City Council

Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL JUNE 13, 2016 The regular meeting of the Hammond Common Council of the City of Hammond, Lake County, Indiana was held on June 13, 2016 in the Hammond City Council Chambers. Council President Michael Opinker presided. Council Coordinator Carmen I. Balboa facilitated. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was recited by all. Invocation by Councilwoman Venecz. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Markovich, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Rakos, Opinker ABSENT: None TOTAL: 9 READING OF THE MINUTES Councilman Spitale, supported by Councilman Emerson, moved to accept the minutes of May 23, 2016 and place on file. AYES: ALL APPROVAL OF CLAIMS Councilman Markovich, supported by Councilman Higgs, moved to approve the claims from May 18, 2016 through June 8, 2016. Claim #3227 through claim #3666, inclusive. Councilman Markovich, supported by Councilman Higgs, moved to pull claim #3429 as requested by the City Controller. ROLL CALL VOTE (amendment to pull #3429) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Rakos, Opinker NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 AMENDMENT ADOPTED ROLL CALL VOTE (as amended) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Rakos, Opinker NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 CLAIMS APPROVED (as amended) PUBLIC HEARINGS None MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JUNE 13, 2016 Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk COMMUNICATIONS Councilman Higgs announced the 12th Annual 3 on 3 Who’s Got Game Basketball Tournament is gonna be held at MLK Park formerly known as Maywood Park on Saturday, June 25th. The games start at 8 a.m. All age groups included; 10-12, 13-15 and 16-18. Bikes will be given away. COMMITTEE REPORTS Council as a Whole - Councilman Spitale - Brought out 16-16. Community and Crime Watch Committee - Councilwoman Venecz - Announced upcoming meetings: Tues., June 21; East Ham’d Pullman Crime Watch; Ophelia Steen Center; 6:30 p.m. Hessville Crime Watch, Thur., June 16; 7 p.m.; Jean Shepherd Center S. Ham’d Crime Watch; Thur.; June 16; Hammond Housing Authority; 7 p.m. ORDINANCE 3RD READING - FINAL PASSAGE 16-16 An Ordinance to Amend and Replace Flood Hazard Area Ordinance 9334, by Establishing Provisions for Flood Hazards in accordance with the State of Indiana Model Ordinance for Flood Hazard Areas Councilman Spitale, supported by Councilman Emerson, moved for passage. Councilman Spitale - We have to comply with FEMA and DNR with any request or change that they ask for. ROLL CALL VOTE (passage) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Rakos, Opinker NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 ORDINANCE NO. 9344 PASSED INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES 16-17 An Ordinance to Appropriate New Funds to the Operating Balance for the Hammond Sanitary District’s Rainy Day Fund (7315) - $277,003.00 Councilman Markovich - Marty Wielgos from the Sanitary District explained in caucus that this was money that was coming back and they had to come before the City Council and re-do an appropriating ordinance to ear mark these funds of $277,003. Councilman Markovich, supported by Councilman Higgs, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading by title, referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee with a Public Hearing on July 11, 2016. AYES: ALL INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES cont. 16-18 An Ordinance Appropriating Funds from Local Pretrial Diversion and Deferral Fund within the Hammond City Court 2016 Budget to Fund Part Time Salaries - $50K Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading by title and referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee. Councilwoman Venecz - I do have a correction on the ordinance. This is funding from the Pre-trial Diversion and Deferral Fund which funds the part time salaries in the court. It shows the appropriation from the deferral program of $46 thousand, it should be $50 thousand. Then those funds will be transferred to part time salaries in the amount of $46 thousand and FICA and Medicare, $4 thousand, which then will total the $50 thousand. That’s corrected. I so move. Councilman Rakos seconds. AYES: ALL Council President Opinker - On the original motion. AYES: ALL 16-19 An Ordinance Amending Ordinance #7102, Being Entitled “An Ordinance Establishing a Department of Environmental Management with an Air Pollution Control Division and a Solid Waste, Water and Noise Pollution Division in the City of Hammond, Indiana” Councilman Kalwinski, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading by title, referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee. AYES: ALL 16-20 An Ordinance for Resident Parking Only on both side (East and West) of the 1800 Block of Davis Avenue Councilman Markovich, supported by Councilman Kalwinski, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading by title. AYES: ALL Councilman Markovich, supported by Councilman Rakos, moved to suspend the rules to consider passage of 16-20. ROLL CALL VOTE (suspension of rules) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Rakos, Opinker NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 RULES SUSPENDED Councilman Markovich, supported by Councilman Higgs, moved for final passage. