy project, and will facilitate the extension of Kinzer Avenue. Councilor Taylor asked when Kinzer Avenue would be completed. Chief Infrastructure Officer Jeremy Kashman stated that there will be roundabouts constructed at Carmel Drive and AAA Way, and at Carmel Drive and Kinzer Avenue. Those projects will coincide with the completion of Kinzer Avenue, which will begin during the Summer of 2025. Councilor Aasen asked if there would be variances coming with this project. Mr. Hollibaugh responded that he did not know. Council President Green then opened up the public hearing at 7:52 p.m. Seeing no one who wished to speak, Council President Green closed the public hearing at 7:53 p.m. Councilor Aasen made a motion to suspend the rules and act on this tonight. Councilor Taylor seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Motion to suspend the rules approved 8-0. Councilor Aasen moved to approve the ordinance. Councilor Taylor seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Ordinance Z-693-24 approved 7-1. (Councilor Worrell opposed.) Council President Green announced the first reading of Ordinance D-2723-24; An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, Authorizing and Approving an Additional Appropriation of Funds from the Stormwater Fund (#250) to the 2024 Storm Water Budget (#250); Sponsor(s): Councilor(s) Green, Taylor and Snyder. Councilor Snyder moved to introduce the item into business. Councilor Taylor seconded. Councilor Snyder presented the item to Council. Jeremy Kashman explained that the funding was needed to construct the Orchard Park drainage project. Council President Green opened up the public hearing at 7:56 p.m. Seeing no one who wished to speak, Council President Green closed the public hearing at 7:57 p.m. Councilor Taylor moved to suspend the rules and act on this tonight. Councilor Snyder seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Motion to suspend the rules approved 7-0. Councilor Snyder moved to approved. Councilor Joshi seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Ordinance D-2723-24 approved 7-0. (Councilor Aasen not present.) NEW BUSINESS Council President Green announced Resolution CC-09-16-24-01; A Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, Approving a Transfer of Funds within the Redevelopment Department Budget (Fund #1801); Sponsor: Councilor Aasen. Councilor Aasen moved to introduce the item into business. Councilor Snyder seconded. Councilor Aasen presented the item to Council. Henry Mestetsky explained that the request is to transfer funds within the department budget to cover contracted services. Councilor Aasen moved to approve. Councilor Snyder seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Resolution CC-09-16-24-01 approved 8-0. Council President Green announced the first reading of Ordinance D-2729-24; An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, Approving Certain Carmel Redevelopment Authority Lease Rental Bonds to Finance Various Road Improvements and Other Capital Projects in the City and to Refinance Certain Outstanding Bonds; Sponsor: Councilor(s) Worrell, Locke, Taylor and Snyder. Councilor Worrell moved to introduce the item into business. Councilor Joshi seconded. Councilor Docusign Envelope ID: 98451C03-3FDF-4CC1-89D2-C5902F8C15A4 6 Worrell presented the item to Council. Brad Bingham of Barnes & Thornburg addressed Council. Mr. Bingham explained the difference between a general obligation bond and a lease rental bound. He stated the $110,000,000.00 amount is what is required to keep the tax rate the same for the city. Mr. Bingham explained that this is the first step in a sequence of events. The CRC and the Redevelopment Authority will hold meetings this week in which they will approve the forms of the leases. If this ordinance is voted on at the October 7th Council meeting, we will then have to publish the notice of lease execution and wait 30 days. This puts us in mid-November, so we would be selling bonds slightly before Thanksgiving, then we could probably close in early December. If this gets delayed, that means less eyes will be on this to put in proposals to buy the bonds. Bonds must be issued before the end of the year in order to get a levee in place for collection next year. Zac Jackson, CFO and Controller for the City of Carmel, then spoke to Council. He stated that the lease rental bonds will enable us to finance additional capital infrastructure projects. This action will essentially take a debt that is currently being paid out of the city’s general fund and move it over to the property tax levee. This saves our general fund money, and is also a good signal to S&P that this debt is guaranteed to be repaid. So we will have new money for projects as well as refinancing an existing $13 million dollars of debt. Additionally, we would like to move forward with a general obligation bond. This would take some of the city’s existing capital leases, which total about $19.5 million, and combine those with most of the new capital leases planned for next year, and refinance those that have interest rates ranging from 3.5% to 7% to a new rate of around 3%. Councilor Snyder asked about how refinancing the ambulance fund would help, when it is a self-sufficient fund. Mr. Jackson answered that the ambulance fund is going to stop being self-sufficient in the next year or so. Mr. Jackson said that not only will we be reducing our interest rate, but we will be freeing up our capacity in the general fund to fund other priorities. We’re not going to be extending this debt, we’re going to take the average time for these debts to roll off, and that will be the maturity date for this general obligation bond, which is known as WAM – Weighted Average Maturity. Councilor Taylor stated that it is important to free up the general fund because of how we are restricted with what we can pay out of the general fund. For example, the effects of inflation on our general fund affect our ability to pay increased wages to our police and fire departments, which is necessary to keep up with what peer agencies are paying. Mr. Jackson confirmed that we are not looking to increase our current tax rate of $0.07783. Council President Green sent Ordinance D-2729-24 to both the Finance, Utilities and Rules Committee and to the Land Use and Special Studies Committee, which will be discussing the list of proposed projects to fund. Council President Green announced the first reading of Ordinance D-2730-24; An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, Amending Chapter 8, Article 4, Section 8-39 of the Carmel City Code; Sponsor: Councilor Aasen. Councilor Aasen moved to introduce the item into business. Councilor Joshi seconded. Councilor Aasen presented the item to Council. Councilor Aasen moved to suspend the rules and act on this tonight. Councilor Joshi seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Motion to suspend the rules approved 8-0. Councilor Aasen moved to approve the ordinance. Councilor Taylor seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Ordinance D-2730-24 approved 8-0. AGENDA ADD-ONS There were none. OTHER BUSINESS Kelly Douglas, Director of Marketing, presented the designs that have been created as options for signage in the DORA district. This included cup designs, as well as door designs, and street signage. Councilor Snyder stated that the DORA Committee should be the group approving the designs, and the committee has not yet been selected. There was discussion on when the committee should be formed and who would Docusign Envelope ID: 98451C03-3FDF-4CC1-89D2-C5902F8C15A4 7 approve the designs. City Attorney Sergey Grechukhin stated that the Council is to approve the designs, and the committee is to approve the location of the signage. Councilor Snyder then moved to create the DORA Advisory Committee, with Councilor Jeff Worrell as the Chairperson of the committee. Councilor Aasen seconded. There was no discussion. Council President Green called for the vote. Motion to create the DORA Advisory Committee and name Councilor Worrell as Chairperson approved 8-0. Councilor Worrell will work with the Mayor to build the committee. This item was then sent to the Land Use and Special Studies Committee. ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilor Taylor announced that there would be a presentation on September 26th on the findings of the bond study that was conducted to analyze the city’s debt. This will take place after the budget workshops conclude on September 26th. ADJOURNMENT Council President Green adjourned the meeting at 8:46 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, _______________________________ Jacob Quinn, Clerk Approved, ATTEST: _______________________________ Anthony Green, Council President _______________________________ Jacob Quinn, Clerk Docusign Envelope ID: 98451C03-3FDF-4CC1-89D2-C5902F8C15A4