Common Council Regular Session

In the Council Chambers of the Showers City Hall, Bloomington, Indiana on COMMON COUNCIL Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 6:30pm, Council President Sue Sgambelluri REGULAR SESSION presided over a Regular Session of the Common Council. May 17, 2023 Councilmembers present: Matt Flaherty, Isabel Piedmont-Smith, Susan ROLL CALL [6:30pm] Sandberg, Sue Sgambelluri, Jim Sims, Ron Smith, Stephen Volan Councilmembers present via Zoom: Dave Rollo Councilmembers absent: Kate Rosenbarger Council President Sue Sgambelluri gave a land and labor acknowledgement AGENDA SUMMATION and summarized the agenda. [6:30pm] There were no minutes for approval. APPROVAL OF MINUTES [6:32pm] Flaherty mentioned the application for the Residents Academy. He noted his REPORTS [6:32pm] upcoming constituent meeting. He spoke about the next meeting of the Special • COUNCIL MEMBERS Committee on Council Processes (SCCP). Beth Rosenbarger, Assistant Director, Planning and Transportation (PT) • The MAYOR AND department report on the College Avenue and Walnut Street corridor study. CITY OFFICES She provided an overview of the study including its goals, process, and [6:35pm] timeline. The purpose was to assess and enhance safety, accessibility, efficient use of public space, community goals and feedback, and adopting plan recommendations. She gave additional information and examples for each topic. Volan thanked staff and asked what triggered the study. Council questions: Rosenbarger stated it was staff workload and about the process itself. Rollo asked if the conceptual design was done by city staff or a consultant. Rosenbarger said that there was a consultant, Tool Design Group, and they would lead the charrette. There would not be an appropriation needed. Sgambelluri asked if it was possible to have public 'walk and talk' events in the evening and not just during the day. There were no council committee reports. • COUNCIL COMMITTEES [6:56pm] Matt Austin, Commission on Sustainability member, urged the city to select • PUBLIC [6:56pm] Rumpke instead of Republic such as a closer landfill, methane capture from landfill, and the more recycling options. [Unknown] discussed the options for making downtown Bloomington more appealing and valuable for the city. Daryl Ruble thanked veterans. He noted Curtis Gilstrap's care and courtesy at Rosehill Cemetery and other city staff. He was concerned with people crossing at the border. Christopher Emge, Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, spoke about National Police Week and noted the shortage of officers. Justin Foster commented on his concerns for council's behavior in meetings, greenways, and spoke against the Hawthorne greenway. Ash Kulak, Assistant Council Attorney, read a comment submitted via Zoom chat by Sam Dove concerning social media posts. p. 2 Meeting Date: 05-17-23 There were no appointments to boards or commissions. APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS [7:27pm] LEGISLATION FOR SECOND READING AND RESOLUTIONS [7:27pm] Rollo moved and it was seconded that Appropriation Ordinance 23-04 be Appropriation introduced and read by title and synopsis only. The motion received a roll call Ordinance 23-04 - To vote of Ayes: 8, Nays: 0, Abstain: 0. Deputy Clerk Susan Stoll read the Specially Appropriate legislation by title and synopsis. from the General Fund, ARPA State and Local Rollo moved and it was seconded that Appropriation Ordinance 23-04 be Fiscal Recovery Fund, adopted. Parks and Recreation General Fund, and Jeff Underwood, Controller, summarized the legislation including reversion Motor Vehicle Highway requests, technical corrections, and two additional requests. Street Fund, Expenditures Not Cheryl Gilliland, Director of Auditing and Financial Systems, Office of the Otherwise Controller, described the request for reversions for departments. Appropriated (Appropriating a Portion of the Amount of Funds Reverted to Various City Funds at the End of 2022 for Unmet Needs in 2023) [7:24pm] Piedmont-Smith asked for clarification on the appropriation of $626,100 and Council questions: what happened to the rest of the money. Gilliland said that there would be cash reserves and target reserves. There was discussion on how the reserve percentages were calculated. Underwood discussed the motor vehicle highway funds and the State Board of Accounts' (SBOA) requirements for restricted and unrestricted amounts. He gave brief reasons on the steps taken to satisfy the requirements. Underwood presented the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) appropriations including raising firefighter pay to be in alignment with other civil city staff, and a home buying program that allowed up to ten fire fighters and ten police _ officers to receive assistance for purchasing homes in the city. Emily Fields, Interim Director, Human Resources, said there were currently four firefighters and sixteen police officers using the rental assistance program. There were four firefighters and one police officer that expressed interest in the home buying program. Piedmont-Smith asked there was $500,000 for police and $500,000 for fire for the home buying program. Underwood said yes. A final agreement with a local bank would have an escrow account to rebuild the fund, since the program distributed $10,000 per year. Rollo asked what the obstacle was for advancing the home buying program. Underwood stated it was dependent on the agreement with the bank. Sgambelluri asked how close the city was to having an agreement and the five staff members that had expressed interest.  Meeting Date: 05-17-23 p. 3 Beth Cate, Corporation Counsel, understood that the agreement with the Appropriation bank would hopefully be finalized and the program could start. Ordinance 23-04 (cont'd) Piedmont-Smith understood that the fire department had many staff leave for other cities, et cetera, and asked what the administration had in mind for 2024 given that the union contract was up at the end of that year. How did the extra pay for 2023 factor into the current firefighters' salary. Underwood said that the administration would look at the budget request for firefighters carefully and noted it was very early in the process. 2024 would also have a new mayor, and many new councilmembers. Deputy Mayor Mary Catherine Carmichael added that there were many ideas being discussed with the goal of retaining staff. She noted that there were also many firefighters retiring. Dave Askins, Be Square Bulletin, asked about the number of firefighters to be Public comment: hired in the coming year and if they would be included in the extra pay. Piedmont-Smith asked if new firefighters were hired at the previous pay rate. Council comments: Fields said the new employees would not receive the premium pay rate but would receive the $500 extra pay. Piedmont-Smith stated her support for the use of funds. The motion that Appropriation Ordinance 23-04 be adopted received a roll Vote to adopt call vote of Ayes: 8, Nays: 0, Abstain: 0. Appropriation Ordinance 23-04 [7:52pm] LEGISLATION FOR FIRST READING [7:53pm] Rollo moved and it was seconded that Ordinance 23-11 be introduced and Ordinance 23-11- To read by title and synopsis only. The motion received a roll call vote of Ayes: 8, Amend Title 6 of the Nays: 0, Abstain: 0. Bolden read the legislation by title and synopsis. Bloomington Municipal Code Entitled "Health 11 Sgambelluri referred Ordinance 23-11 to the Committee of the Whole to meet and Sanitation Re: - on June 07, 2023 at 8:00pm, following the Regular Session. Updating and increasing fees for There was additional discussion on councilmember participation virtually and service and scheduling. harmonizing Chapters 4 and 5 of Title 6 of the Bloomington Municipal Code [7:53pm] There was no additional public comment. ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT [7:59pm] Kulak reviewed the upcoming council and committee schedule. COUNCIL SCHEDULE [8:00pm] Sgambelluri adjourned the meeting with no objections. ADJOURNMENT [8:01pm] ~ f APPROVED by the ommon Council of the City of Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana upon this ay of Q- ruw+f 2024. _J p. 4 Meeting Date: 05-17-23 APPROVE: ATTEST: Isabel Piedmont-Smith, PRESIDENT Nicole Bolden, CLERK Bloomington Common Council City of Bloomington