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES cont. Councilman Markovich - There were several ordinances back in the early 90's that when they had parking problems by Clark School for Stanton and Davis Avenue and Resident Only parking signs were put up but for some reason this ordinance left out the 1800 block, east and west side, of Davis Avenue. So it’s just cleaning up the ordinance. Residents have been calling the police and when the police go to check on the ordinance it wasn’t done by ordinance in the ordinance book, so it’s just a cleanup matter. Councilman Higgs - What are the residents complaining about and what are they saying in regards to the parking? Councilman Markovich - There’s no complaint. The signs are already up, Resident Only Parking, okay. But it’s not in the ordinance book that when they call the police it’s not in the ordinance book to enforce it. So this is just to make it an ordinance with the writings in there. The 1900 block of Stanton and Davis was done by Clark High School, signs were put up everywhere, even on 119th Street and so forth but the signs were put up here but it wasn’t put in the ordinance book. So this is just to clean up the ordinance. Councilman Higgs - So, Councilman Markovich, you’re saying now that this ordinance, once it’s passed, the police can enforce the ordinance. Councilman Markovich - Correct. ROLL CALL VOTE (passage) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Rakos, Opinker NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 ORDINANCE NO. 9345 PASSED Councilman Higgs, supported by Councilman Markovich , moved to return to the regular order of business. AYES: ALL RESOLUTIONS 16R-18 A Resolution Authorizing the City of Hammond to Solicit Projects and to Apply for and and Receive Guaranteed Savings Contract Funds Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved for adoption. Councilwoman Venecz - This resolution will enable the city of Hammond to put out a request for proposal to companies that will increase our efficiency from not only an electrical but a conservation standpoint. The Controller can explain that far more thoroughly than I can. RESOLUTIONS cont. City Controller Garay - As Councilwoman Venecz explained, the Indiana Legislature put in place this section to allow municipalities to promote energy conservation measures within their city and this allows us to go out for proposals to work with vendors who are certified in these types of programs for the city of Hammond that would allow us to do some upgrades to the buildings, possibly to our fleet, to lighting, all that would produce energy savings for the city. It would then take that savings and monetize it into a guaranteed savings contract so it allows us to take the future savings to pay for the current repairs and basically use that as a bonding source. So this legislation requires that we go before the legislative body to get approval before we start the RFP process. This would allow Board of Works to begin that process. Once we have proposals submitted the Board of Works would then select a contractor and bring it to the council for a recommendation and approval. The council would then see the final program, if one is selected, and then have the final say in approving that contract. Councilman Kalwinski - How are we going to see the savings? Is it after we do a program that’s fuel efficient or do they compare some data before that? City Controller Garay - They will provide a ton of data for us. They’ve done these programs all throughout the state. In other states that have these programs in place they will go through all of our buildings, analyze all the upgrades that would be needed or that they feel that we could use. We would have say over what we would like included in the program or what we would like taken out of the program. They run all these different metrics and that company whoever is selected to basically handle the entire program and the process would then be on the hook if they guarantee a savings and it didn’t hit those numbers, they would be on the hook to write us a check for the difference so that we’re able to make the debt payment. Councilman Kalwinski -So we’re looking at after they make the changes, what are we looking, a year later? Two years later? City Controller Garay - We have some say in how long that program would go. We’ll have more details after we go through the RFP process. But like a traditional bond, we’re looking at more of a term of fifteen years so they’re going to give us an estimate on all of these savings throughout that time period and we’re allowed to use that savings for that whole time to bond out for the improvements and get a majority of those improvements done in the first few years. Councilman Kalwinski - So then we go back fifteen years and then see how that metric’s met the (unclear). City Controller Garay - No, it’ll be on an annual basis. They’ll evaluate, you know, say if in year one we upgrade all of our lighting to LED lighting they are going to guarantee it’s a savings of half a million dollars. So then our bond payment would be a certain amount and if we didn’t hit those guaranteed savings they would have to write us a check for the difference. Councilman Kalwinski - Okay, I got it, thanks. RESOLUTIONS cont. City Controller Garay - So there will be much more detail coming your way in the future if you allow the Board of Works to explore these types of programs. ROLL CALL VOTE (adoption) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Rakos, Opinker NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 