City Council

4 TOWN OF CICERO TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES July 15, 2014 At 7:00 PM Call To Order: President Dennis Schrumpf called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Foster gave the prayer. President Schrumpf called for the roll call and the members of the Town Council were present or absent as follows: Present: Dennis Schrumpf Absent: Jerry Cook Brett Foster Kay Hartley Eric Hayden President Schrumpf declared a quorum present. Others Present: Jan Unger, Clerk Treasurer Charlie Cambre, Park Superintendent Pat Comer, Street & Utilities Director Dave Hildebrand, Police Chief Steve Peachey, Fire Chief Paul Munoz, Cicero/Jackson Township Plan Commission Director John Culp, Town Attorney Kelleigh Fagan, Attorney Paul Utterback, President Storm Water Management Board Approval of Agenda: Ms. Hartley made a motion to approve the Agenda as presented. Mr. Foster seconded, motion passed. Approval of Prior Minutes: Town Council Meeting Minutes, July 1, 2014, 7:00 PM – Mr. Hayden made a motion to approve the July 1, 2014 Town Council Meeting Minutes as presented. Mr. Cook seconded, motion passed. Approval of Claims: Ms. Hartley made a motion to approve the claims as presented. Mr. Foster seconded, motion passed. Petitions by Citizens: Earl Tharp addressed the Council concerning the SR 19 road closure. Mr. Tharp stated that he had hired an additional person to cover the two busiest months five days before the road closure and he had to lay her off. Mr. Hayden stated that communications could have been better and there were notices in the paper regarding the project but communications could have been better. Mr. Comer stated that the Town did not know the full shutdown until a week before July 4th. Mr. Hayden apologized and said lesson learned and we would try to do better in the future. Mr. Tharp stated that the business owners in the area felt that they were not important enough to the Town to be notified. 1  Brett Morrow addressed the Council stating that there was an opportunity to work with all businesses and everyone failed. We did nothing and all were frustrated and we were our own worst enemy. Mr. Schrumpf stated that the Town dropped the ball, which wasn’t right but we have an opportunity to learn and work together better in the future. Mr. Schrumpf stated that we all have a responsibility. Mr. Foster stated that he agreed with all that had been said and that the Town should have sent out letters. Mr. Foster commended Mr. Morrow for the good job on the signs. Mr. Hayden stated that the Town does want to be business friendly. Mr. Bryant stated that the original plan was to only have one lane closed and the other open. However, if that had happened, there would have been an emergency closing after the problems were found at Spring Street and SR 19. Mr. Bryant stated that the storm sewer in the entire intersection collapsed and the dirt was completely washed away under the road. President’s Report: President Schrumpf stated he had nothing. Council Committee Reports: There were none. Legal Counsel Report-John Culp: 1. Mr. Culp stated that Ms. Fagan distributed an Ordinance To Adopt Certain Measures To Comply With National Flood Insurance Program Regulations for the Council’s review. Ms. Fagan stated that Mr. Schrumpf inquired about a certain paragraph and it has been corrected. Mr. Culp stated that the Ordinance needed to be set for public hearing. Cicero/Jackson Township Plan Commission Report-Mr. Munoz 1. Mr. Munoz informed the Council that as discussed at the Staff Meeting there are three problem properties that he needs to send letters to. Mr. Munoz has submitted these letters to Mr. Culp for review and they will be sent out as soon as he gets the approval. Town Engineer Report-Mr. Keith Bryant – Mr. Bryant addressed the following: 1. Jackson Street Pedestrian Walkway –Mr. Bryant stated that the Jackson Street Pedestrian Walkway opened on July 3rd. There are still a few punch list items that they will be working on throughout the next month. Mr. Bryant stated that they have received an invoice from Frontier which is $80,000 higher than their proposal. Mr. Bryant stated that it has been turned over to INDOT to dispute but he thought Frontier should stick to their proposal. He has not received anything from Duke or Comcast yet. Mr. Cook inquired about the circle on the west side of the Jackson Street path and Mr. Bryant stated that when the project is closed the Town can do what they see fit to do. 2. I & I Project - Mr. Bryant stated that the project was 45% complete. As we know, they are working on SR 19 and hope to have it open before school starts. Mr. Bryant reiterated the issue discussed above regarding the intersection of SR 19 and Spring Street with the Storm Sewer being collapsed. 3. Mr. Bryant stated that they have prepared a letter to respond to IDEM’s latest violation letter and would like permission for Mr. Schrumpf to sign if Council approves. Mr. Bryant stated that we will also have to send another update to IDEM in 30 days. Mr. Foster made a motion to approve the letter and give Mr. Schrumpf permission to sign. Mr. Hayden seconded, motion passed. 2 Old Business: Council To Consider Ordinance 07-15-2014-1 Ordinance To Adopt Certain Measures to Comply With National Flood Insurance Program Regulations. Mr. Schrumpf introduced Ordinance 07-15-2014-1 Ordinance To Adopt Certain Measures to Comply With National Flood Insurance Program Regulations and asked the Council to set the Ordinance for public hearing. The Council decided to have the public hearing on August 19th and asked Ms. Unger to advertise as required. Council To Discuss Changing Lighting On Jackson Street Downtown To LED. Mr. Munoz gave the Council an update on where we stood with the Downtown lighting. Mr. Munoz stated that he and Chief Peachey did a survey of the older neighborhoods to assess what would be needed to replace the current lighting with LED. They focused on three neighborhoods. They have a map of the area with positions of the lighting. Mr. Ron Booher with Duke Energy has estimated the cost based on the maps provided. Mr. Booher is going to review our current bills and estimate a cost savings to change to LED and to give us a