RESOLUTION NO. R18 ADOPTED 16R-19 A Resolution Appointing Raymundo Garcia to the Lake County South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Rakos, moved for adoption. Councilman Higgs - How many appointments do we have to the board, the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority? Council President Opinker - One. Councilwoman Venecz - This would be a second term for Raymundo and he is the council appointment on the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority Board and from all accounts he represents not only us but the city of Hammond very well. ROLL CALL VOTE (adoption) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Rakos, Opinker NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 RESOLUTION NO. R19 ADOPTED NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS Councilman Higgs, supported by Councilman Markovich, moved to have a letter to Gary Gleason in regards to the residential parking signs that were placed on the 900 block of Highland. I don’t know how they got there but no one contacted me and I’m just interested to know if one of the residents requested them or what happened because they’re up but I don’t know how they were placed there. AYES: ALL LETTER SENT: JUNE 14, 2016 Councilman Emerson - Yesterday we were running some errands and saw a fire truck, got back into Hammond and saw a fire truck and normally I don’t react but when I saw an ambulance I know that sometimes fire trucks NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS cont. Councilman Emerson cont. - are dispatched with the ambulances and whatnot so then I saw another fire truck, and then I saw another one, and in the 4th District. So I said I got to check this out. I don’t normally ride around chasing them but, so I got to the fire and the fire department had done such a great job. I mean, what happened is a mystery, you know, whatever, I won’t comment on that, but it was on the outside of the house. The house had no soffit, no metal soffit, or fascia so the wood was exposed to the existing small fire. The reason I say small was they were there in such a hurry. I talked to the homeowner, he was just amazed that they got there. Because they had went out to go to Menards or somewhere and they were only gone fifteen minutes, he said. But the response from the neighbors was, “Wow”. I mean these trucks and these guys were out there. And Firefighter Callahan was in charge, did such a great job, and the inspectors were there as soon as the fire was out to go over how it might have happened. So I just wanted to give that shout out. On a Sunday afternoon, beautiful day otherwise. But very appreciative neighbors and homeowner. Mayor McDermott - I already reported Councilman Higgs complaint about the 900 block of Highland with the Resident Only Parking signs on SeeClickFix and Gary Gleason will be back to you tomorrow. So, it’s a lot faster to go through SeeClickFix so I just did it while I was sitting here. I didn’t know if anybody had any questions, I appreciate you passing the resolution regarding the energy efficiency program. It’s an opportunity. We have been looking at replacing all the bulbs in the ornamental lights around the city with energy efficient lighting, the LED like we have in certain parts of the city. That’s a very costly proposal to do at once. This would allow us to do it up front with the savings that we would get over the years. Also we’re looking at things in the police department with maybe converting over the police cars to propane gas, which you’ve already tested out on a couple cars. I know the Civic Center boiler is due for energy efficiency upgrades. We could use this program to help with that project as well as if we stay in this building as the permanent city hall, any energy efficiency upgrades we do to this building could also be covered off of this RFP. So, you basically just gave us the permission to do the RFP, that’s what we are going to do. We will come back specifically once a group is chosen and specifically with which projects we’re looking to do with energy efficiency savings. Sometime over the summer I imagine. So I think that’s a really cool idea. I want to thank our City Controller Heather for bringing this up. We’ve become aware that other cities around, and I know Lake County actually has been using a program similar to this. I’ve been mayor for thirteen years and you still learn. This is a great project, we’re gonna be able to get a lot of stuff done during your terms that we may not be able to afford and boost the savings we get over the years will actually pay it back which is really cool. I didn’t know if you had any questions so I cam up and made myself available. PUBLIC EXPRESSION Alvin Cheeks - 800 block of Highland has a high number of churches which makes it impossible to enjoy the park with all the resident only sign put up around the park. There a gentleman with a tattoo on his neck with a cross that is abducting women. He drives a gold Grand Am. He’s tried to take two women in the last couple of days. There have been a high number of fights in the parks. I would hope that the police department would increase the patrols around our parks. Councilman Higgs, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved to adjourn. AYES: ALL ________________________ Michael Opinker, President Hammond Common Council ATTEST: ________________________ Robert J. Golec, City Clerk Time: 6:30 pm cb Minutes approved at the Common Council meeting on May 23, 2016.