couple of options on styles of lights, particularly on Jackson Street. We should have more information in a few weeks. Council To Discuss Jackson Street Sidewalks. Mr. Comer stated that he had sent the Council a proposal to correct the trip hazards on the sidewalks in the Business District Downtown. The estimate is $5,600. Ms. Unger stated that there was a list of capital projects and she would like to have the council review and set priorities prior to moving forward with this project, not that she was opposed to it but wants to make sure we know where we are financially first. After a discussion by the Council they agreed. New Business Council To Receive Information On Repair Of Storm Drain On Morse Landing Drive. Mr. Comer informed the Council that the culvert near 580 Morse Landing Drive was collapsing in the center. The two ends were replaced but now the center is a problem and there is a dip in the pavement now. The Storm Water Management Board has agreed that it needs to be repaired and it is an emergency. Mr. Comer stated that he received a quote from Indiana Redline for $36,670. The Storm Water Management Board has approved moving forward with the project. Ms. Unger said that the Storm Water Management Board would be meeting sometime the week of July 28th to discuss the projects on the plate for this year and evaluate where they are financially. Council To Receive TIF Report From Cicero Redevelopment Commission President. Cicero Redevelopment President Brett Foster reviewed the report from the Redevelopment Commission. He stated that during the year 2013 the Southwest TIF received $78,166.73 and spent $509,508.87. The expenditures were for the Jackson Street Pedestrian Walkway and the revenue had been marked for a few years for this project. The ending 2013 balance was $28,706.64. For the Southeast TIF revenues were $41,574.42 and expenditures were 3  $872.83. The expenditures were for clerical attorney fees. The 2013 balance was $147,614.72. There are no current projects however there is a plan for the next five years. Ms. Hartley inquired about sidewalks on SR 19 in the Southeast district and was informed that lighting and sidewalks were in the plan for 2017. Ms. Hartley thought sidewalks on SR 19 were really needed as the current ones are in very bad repair. Mr. Foster stated that the Report also included a list of the parcels for each district. Mr. Cambre inquired if the TIF money could be used to continue the sidewalk on at Red Bridge. Mr. Foster did not think so but it could be looked into. Miscellaneous 1. John Lewis business owner right at the intersection of SR 19 and Spring stated that his business was totally blocked. He wondered if there was a website where he could go to see what was happening in Town. He was told the Town’s website was ciceroin.org. He thought sending letters to business owners and residents when improvements are being made would be a nice idea. 2. Troy Ferguson with Seven Sisters inquired about getting parking spaces marked on SR 19 with white lines. He stated that it is a safety issue with people not knowing where to park or drive. Mr. Ferguson wondered why they (the state) were not painting these anymore. Chief Hildebrand said he didn’t know but he has the same problem with the state as it took forever to get two no parking signs installed. Chief Hildebrand stated that SR 19 would be paved next year and maybe it can be addressed at that time. Mr. Comer stated if the Town sent a letter it would need to go to the Greenfield District. Mr. Bruce Freeman wondered why the Town didn’t mark the parking spaces and Mr. Comer stated that the Town was not allowed to do anything without a permit from the state on state roads. Mr. Freeman stated that everything looked good with regard to the Causeway and Jackson Street. 3. Jane Hunter with the Hamilton North Chamber of Commerce stated that closures could be handled better in the future. She said that it only took her 20 minutes to go talk to all of the businesses. She said we were a small community and we should do more face to face with local business. 4. Paul Utterback stated that they have received two quotes for the concrete swell they were planning to install along the road and sidewalk on Jackson Street going down to the new Causeway walk. He said that Ms. Unger had inquired if they were sealed and they were not. Mr. Utterback stated that they were confused as to when they needed to be sealed and when they didn’t have to. Mr. Culp stated that he and Ms. Unger discussed this issue this afternoon and his advice was to have a written criteria for anyone wanting to quote on the project and his recommendation was to have sealed quotes, proposals, and bids to keep everything above board and without questions. Mr. Cook inquired to the criteria as to when it needed to be a bid or if a proposal was sufficient. Mr. Culp stated that he would get back to him. Mr. Utterback inquired if they needed to redo the proposal. Ms. Unger stated that what they did was acceptable and Mr. Culp concurred. 5. Terri Strong, owner of McDonald’s and a resident of Morse Landing, asked if notification could be sent out to residents in Morse Landing telling them when the road might be closed with regard to the storm drain repair on Morse Landing Drive. Mr. 4  Comer said they were not going to close the road, they would be doing lining with some additional cement work, no digging. 6. Mr. Culp said for the next Town Council Meeting he would have the Water and Wastewater Rate ordinance along with the shutoff criteria. Ms. Unger inquired about the Trash rate and Mr. Culp stated that he would have that also. Comments from the Public There were none. Signatures on Official Documents! Ms. Hartley made a motion to adjourn the Town Council Meeting. Mr. Foster seconded. Motion to adjourn passed. __________________________ Dennis D. Schrumpf – President __________________________ Sylvia Kay Hartley- Vice-President __________________________ Jerry G. Cook __________________________ Brett S. Foster _______________________ Eric C. Hayden Attested:__________________________ Jan Unger, Clerk Treasurer Note: The Next Cicero Town Council Meeting will be on Tuesday, August 5, 2014 @ 7:00 PM at the Cicero Town Hall. 5